Inside NeueHouse’s New Venice Beach Private Members’ Club

Private members’ club NeueHouse is debuting its newest L.A. location in a historic building owned by actor, director and Oscar-winning The Sting producer Tony Bill.

Located steps from the Venice Beach boardwalk, the two-story 1920s building — redesigned as a professional work and social space with a residential vibe — includes a 2,000-square-foot roof deck, a programming and events space, a gallery, meeting rooms and phone booths. There also is a daytime lounge that will become Reunion restaurant and bar by night when the coastal Italian-inspired eatery opens in late January.

In the 1970s, Bill hosted concerts, lectures, art shows and community political meetings in the space, which was flanked by Larry Gagosian’s first gallery and the celebrity hotspot Bill owned with Dudley Moore, 72 Market Street Oyster Bar and Grill.

“When we found this building and got to know Tony Bill and the history of the street, it all came together pretty serendipitously,” says NeueHouse chief brand officer Jon Goss. “[Bill] housed many influential creative luminaries in his own space when he operated it as a production office.”

Goss says Venice – and the west side of Los Angeles, more broadly – was the natural next step for the brand: “We identified many years ago that it’s pretty much a haven for the creative class…I think Venice has sort of always lacked a central hub for that community.”

The Dec. 5 opening of the Venice location marks the company’s third L.A. outpost, rounding out NeueHouse’s presence in Hollywood (in the old CBS Studios building) and downtown (in the Bradbury Building). “We really kind of saw this as completing the triangle of where creatives work and commute,” Goss says of Venice, adding: “[That] and the pure, natural beauty of being by the ocean made it a bit of a no-brainer for us.”

Since the location was first announced in April, Goss says the team has received more pre-opening membership applications than at any of their other locations. Membership tiers — which are designed for companies seeking meeting rooms and desks as well as for individuals — run from $1,000 to $7,000 per month. Venice Beach is the smallest footprint in the NeueHouse portfolio, and because of its exclusivity (total membership is capped at 850), it’s the highest in price point.

“There are people spread all across the city that need to have spaces that are convenient, allow for private and collaborative meetings, and a place to be part of a community again,” Goss says. “We’ve definitely seen a fusion of work from home and corporate offices coming together more — and a fusion of work and play —  so if you can work, take a meeting, eat, access group cultural programming, and have a drink late into the evening…we can solve a lot of that which is quite rare.”

Martine Bury, vice president of programming and experiential at NeueHouse, says the company’s overarching approach to programming and building a location’s identity is “community up, rather than culture down.”

“We really create our culture from this rich community that we build — and that organically coalesces around our spaces,” she says. “For Venice in particular, we had the opportunity to really create a distinct identity [at the] intersection of art and innovation: a certain sliver of the entertainment and production industries, science, and looking forward, leaning into this idea of sustainability. That’s a real distinction for [this] house.”

According to Bury, the programming calendar for December is already underway, and is focused on visual artists and designers creating interactive work.

The design of the space, which Goss calls an “urban sanctuary by the beach,” was inspired by the legacy of California design and uses midcentury-style lighting and abundant natural materials.

This story first appeared in the Dec. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.