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So strong was the property's history that Stern dictated one very strict proviso regarding its sale: It had to be purchased by an artist. As fate would have it, La Piana is an artist who works in photography, video and sculpture. He was the perfect buyer.

La Piana later discovered that not only had he acquired a piece of art history, but a piece of local history, as well. The barns had served as part of a dairy farm and also as the local fire station. La Piana kept one barn as his summer studio and used the other as a statement marking the entrance of the compound. But while the house and barns had a certain character, they needed work. "I could have stuck my finger right through the shingles to the outside," La Piana recalls. Cedar shingling and new wood restored the fragile exterior, though some signs of age, such as the walls in his studio, were left intact to keep the lovely patina.

The house was one large living area on a single floor. After nearly 50 years, it needed a makeover. Still, La Piana strove to retain the clean lines that characterized '60s modernism. He refinished the kitchen cabinets, stripped a drab vinyl floor to restore its vibrant celadon color and then launched a massive restoration. "I hate the word 'renovation,'" he insists. "To me, that means they've gone to Home Depot and turned it into a nightmare. I wanted to take this little house and maintain the integrity of what it was and not make it something it wasn't."