Open House Report, Los Angeles: Individualist, Odd, or Just Plain Crazy?
Author:Philip FerratoWe’ve chosen three houses open this weekend, each an example of different ways live in LA.
512 S. Norton Avenue, Windsor Square/Hancock Park, $1.595M (pictured above)
We’re loving this quirky 4-bed, 3-bath c.1922 and vaguely English house in the Windsor Square neighborhood for a few reasons. While it doesn’t look like much out front— a handsome but standard ’20s classic with some ivy— the house comes with almost a third of an acre stretching back to a garage on an alley. Plenty of room for pool and parking for the inevitable crowd it’s sure to draw, plus there’s some kind of paved “sports court” overlooking a neighbor’s tennis court, so it looks like some re-thinking of the hardscape. While those windows with diamond-shaped panes may have to go, we like the low-ceilinged kitchen in which the owner has managed to survive without any hanging cabinets or granite, and the confident decorating choices they’ve made elsewhere in the house. Check out the agent’s full-screen photo tour. Open Sunday, April 15 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
2356 Hollyridge Drive, Hollywood Hills East, $2.199M
Not just quirky, but full of surprises. Taken from the brokerbabble: “The private, gated 1923 Tudor home is celebrity-designer owned & has enjoyed a 3 year makeover inspired by the Florentine villa—Torre di Bellosguardo.” Although it’s got more Venetian stucco we ever thought was legal and some other (actually, lovely) paint details, that’s about where the inspiration from the 4-star Florentine hotel ends. On the other hand, the 4-bed, 4-bath house is less oddball than a lot of other houses in the Hills. We seem to remember it on the market previously with some really florid decor, but now it’s simple and open and a few 100K less expensive. The house also has a great view of downtown… and a log cabin on the lower level. And it’s an impeccable log cabin at that, with peeled timbers covering the walls and ceiling. On about a quarter-acre, there may be room for a pool down below (requiring a high level of skill from the back-hoe operator.) Open Sunday, April 15 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
7837 Torreyson Drive, Hollywood Hills, $1.395M
If like us, you’ve longed for your own compound, this may be the place. It’s got three houses— the 2-bed, 2-bath main house has great views of the Valley and more knotty pine than you can throw a stick at. On almost an acre, there’s another small house and a studio structure, and no doubt the c.1948 structures need some updating. We suspect the price is more about it as a teardown. There are some handsome old oaks on the site, plus room for a pool, chickens, and disciples. Open Sunday, April 15 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm
