Open House Report, LA: Two in Hancock Park Plus a Mad ’60s Throwback in the Hollywood Hills
Author:Philip FerratoThis week, three houses that couldn’t be more different from each other. In historic Hancock Park, a madly over-decorated Spanish on North June Street that once belonged to actor Paul Muni, just down the street from a more austere Craftsman/Mission with a great pool. Up in the hills above Sunset, one of the best party houses we’ve ever seen— if your idea of a party looks like old episodes of Laugh-In. All are close enough geographically to make a voyeur’s Sunday afternoon.
370 N. June Street, Hancock Park, $3.299M (picture above)
A perfect example of “if it’s priced right, it sells” the owners of this turreted house started out with a price of $4.5M last August and have been dropping it since, most recently in mid-January. So obviously it’s still too expensive, even if it was once the home of actor Paul Muni. No screening room, but the living room has a drop-down screen, and we’re loving the linenfold paneling in the the study (check the terrible listing photos at the link.)
Worth a visit for the slightly mad interior, plus the immaculately-groomed 1920s neighborhood is full of lovely old houses and trees. Next door at 350 is the vast c. 1927 “La Casa de las Campanas” considered on of the LA’s best Spanish Colonial Revival houses. Overall, our well-proportioned Spanish 5-bed, 6.5-bath, 3-garage house probably needs a lot of updating— usually the case when there are no pictures of the kitchen or baths. Open Sunday, March 11 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
520 N. June Street, Hancock Park, 2.2M
Just down the street, this very simple 4-bed, 3.5-bath Craftsman/Mission Style came on the market this week. While we’d question some of the owner’s choices, it does retain the original tiled foyer and stairs and is move-in ready, maybe with a little paint. The big kitchen is bright, although its only view is the driveway.
In back, comfortable outdoor spaces make up for it. We love the long pool and big lawn despite being exposed to golfers on the other side of a chain link fence, and the garage has been transformed it into one big green cube (above, left and right) covered in a climbing ficus variety. Figure on a few thousand for a new fence out back. Kudos to the realtors for stellar online marketing— check out the virtual tour with floor plans. Open Sunday, March 11 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
1626 Sunset Plaza Drive, Sunset Strip/Hollywood Hills, $1.495
We think someone should buy this just to have parties, a mid-60s pastiche of slumpstone (Mid-Century adobe substitute) and weathered brick, fat hex tiles, boulders and stained glass. And an indoor pool. The listing pictures are terrible but convey all the vintage nuttiness. In other words, aside from hiring a good cleaning crew, don’t change a thing, and a friend insists the living room ceiling looks suspiciously like the one in Canter’s Deli, just higher. The 4-bed, 3-bath blast from your parent’s past has no garage, very little outdoor space, and inexplicably, has been on the market about two months. Open both Saturday, March 10 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm and Sunday, March 11 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm
