Though seemingly whimsical and freewheeling, Sottsass was exacting in his designs: He had forbidden the Olabuenagas from repainting the home’s stucco facade, insisting that they let it “metamorph into what it wants to be,” but the couple ultimately decided to restore its faded colors last fall, using new elastomeric Behr paints that were blended to original specifications.

The design remained a work in progress for years. "We didn't start it until '95," says Lesley. "Then it was daily faxes, phone calls. I remember when I called [Sotsass] to tell him that we were going to break ground. He said it was the best Christmas present he could have ever had in his entire life."

Sottsass labored over the project in multiple dimensions and mediums, but always with a flair for style, as seen here in a vivid watercolor painting of the home.

Through their jewelry and accessories brand ACME Studio, Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga collaborated with Ettore Sottsass, as well as many of the other principals of the Memphis movement, starting in the 1980s. When they purchased this property by the sea in Maui, they reached out to Sottsass to see if he would consider designing a home on it.

Lesley recounts their first meeting with Sottsass as clients: "We had worked with Ettore since the conception of our company. Adrian sent him a fax and said what he wanted to do. He said, 'When am I coming?'" "That was in 1989 that we asked him and he turned up with a model and this little bag. [At the airport in] Maui at that point, you had to walk across the tarmac. He comes up with this little bag, he gives it to Adrian, he says, 'Be very careful. That is your house.'"

The home's plans went through years of eclectic redesigns.

1981 Ettore Sottsass designs Altair vase.

Sottsass designed much of the inside furniture, including the vintage Hawaiian Koa lounge chairs and Hyatt side tables.

The Euphoria necklace by the father of Memphis, Ettore Sottsass. After the success of Shire's collection for Acme Studio, the owners went to meet Sottsass in Milan along with the rest of the Memphis group. The resulting collection, which comprises over 100 designs, is now once again for sale. All are available only while supplies last, so get 'em before they're gone!

Juicy Salif Lemon Squeezer -- Alessi (1990) Likely the only juicer displayed at MOMA, Starck’s aluminum tripod design could be mistaken for a streamlined alien invader from a ‘50s pulp comic. He’s rumored to have said: "It's not meant to squeeze lemons, it is meant to start conversations."

Good Goods Catalogue -- La Redoute (1996) Starck’s sense of humor and ecological passion come through in this catalog of “non-products for non-consumers in tomorrow's moral market,” both an environmental message and an about face from some of his more over-the-top projects. Witness the “Starck Naked” Starck roll-on dress.

Zik Headphones -- Parrot (2012) Audiophiles appreciate the sound quality and intuitive, motion-sensitive commands -- swipe the right earcup to increase the volume, take of the headphones and the music pauses-- built into this high-end headphones. Design fans will be equally engrossed with the generous curves and shapely form in Starck’s creation.

Dr. No Chair -- Kartell (1996) Starck recast the club chair with this playful design, a wrap-around of colorful, injection-molded plastic.

Sottsass designed a shelving unit around the couple’s large collection of vintage radios. “We have lots of collections,” says Lesley. “A Pez collection, a chair collection, a perfume collection...Ettore gave us a choice and said we could pick one to have up on display.” A series of the late designer’s Mini Totem earthenware sculptures sit atop the unit. The neon green light accent was inspired by the fluorescent works of artist Dan Flavin. To the right is a First chair from 1983 by designer Michele De Lucchi, who cofounded Memphis.

A sculptural "totem" by Ettore Sottsass presides over a corner of a dining area, near two Jasper Johns prints and a Noguchi-like lantern, in the home of painter Francesco Clemente.

If you're looking for home office setup ideas, why not add a bit of whimsy to your workday? Giotto shelves, a Treetops floor lamp, and an Olivetti chair—all by Sottsass—furnish this fun home office. The painting is by Nathalie Du Pasquier, one of the original Memphis designers.

A collage of brightly colored, geometric volumes comprise the Ettore Sottsass–designed residence of Lesley Bailey and Adrian Olabuenaga, proprietors of jewelry and accessories company ACME Studio. Completed in 1997, this home is one of few private commissions designed by the Italian architect, who passed away in 2007.

A large deck coated with Cetol finish from Behr extends into the home’s sloped site.

Barbara Hill's Dancehall/House in Marfa, Texas September 14, 2010 Misty Keasle

“I have always thought of myself as a student.”—Hiroko Takeda

Summa 19 calculator designed in 1970 by Ettore Sottsass for Olivetti.

Louis Ghost Chair -- Kartell (2002) This iconic seat shows Starck playing with form and material, recasting the royal Louis XV chair concept with translucent, injection-molded polycarbonate. More than a million of these chairs have been sold.

Takeda uses two looms, a Macomber Dobby with 16 harnesses—“old but very stable and reliable”—which she inherited from Larsen Design Studio, and a computerized AVL Compu-Dobby loom, which she can program in order to test new materials and weaving techniques.

For this art piece, which she says is inspired by the “quiet but powerful” Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, Takeda wanted to “capture a subtlety of colors” by using bundled silk tape for depth and texture.

One of those experiments has yielded a recurring series of waffle structures.

Memphis is still alive and strong at Salone del Mobile 2015. @kartell_official debuted this trio of Ettore Sottsass's designs created in 2004/2005, which'll be produced later this year.

You can snap up a limited selection of brooches, necklaces, and earrings from the Acme Studio Memphis collection at SHOP Cooper Hewitt, like ceramist Natalie Herrera (aka @fromhighgloss on Instagram) did. Shown here are the Monumento brooch by Ettore Sottsass, left, and Oreliana brooch by Marco Zanini, left.

A 1966 issue of Domus features an interiors story on Italian designer Ettore Sottsass's apartment on via Manzoni in Milan that he shared with his first wife, literary agent Fernanda Pivano. The items included in the Christie's private sale are from Pivano's estate and comprise the earlier years of Sottsass's lengthy and influential career.

Meg’s inspiration: The design of the Lucky Linden was something Meg carried along with from many years in her sketchbook. She loves the Art and Craft styled RV’s and was sure that if she built a tiny house RV someday, this would be a her inspiration. What she like most of this pattern is the low sloped roofs, pop out dormers on the front as well as back and especially the bungalow look from the Sears and Roebuck kit houses which were prevalent in the 1990’s.

Ettore Sottsass, the Italian designer known for leading the Memphis movement, contributed a series of kinetic necklaces and shape-heavy rings to Cleto Munari's postmodern jewelry collection.

Modern Memphis Loud patterns, geometric shapes and clashing colors brought a postmodern feel to this year's London Design Festival. A Festival highlight, London store Darkroom dedicated its new season collection to the post modern era, with home and fashion accessories inspired by Italian design hero Ettore Sottsass.

The sale, which is on view to the public through December 20, encompasses furniture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles and jewelry, alongside artworks, drawings, collages and a complete series of the self-published artists’ and poets’ books. Shown here is Sottsass's sketchbook paired with some miniature product prototypes.

The sketchbook contains preliminary drawings for a line of furniture for Poltronova in 1964-1965. These sketches help establish the conceptual vocabulary that would define the Memphis two decades later; each elevation view looks more like a character or motif than typical furniture. "He's not just doing a little doodle," says Christie's specialist Simon Andrews. "He's already thinking about how a piece of furniture will be photographed and merchandised."

Sottsass's red Y28 vase, circa 1969, is part of a series of ceramic vessels he described as "Aztec sculpture and jazz-age radio receivers."

Sottsass and Pivano made a habit of seeking out expressive travel jewelry, which they acquired on their extensive travels around the world. This enamel-on-copper pendant references a necklace from Papua New Guinea "in which stacked bamboo batons would indicate the wealth and status of the wearer."

A very early (circa 1946) spatial maquette exhibits qualities of the Futurism influence on designer Ettore Sottsass. As Andrews explains, most of the sculptures and prototypes in the Christie's sale have never been seen by the public, so it's an opportunity for education—meaning the ideal buyers are museums.