INSIDE THE LEGENDARY TOM OF FINLAND’S HOUSE IN L.A.

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INSIDE THE LEGENDARY TOM OF FINLAND’S HOUSE IN L.A.

Tom House, 1421 Laveta Terrace

Nestled in a leafy, residential street in Echo Park, L.A., the house of Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen in 1920) is a trove of homoerotic masterpieces. This is where the provocative artist lived and worked during the last decade of his life, until his death in 1991.

Part shrine, part haven, part archive, the house is still occupied by Durk Dehner, the man who resided there with Tom and dedicated himself to preserving the artist’s legacy by cofounding the Tom of Finland Foundation with Laaksonen, in 1984.

For the first time, Tom House is presented in a picture book, Tom House: Tom of Finland in Los Angeles, edited by Architectural Digest contributor Michael Reynolds, and beautifully photographed by Martyn Thompson. Here, we go on an intimate tour of the artist’s art-filled rooms, where black leather and phallic memorabilia rule.