It’s hard to miss James "Jimmy" Goldstein. Be it at an art fair, a fashion party or sitting courtside at many, many NBA games, he’s the one head to toe in leather, with a cloud of white hair spilling from under a wide-brimmed snakeskin hat, a natty ‘kerchief tied around his neck and, quite often, a beautiful woman towering over him.

He’s a living legend within the rarefied world he occupies (read: the 1%), not just for his appearance but also for the mystery that swirls around his not insubstantial means: his business cards state his occupations as “Fashion, Architecture, Basketball.”

What is known is that Goldstein owns one of Los Angeles’ most spectacular properties, the Sheats-Goldstein Residence, a statement building high above Beverly Hills that has featured in films including Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and The Big Lebowski. Built by John Lautner between 1961 and 1963, the Milwaukee native bought it in 1972 and has spent the intervening decades perfecting it. 

Together Goldstein, Lautner and Duncan Nicholson—who took over after the architect’s death in 1994—have completed projects such as a James Turrell skyspace that sits under the house and an adjoining complex housing Goldstein’s private nightclub under a brand new tennis court with some of LA’s most spectacular views. Inevitably, Roger Federer played the inaugural match.

“I’d almost seen Jimmy as a lonely prince in his castle,” explains director Ivan Olita, who himself has recently relocated to Los Angeles. “But the more I got to know him, the more I realized he’s not just an eccentric driven by narcissism: this is a man who has got everything he wanted out of life and crafted it to perfection. This is his heritage he wants to leave behind.”

Rebecca Guinness is Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.