May 26, 2013

1536 Viewsite Terrace

6 bed, 8.5 bath, 11,564 sqft on a 18,989 sqft lot. Asking 7.995

Up some small street is this big thing. You enter to a felt wall. Garage to the left, massive open living area is to the right. It has the kitchen, dining, living and opens onto a pool. The pool has an infinity edge  A staircase down brings us to an entertaining room and a massive master. Really massive. The shower looks like a rainforest sex party. The bathtub is great. The entertaining room has a bar and window to the pool. Another level down has a second master and several other bedrooms with their own nice bathrooms. This house has great views, light and air. It is very party and owns up to it. I do like it.

616 N Foothill Rd

7 bed, 8.5 bath, 9,888 sqft on a 13,351 sqft lot. Asking 9.45

Something in the flats of Beverly Hills just begets weird houses. This one is big and not very well designed. There is no garage. No garage in a home this expensive. You enter into a walk though foyer. To the right is a massive living dining area. Across the foyer is a library with bath and the kitchen. Why is the dining room not close to the kitchen? Upstairs are boring bedrooms and downstairs is a big unfinished feeling basement thing. This home has no personality. The master is above the library and kitchen, you are painfully aware of how close you are to the neighbors. This home is lackluster and the yard is small and dull.

614 N Palm Drive

5 bed, 9 bath, 8,457 sqft on a 13,057 sqft lot. Asking 9.899

This one bears a lot of similarities to the Foothill property. But it is much better. Sure, it is a garish Persian palace on steroids but it does a better job that others have. You enter to a small foyer. Ahead is a larger stair hall that opens onto a family room. To the right is the dining room. To the left is a powder room and a library that flows into the living. Off the stair hall is the large living room  on the left that connects to the library on one end and opens to the small pool on the other. The dining room pantry is huge and has a stairwell and bath. Odd. This leads to the kitchen, breakfast room and family room. Full circle. The layout is not bad. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms and a small master. This was odd. Downstairs is a subterranean garage that strikes me like a parallel parking nightmare. There is also a maids room, gym, game and media room. It is much better that the Foothill property, though still garish. There is also a built in safe. Why?

507 N Palm Drive

3 bed, 3.5 bath, 4,022 sqft on a 12,962 sqft lot. Asking 5.180

A pretty façade close to Santa Monica Blvd. Enter through a nice foyer. Living room and dining to the left, media to the right. A sort of loggia is dead ahead. Dining connects to nice kitchen and breakfast area. A bedroom is there. Another bedroom by the media and a master next to that. Huge bath in the master. The home has some nice features, but it is rather dark and has no pool.

825 N Roxbury Drive

7 bed, 6 bath, 8,450 sqft on a 22,342 sqft lot. Asking 10.850

This home has a great front façade. Not much else can be said. It is right on Sunset and you can hear it every second. Enter up a gated driveway. Foyer has a massive curving staircase. Living room to the right, library and powder to the left and dining straight ahead. The style is a mess between modern and old Mexico. I think. Living room and dining are connected by a lounge with bar. To the left of dining is kitchen, a gaggle of maids rooms and another staircase and a carport porte-cochere they are trying to call a garage. Yard is nice, but loud. No wall? There is a guesthouse though. I feel this home could have been done so much better, it feels unfinished. Upstairs has a bunch of beds with odd placed closets. Some smell of pee. The master is close to sunset and laid out oddly, think toilet-door ratio gone wrong. It is a good effort, but this modern pile is more mess than home run.

1060 Woodland Drive

4 bed, 4.5 bath, 5,838 sqft on a 20,420 sqft lot. Asking 7.5

Today is just a study in opposites. This was the cool, slick modern pad the Roxbury house wanted to be. Enter up a long curve driveway above Coldwater. Home has dull, detached garage and cool entrance. Inside is a two-story living room with bar that opens one a massive terrace that juts to the driveway. Well landscaped and quite view. Everything is crisp and sharp, even the realtor who just sat there is sunglasses, looking like a well dressed Thor in his element, too cool to even talk to the clients. To the right of the living is a master with built in bed. Very cool. Closets and bath with TV ensue. TVs are everywhere here. Across from the living room is a kitchen and dining room. Dining is dark and oddly placed. Kitchen is close to small pool and garage, and maids with bath and powder. Upstairs is a loft overlooking the living room and 2 modern bedrooms with rather open bathrooms. I like this house but felt a little let down. The living room and master bedroom and subsequent terrace were fantastic. The kitchen and dining room didn’t make much sense and the pool area was small. In fact the pool and garage feel tacked on or like residual from the old home pre-remodel. They aren’t bad, just feel out of place in such a thought out home. The lot is good sized but a lot of it is driveway. It has been on the market a while, so something must be up.

818 N Whittier Drive

7 bed, 12 bath, 8.766 sqft on a 20,207 sqft lot. Asking 9.8

How do you make a home feel bigger? Lots of stairs and rooms. Lots. Enter through a gated, off center motor court. Another gate brings us to the front door. Powder, hall and stair straight ahead, Porte cohere to the right, living and lounge to the left. Further left is a bedroom with bath, library and subterranean dance studio or something. Lots of stairs. Foyer leads into dining room with pantry on right, nowhere near the kitchen. On left is a courtyard, then the actual kitchen. There is a breakfast room and family room and maids bed. They open onto a massive pool with a 2 story guesthouse. Upstairs are lots of bedrooms. Lots. This home is very large and hard to navigate. Also all the toilets are the toto kind. Prepare for air blowing everywhere. 

July 15th

July 15^th 2012

9119 Thrasher Ave

1.585 million, 2 bed, 2 bath, 1440 sqft on 7233 sqft lot. One story. No garage.

Its small. There is no way around it. And most Hollywood singles aren’t exactly into the whole living within means style. Enter into a hall, kitchen is ahead though walled off, living room is to the left and 2 beds and baths to the right. Small half carport thing leads to fountain entrance. It is nicely appointed, though only canyon views. Not much yard or pool space. Plans for a second story. Maybe a McMansion hill style in a few years, or someone’s second home, though the price is ambitious.

10084 and 10080 Valley Spring Lane

3.4 million 4 bed 3 bath in 5,312 sqft and 3.3 for 4 bed, 4.5 bath in 5011sqft, both on 9000 or so sqft lots.

I know many people hate the valley and yes, the travesty that is Van Nuys is in the valley, but parts of Studio City and Sherman Oaks and Toluca Lake exist and provide phenomenal homes you still can’t afford. These fraternal twin houses on the Lakeside Golf Club are just that. Fancy, McMansion flawed and totally unaffordable. 10080 Valley spring is somehow nicer, the layout is better but suffers some of that dark hall feeling that rooms in McMansions have. 10084 offers a courtyard, and a long hallway to get to any main rooms, plus tons of half levels and weird unusable spaces. Take your pick. Both are sort of Spanish, though done well. Both have pools and narrow rear yards.

13810 Mulholland Drive

Price not listed (around 6 million), 6 bed, 9 bath, 13500 sqft on 20000 sqft lot.

The Beverly hills name droppers and city say Beverly Hills. I say Sherman Oaks, either way this is an 80s party palace. Don’t want to imagine the amount of blow and hookers that came through that rather heinous driveway. Foyer has living dead ahead, dining to the left, stairs and library to the right. There is a circular bar room off the living room. Layout needs differentiation; all the rooms look and feel the same. Outside has a terrace and slide down to the pool below. And your neighbor. Get friendly, you now live on top of them. Upstairs has all the black bathrooms you can stand. White carpet abounds. Lower level is all grotto, filled with stone to make six flags look classy. And a three car garage down there. If you still think you’re Gordon Gecko, welcome home. 

July 1st 2012

1352 Miller Drive

4 bed, 4.5 bath and 5,186 sqft asking 3.995 million. It is actually well done, in spite of the small lot. The first floor has a garage, foyer and small office with bath. Stairs lead ot the main rooms, a large kitchen, living and curtained off family room and bar with their own stairs. Family room and gaming are have nice double height curving walls with skylights. Outer terrace has a small, raised deep pool. Nice views considering it is on the non view side of the street. Upstairs is well done, master is not too big. There are three other bedrooms with bathrooms. There is a roof terrace but no real yard.

1370 Miller Drive

Down the street is a world of difference. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms in 2,825 sqft on a 23,518 sqft lot asking 2.795. Willing to bet there will be two large modern homes on this lot in a few years. Just saying. The main home is a dark 1920s Spanish that requires a certain mindset. Most people will see the large lot and views and proximity to the strip. Main house has foyer with dining ahead, living to the right and kitchen down hall to the left. Stairs and powder off the hall. Kitchen is small. Outside needs some work. Upstairs has odd master that doesn’t seem to have much clear space definition. Two bedrooms share a bath. Layout does not allow for much addition, so I rule out a compound. No pool.

1700 Queens Court

4 bed 5 bath three story 5,917 sqft home on 25,489 sqft lot asking 5.495 million. Enter up a driveway, past garage is a walkway that takes you past the somewhat anemic infinity pool to the house. Large 2 story foyer with stairs, living on left with study, kitchen and dining to the right. Downstairs has a dark bedroom, 3 car garage, game and media. Upstairs has a master bedroom with nice bath above living and two other bedrooms across the bridge. Design feels a bit worn. Not as nice views as its place in the universe suggests. Most beautiful sinks I’ve seen in a while.

8932 St Ives Drive

4 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms spread across three levels, 4,400 sqft on a 6,230 sqft street to street lot asking 4.595 million. This one was odd, looking way bigger on the outside than the inside. The main floor has a 2 car garage, foyer than kitchen from right to left. The kitchen was huge with dual islands. Downstairs has two master bedrooms. Below that has an awkward media room where the stairs let off. Bedroom to the left and gym to the right. Down more outside stairs is a small pool and deck with cabana and bathroom. And below that a garage on the other street. Very nice views but a lot of stairs and kind of smaller than size would suggest.

1567 Blue Jay Way

3 bed 3 bath 4,116 sqft on 17,650 sqft lot asking 4,599. Enter through a two story library foyer thing facing the pool, with views over a water tower and seeing the whole LA basin. Lovely. To the left is the kitchen, living and dining space with views from almost all directions. Kitchen is smaller, with a bedroom tucked off it. To the right, the garage is up with the media below. Then there is a bedroom and bath and then the master with nice size closet and bath. I hate all the bathrooms in this house, but the door handles were funky and Asian temple feeling. It is in an area of almost boring modern party houses but has character.

1510 Blue Jay Way

Down a long drive 4 beds, 4 baths in unknown sqft with a 18,817 sqft lot asking 4,995 million. The lisiting wants you to believe it is one of the updated mid century tract homes turned palace, so common in the area. Its closer to tract home. 3 car garage and foyer with kitchen to right. Kitchen leads to dining and then living with views and pool to the left, by the library. Four beds, one tucked behind the kitchen and the rest by the garage. Pool is rather mundane, there is a cool deck cantilevered over the hill though. Views are nice, but home in front is annoyingly in the way. Looks dated already.

1440 Davies Drive

5 beds and 4 bathrooms in 3,238 sqft on a 16,728 sqft lot asking 1,995. In Beverly Hills. Its kind of an enigma house, set up in the boonies of Beverly Hills surrounded by massive estates that share the same shitty roads down. I like the layout. Foyer with library on the left, large living straight ahead. Nice master to the left of that. Right of foyer is carport with office/bedroom and then large kitchen and stairs down. Downstairs has two beds and a large deck. No pool but views. They counted the office and library as bedrooms. Pretty good update high in the hills. 

June 3rd 2012

June 3^rd 2012

1680 Sunset Plaza Drive

Not my normal expensive bread and butter, at a tame 1.679 for 2,478 sqft on 5,650 sqft lot with 3 bedrooms. However this 70s home does have a very nice view that I think would be pretty hard to find at this price point. The home is small, you enter to a foyer. Kitchen off to the right, living and stairs with view and terrace in front, a small study and an odd master bedroom are to the right. Downstairs has a bed and a bath and the garage plus laundry. Home needs updating. Too many original details, though some are updated.

1575 Carla Ridge

There are many heinous modern homes in the Trousdale area. This isn’t one of them. If anything is beautiful and huge. Storage space abounds. You enter mid level, in an oddly large foyer. Upstairs brings a living are with a sunken living room, a dining room with outdoor dining and kitchen and breakfast. There is a 2 bedroom master suite with a colossal hers closet with a safe room. Her bath has orange marble and a small garden. There is another bedroom and a huge garage. Downstairs brings us to a large game and pool area. There is a swimming pool with a ramp and another bedroom. And ten zillion closets. Very big house, somewhat disjointed at times. Perfectly staged gorgeous materials, , 7,725 sqft on a 3,6155 sqft lot with some canyon views. 4 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, asking 7.595.

9129 Robin Drive

Sitting on Robin Drive with no view is this rather forgettable home. The foyer opens to stairs with the kitchen to the left and living straight ahead. Living is big and looks back to pool and small guesthouse. Remember, no view here. Off of living is library, to the right of the foyer. The kitchen opens to the dining section of the massive living room. The kitchen has a maid’s room. Three bedrooms upstairs. It is rather forgettable and somewhat dull. Asking 19,000 per month or 3.5 outright for 4 bed, 4.5 bath, 3267 sqft on 19,530 sqft lot.

1451 Blue Jay Way

Might make sense on LSD. Since the house already looks to be on LSD, would LSD make it normal? Anyways, no two rooms match. There is soft wallpaper,  kiddy Astroturf, automated doors and odd colors. The layout is okay, nothing spectacular. The pool is very long, perfect for laps. In spite of the location there is no view whatsoever. The home is asking 3.995 for 3,028 sqft with 3 bed 3 bath on 11,950 lot.

1457 Blue Jay Way

Next to Stanley Kubrick’s sacrifice house (my name for it), there is potential. This home is currently a wreck but there is potential. There is a view and 6 beds and 7 baths in 5,500 sqft on a 28,870 sqft lot. Asking 4.396 for something that needs so much work is a tad high. The living room is huge and all the ceilings here are generous. Layout is hard to tell what is what with the current state of things. But there is potential here. The realtor told me how her psychic told her three dead bees would signal a change and she found dead bee number two here.

655 Sarbonne Way

This is a mogul house. Its old Hollywood glamour and perfect layout, with huge but still well sized rooms and its on the country club. It is the epitome of money and class, it had better be at 16.995. There are 7 beds and 12 baths in 14,00 sqft on a 36,820 sqft lot on the country club. You enter a foyer flanked by powder rooms. The main hall is large and two stories and opens onto the rear living room. The living room is huge and opens to a terrace that runs down to a path to the pool. The terrace is very Old Hollywood to me, with its nice shades. Foyer stairs are nice, no double spiral crap here. To the left is the dining room and the right presents a huge library. Perfection. The huge library has a swinging shelf that brings you to a study. Study has stairs and a powder before bringing you to a game room that opens onto the rear pool and cabana with beds, kitchen and tv. Game room goes to card room then back to living. Perfection. The dining room has a pantry to the massive kitchen. Kitchen island is the size of a mini. There is a craft room to the left of the kitchen and a family to the right, backs up on living room. Craft room brings us to more stairs and then maids quarters, Probably bigger than my room. There is a detached three car garage and a basketball court. I still prefer tennis. Upstairs has the biggest fucking master bathroom I’ve ever seen. The master is huge and has his and hers everything. Each bedroom ( I lost count) is huge and has a nice bathroom. The décor here is amazing too. The only thing I would change is a tennis court and dedicated gym. Perhaps more garage space. I WANT IT. 

May 20th 2-5

941 25^th Street

A pleasant surprise, as I rarely get out to Santa Monica. A new build Spanish style that actually manages to stay true to its roots, instead of delving into McMansion. Yes, it is large but the rooms are proportionate and the detailing is magnificent. There are two levels and a basement plus a detached three car garage on the alley. The lower level has a giant laundry room, media room with bar and powder and a frankly depressing bedroom. The main level has a sunken living room with a small terrace on the front yard, large foyer with sweeping stair, library, dining, panty with secondary staircase and the kitchen family room sprawl. None of the rooms are gargantuan, but good sized. The layout is very open and wraps around a small garden courtyard with a fountain. There are many nice details, such as the myriad of Juliet balconies, older windows and tiling. It is done well. The downside is a small yard with no pool and some rooms are very dark. Its 5 bedroom, 8 bath (you need that many) in 5,600 sqft on an 8,300 sqft lot asking 4.5 million.

1162 Sunset Hills Road

There are some spectacular modern homes above the sunset strip. This is just not one of them. It was anemic and a tad dull, plus is smelled funny. It has all the requisite Hollywood rooms, the main rooms plus the gym, sauna, spa and theatre. It just is done in such a cold fashion. The only room with a view is the double height kitchen/family room and that view is sidelong at best. This room seems to be the focus of the whole house. There are the lower entertainment levels opening to the boring pool and depressingly concrete yard. One word; Landscaping. There is a truly spectacular cabana though. All and all, too many things aren’t working here. 4 beds and 7 baths in 6,343 sqft on an 8,430 sqft lot asking 5.2 million.

9140 St Ives Drive

A hop away from the aforementioned home is one full of character, view and all at a lower price. This home on Saint Ives is different in the best way, it sets itself apart from its neighbors but not in a grotesque way. The home is small from the street, but that is just deception. There is a very nice entry courtyard and then the main house. The main level features an open and very nice kitchen, dining and living. And it is very small. But I would actually buy the furnishings here too. The upper level has two bedrooms, both good sized with private bathrooms. The master is bigger with direct views. Both bathrooms are unique, thank god. Lower level is tall, great big ceilings. It’s sort of a game room with a bedroom of to one side. Outside there is a nice wood deck with a curving zero edge infinity pool with shelf and tub. It is different and gorgeous. There is a huge cabana with fireplace off to a side. On an even lower level, down a very narrow spiral staircase is a Moroccan themed gym and spa. Not digging it as much, but still nice. I really like this house, it is unique. The downside is that it is a touch small. 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms in 4,500 sqft on an 8,000 sqft lot or so. Asking 4.295.

1764 Viewmont Drive

This home is in a little gate community tucked above Sunset Plaza, stuffed in the hill between two terrifying retaining walls. The first thing you notice is the private street; it’s not a pothole minefield like most Hollywood streets. The home has three levels. Bottom level has garage, theatre and another bedroom that opens onto a very tiny yard. Mid level is entrance, with powder living room, dining room and kitchen. Rooms open onto a deck and small but infinity pool. Seriously nice views but a very steep drop down that giant retaining wall. Some nice touches, the home is a weird modern style. Top level has master and two bedrooms sharing a bath. It is a very slick home, but maybe a touch boring when compared other Hollywood Hills homes. Seriously, everything is looking the same now. Its 6,000 sqft with 4 bedrooms and 5.5 baths on top of a 8,593 sqft lot. Asking 5.995 though knowing Hollywood it will be on the market every few years or so. 

May 20, 2012 1 of 5

117 South Burlingame Ave.

It is sort of an overgrown Colonial styled manse. The rooms are huge, but for the most part every room is devoted to sitting. There are plenty of utterly purposeless rooms. The rear yard is small and features a small pool. The front yard is mostly dominated by a retaining wall that holds the driveway. The rooms all have the same generic wood floor, all the bathrooms have the same generic marble tile. It is boring. 7,600 square foot home with 6 bedrooms, 8 baths on a 20,000 lot asking almost 8 million.

More to Come

So here I am back and working.
Many more open houses are soon to follow, I've already been out scouring new material to post here to just hang tight.