The Middle Child

I'll finish my series on the Three Sisters with the middle one. Designed by Tony Ashai and built by Saridakis Construction in 2004, this home measures 7,188sf and sits on a flat 21,650sf lot.

(Source: Zillow)

(Source: NJC)

This home sits low, which in part makes it more challenging to photograph as a number of the facial features are obstructed by trees or other vegetation.  Unlike the other two Sisters, this home is a bit hidden from view.

It features a number of trees in the front yard, as well as a semi-circular driveway.  

 (Source: NJC)

What I like: the arched windows and doorways, with the dark wood trim. The height of the central hall.  The elevated stone block tower which sits slightly off center.  The alternating depths of the front contour.  The texture and tone of the walls.

Perhaps the arched doors on the right side are a bit too large - I understand the need for the symmetry in shape and scale to the arched doorway in the stone tower.  But maybe they could have been made a bit smaller.  The trim around the arched doors - do I love them or hate them?  I'm not sure.  Is the right side maybe a tad too busy? Too much going on?  I don't know.  When I look at this home, I have blips of "ahh, very nice" and "hmm, too much?"

Also, I suppose on a more general note, the problem I find with the newer builds that pay homage to the classic Italian and Spanish styles is that they tend to over-ornamentate (I know its not a word, but I think you get the point).  I think it was George Washington Smith, one of the great 20th century architects, that cherished the blank space, the expanse of white plaster on the faces of his homes.  Architects today for some reason feel the need to fill all the empty space with knicknacks like oversized windows, decorative trim, columns, wrought ironwork, lamps, medallions, etc etc etc.  I don't fault Ashai for this (as much) in this particular home, although I can see how one could make the argument.  Architects of today take note: less is more.  Less is more.

One other aside about Ashai.  I remember reading an interview he did a few years ago where he was asked about his design philosophy.  When he described how he approached designing one particular Italian-esque home,  he started by saying something like "most of these homes in Italy aren't finished day one, they evolve, over time, in some cases, hundreds of years, and that's reflected in their design."   In other words, what we think of today - for example this house - as a design planned and executed from day one, is really the product of a long, evolving response to changing family needs.  A new child born? Add a new bedroom to the house.  Threat of war and invasion? Let's add a guard tower.  Invention of the car? Time to build a garage.  So as Ashai does a verbal walk through of his homes, he talks about the "old part" and "new part" of the home.  When he designs homes, you can often see, even in the case of this home, how the various parts of the house in some ways look disconnected - as if built at different points in time.  I think it would be neat if, as he's describing his designs to his clients, he creates a story about the fictitious family that lived in the house, how they evolved over the years, and made changes/additions to the structure.  A new build with a history!

Anyway, on to the backyard.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)

As you can see from the aerial photos, the backyard is quite spacious and has a pool that runs width-wise.  The home also has an open central courtyard which faces the rear garden and pool area.  Nothing spectacular to write home about, given what we've seen in the other two homes.

The current owners bought the property in 2003 for $1.5M then built the current home the following year.  It was listed for sale for $6.0M in late 2008, then relisted in mid-2010 for $5.0M.

KEY STATS

Location: Lunada, PVE
Style: Italian
Year built: 2004
Architect: Tony Ashai
Square footage: 7,188sf
Lot size: 21,650 (103x225)

The Oldest Sister

Alright.  So the last post featured the newborn baby Sister.  Now we go to the oldest of the three.  The McDannold Residence.

(Source: MLS)

(Source: NJC)


Designed by Doug Leach in 2001, this 5 bedroom 7 bath home measures an estate-sized 7,528 square feet and sits on a generous 21,030 square foot lot.  One would expect a home on this scale wouldn't be complete without a pool and movie theater (it has both).  It also has a central courtyard and fountain.

(Source: NJC)

(Source: NJC)

While the other Sisters have a semi-circular driveway, this one has a driveway down the left-middle of the front yard.  I'm not a fan. It minimizes the expanse of the wide stretch of grass.   It's not even centered!  Its skewed 1/3 to the left, 2/3 from the right.  Huh?  How does that make sense?  I'm also not feeling the palm trees - they obstruct the view of front.  Too distracting.  

Moving on.  This house had a lot of promise.  I like the arched windows on the left side.  I like the stone rail on the second floor veranda.  The roof lines.  The recessed central hall.  The stone work for the door surround.  It all just works.  That's where my 'likes' end.

Now the issues.  I get that in some dialects of Italian architecture asymmetry is a key feature.  So one would think in this home, the fact that the left wing and the right wing are of differing sizes would make sense.  However, I just don't get it.  It doesn't mesh well.  The central hall looks crowded by the two protruding wings, and the right wing of the house is just a mess -   the first floor windows are far too large. The support structure for the second floor balcony also has too much bulk, while the wrought iron railing is too thin.  There's no balance.  No sense or reason for the scaling of the facial features.

(Source: NJC)

Let's go to the backyard.  Again, Doug chooses to be different.  Unlike the other two Sisters that have pools which run the width of the lot, this pool runs length-wise.  As you'll see from the photos, the back yard is quite formal, driven by symmetry and balance 

(Source: MLS)

(Source: MLS)

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)


All things considered, the house is ok.  This ranks third of the three Sisters in terms of visual appeal.  It had a lot of promise (and with a few tweaks, could be quite attractive).  However, in its current state, its not my favorite.

The most recent info I found online showed that this house was last listed for sale in August 2010 for $5.995M.  It was removed from the MLS a month or so later but exists as a pocket listing with one of the local Peninsula real estate agents.

Update: At the present time, the current owners of this home are in the process of building a new residence at 700 Via Horcada in Malaga Cove.  According to public records, the couple purchased 700 Via Horcada for $2.8M last year and have hired Doug Leach (again) to design a 6,800 square foot home on the private 1.0 acre steeply sloped lot.

KEY STATS

Location: Lunada, PVE
Style: Italian
Year built: 2001
Architect: Doug Leach
Square footage: 7,528sf
Lot size: 21,030 (103x222)

Welcome Curbedsters!

Special thanks to Curbed LA for featuring HoPV on their post yesterday.  HUGE increase in volume, so welcome new readers!  I hope to shine a light on the charm and beauty of little known Palos Verdes.  Tons of homes ranging from modest bungalows to mega-mansions, California Ranch to Spanish Colonial.  Let me know what you guys want to see!  E-mail me HomesofPalosVerdes@gmail.com

Screen shot from aerial tour.  Check it out here: Aerial tour of the Palos Verdes Peninsula

Brand spankin' new!

Nothing better than having the charm of an Old World exterior with the interior amenities of a modern home.  This is the first of three posts on what I'll call the Three Sisters.  The Three Sisters are all homes built in the last 10 years  by three different architects in various dialects of the Mediterranean style.  They sit next to one another and  replace older, 1950/60s-era single story ranch style homes on wide, ocean front lots.  On either side of these three homes are older homes, in varying architectural styles.  I'm a big fan of all three homes because I think they all have a strong fidelity to their various architectural styles and also deliver on the original intent of the planners of the Palos Verdes Project.

Today's post focuses on the newest and youngest of the three.   Designed by Culver City-based EnviroTechno in 2009, the home was completed only a few weeks ago.  This home sits on a flat 1/2 acre lot (105x212) and replaces a 2,993 square foot ranch style home built in 1963.   The current homeowners bought the property in late 2008 for $2.4M and began construction of the new home in late 2009.  The home was completed in December 2010.

(Source: NJC)

(Source: NJC)

(Source: NJC)

The front of property features beautiful mature palm trees and a sprawling lawn.   The homes on this street are set back quite a way from the curb.  In fact, while this lot is quite long (212-225 feet), it also has city parkland as its front yard - i.e. approximately 30 feet of its front yard is actually owned by the city of Palos Verdes Estates.  I would suspect that the home sits about 60 feet from the curb.

I think EnviroTechno did a great job with the facade.  With 105 feet of lot width to work with, the scale of the windows, arches, columns and doors all make sense.  The arcaded front porch with tasteful arches, the modest landscaping as well as an attractively simple yet elegant semi-circular driveway all contribute to a sense of appropriateness of the home with its surroundings (plus no front facing garage!!!).  My only knock against the front facade is the scale of the central tower, which in my view, may be a tad too wide.  That said, I think this is a facade one could grow to love.  (As an aside, I've seen a great many examples of a front facial layout similar to this in the flats of Beverly Hills between Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards.  In several cases, the architects took a great many liberties in oversizing arches, medallions, columns and other facial features that result in a caricature of a house (the un-PC Persian Palace effect).  What's more - the lots are not as generous as this one, with very tight front and side setbacks.)  Anyhow, back to this home.

One other feature I find attractive is the scaling of the first and second floors.  You'll notice that the second story is tucked away under the roof, and I would suspect is a good 1-2 feet shorter than the first floor.  This helps reduce the mass - which, unlike what you see in McMansions - illustrates restraint on the part of the homeowners and architects that favors good design over maximizing size (no one needs 12 foot ceilings throughout the whole house!)

(Source: NJC)

The original 1963 ranch style home which sat on this lot was owned by the original owners for over 45 years and only sold in 2008.  It occupied a good portion of the lot and had a single lane driveway that led to the garage and a tennis court at the rear of the property.

(Source: Google Maps)

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)

The rear yard had a number of mature trees which have since been cleared, along with the tennis court to make room for a paved courtyard and pool.  

(Source: Google Maps)

(Source: NJC)

Given the young age of the home, public records are still missing some fun facts (like square footage) but I will add those as they become available in the future.  Based on the other two 'sisters,' I suspect this home is approximately 7,000 square feet and would have a market value today of approximately $5-6M.

KEY STATS

Location: Lunada, PVE
Style: Italian
Year built: 2010
Architect: EnviroTechno
Square footage: n/a, but approx. 7,000sf
Lot size: 21,600 (105x212)

Whimsical Cape Cod in Valmonte

Back to beautiful Valmonte, PVE.  This home, a beautiful, whimsical Cape Cod style home - The Malit Residence.  Designed by Russ Barto in 2007, this 3,982 square foot home sits on one of the smaller PVE lots, totaling 7,800 square feet.

(Source: NJC)

(Source: NJC)

The corner home replaces an older, single-story 1950s home which occupied the lot.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)


As you can see, the previous home was a modest ranch style house whose primary frontage faced in the same direction as the garage.  In general, a 60-foot wide lot doesn't give an architect much design flexibility - there's only so much one can do with 60 feet of length, when 17 feet of that is side yard setback, 16 feet of that is garage door.  In the new home, the owners and architect re-oriented the house so that the primary facade would enjoy a greater length along what was previously the side street of the former house.  This gave the owners/architect much more canvas with which to craft a beautiful house.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)


The current home owners purchased the original lot in 2002 for $825,000.  While I was critical of Russ Barto's work in an earlier post, this is by far (in my opinion) his finest work on the Peninsula.  I know the owners of this home had a very strong sense of how they wanted the home to look - they knew early on they wanted alternating roof lines to create visual interest and at the same time give the house a unique character and sense of timelessness.  This is definitely not one of your cookie-cutter South Bay Cape Cods!  Even the garage, with two separate one car doors, are subtley placed beside a turret which acts as the primary south facing focal point.Without the home owners strong aesthetic sense, I'm sure this home would not have turned out nearly as attractive and special.  I will post soon  a home also designed by Barto in the Cape Cod style which is much less creative.  Stay tuned for that.

Back to the Malit Residence.  The home itself is stunning, outside and inside.  The owners also relied on the expertise of interior designer Phil Norman, principal of Norman Design Group, to craft a stunning interior, complete with finished basement.

 (Source: Norman Design Group)

(Source: Norman Design Group)

The layout of the house is also unique.  Upon entering the home from the side street, one is greeted with a nice entry foyer that is open the formal living room and dining room immediately on the right, and a home office/library and garage on the left.  Walking further down the hall, one arrives at the expansive kitchen/family room, which has a quaint breakfast nook as well.  The home opens up to a backyard that is on one of many Valmonte walking trails.  Overall, a very well done home!

KEY STATS

Location: Valmonte, PVE
Style: Cape Cod
Year built: 2007
Architect: Russ Barto
Square footage: 3,982
Lot size: 7,800 (60x130)

A special treat today! Oh what a lucky day...

So I was perusing through some of the architects' websites to see if any new material has been posted and I stumbled upon one of the original PVE homes which I posted on earlier - in fact, it was my very first home post!

The Gard Residence. Recall my original post here - A trip down memory lane .  As a refresher, here's the home (one of my personal favs!)

(Source: Palos Verdes library)

 (Source: Palos Verdes library)

 (Source: Palos Verdes library)




As you'll recall from my earlier post, this home underwent a remodel in 1993 by the owners.  A detailed description of the remodel is contained in that post.  As luck and fate would have it, I came across the architect's website responsible for the remodel - none other than the Ed Beall.  Here are some shots of the newly remodeled home.  Beautiful!

 (Source: ECB & Associates)

(Source: ECB & Associates)


I'm generally not a fan when folks remodel historic homes but in this case, I think Beall did a fantastic job.  The rear facade (first image) looks seamless, including the new addition above the former terrace and the addition of the second floor walkway.  On the front facade (second image), subtle changes have been made including the arching of the windows on the first floor, north side, and the addition of a symmetric set of stairs on the right side of the image.  Other changes include the addition of two windows on the lower right, in place of the previous, large window and the addition of two windows on the second floor (including one on the rotunda).  According to several records I found online, the owners of the home bought the property in 1992 for $2.3M (cash, no mortgage!) then originally planned to spend $1.05M on the remodel.  When all was said and done, the owners spent approximately $2.7M on the remodel - over $5M invested into the home!  Money and time well spent in my opinion.  Kudos!

KEY STATS (REVISED!)

Location: Valmonte, PVE
Style: Spanish
Year built: 1927 / 1993
Architect: Kirtland Cutter / Ed Beall
Square footage: 13,041
Lot size: 1.3 acres

A beautiful home in a coastal RPV tract

Along the coast, there was once upon a time an effort to build a high-end development of Mediterranean mansion-y tract homes in the late 1990s called Oceanfront.  While that went through a series of starts/stops, ultimately, a number of homes were built on the land.  Today, there are a couple of vacant lots still available there but for the most part, the development is complete.

(Source: Bing Maps)

One of my favorite homes - and I'll be honest, a number of the homes in this development do look like McMansions - is this one below.  While it is strikingly similar in layout and facial features to its left and right neighbors, this is, in my view, the best and most authentic feeling of the three.

(Source: NJC)

Built in 2005, the home measures a whopping 6,288 square feet, has 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, and sits on an incredibly generous 24,308 square feet (115x212).  It was last purchased in late 2006 for $3.5M, a steal given the size of the home and lot and the proximity to the breathtaking bluffs.  The garage doors, while front-facing (a feature of homes I generally do not like), still seem understated and do not detract from the facade.  The entrance to the home, with its arches and faux balcony, have a familiar, inviting feel from the walkway.  The windows, while perhaps a touch too large for the home, still remain more or less in scale.  

Quick aside: one of my many complaints against the new "Mediterranean" McMansiony homes is that often times, while they incorporate authentic features of whatever original architectural style they're paying tribute to, it is generally out of scale with other features of the home.  Windows and arches are the two biggest offenders.  More on this in future posts, but for now, back to the Oceanfront home.

(Source: Bing Maps)

The home features a very nice interior courtyard, a HUGE backyard, and it looks as though the current owners have been in the process of installing a pool.  One of my only knocks against this house is that it its neighbors are identical in layout with only subtle (but very important) changes to the facade.  Couldn't the developer have been a bit more creative?

(Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)

The neighborhood lacks the mature trees of neighboring coastal areas, a function I'm sure of the fairly young age of this development.  Overall, a very nice house I wouldn't mind calling home.

KEY STATS

Location: Oceanfront, RPV

Style: Italian

Year built: 2005

Architect: Unknown

Square footage: 6,288

Lot size: 24,308 (115x212)

Taking a detour to RPV

I've spent a fair amount of time singing the praises of the original Palos Verdes Project, a great deal of which was realized in the city of Palos Verdes Estates.  Its larger, more populous neighbor, Rancho Palos Verdes, didn't enjoy quite the same development path as its smaller sibling.  Much of the land that was part of the original 16,000 acre Palos Verdes Project was sold off to other developers and builders.  A lion's share of that land, nearly 8,750 acres, became the city of Rancho Palos Verdes, incorporated in 1973.

RPV, as it is more commonly known, is the largest city on the Peninsula by both land and population.  In fact, the population of RPV is greater than the sum of the populations of PVE, Rolling Hills, and Rolling Hills Estates  combined (the "90274") - by a factor of two!  It also has its own zipcode - 90275 - one of the two zipcodes of the Peninsula.  Unlike other Peninsula communities, RPV is very much a large collection of smaller neighborhoods and developments.  Some are charming, like the Miraleste section to the southeast or the Portuguese Bend area on the coast, and others are less so, resembling the large, ranch-style tracts of the 1960s and 1970s that are found on the much less exclusive grounds of Torrance, Gardena, Lawndale and other parts of the South Bay.

Grandview Estates, RPV

 (Source: Bing Maps)

Portuguese Bend, RPV

(Source: Bing Maps)


RPV is home to some of the more expensive homes on the Peninsula, as well as the cheapest homes, including a large number of condominiums and townhomes.  It is also home to the only public 18-hole golf courses on the Peninsula (and Beach Cities): Los Verdes and Trump National (the only two other courses are private - the Palos Verdes Country Club in PVE, and the Rolling Hills Country Club in RHE).  The Terranea Resort is also located in RPV (and includes a 9-hole golf course).  RPV borders Palos Verdes Estates to the north, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates to the east, and the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles to the south.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

The contrast between RPV and other neighboring towns can be quite pronounced in certain areas - take for example, the distinct difference in street layout and overall feel between the upper Lunada Bay area of PVE on the left and the abutting neighborhood of RPV on the right.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

All that said, I'm a fan of a number of the areas of RPV (although I think my heart is in PVE).

Time for a quick change - From Spanish to Cape Cod

While the Palos Verdes Project was initially envisioned as an American version of the French Riviera - an oasis for the well-to-do, dotted with magnificent Mediterranean homes along its majestic coastline, it didn't ultimately end up exactly that way.  As a result of the Great Depression and a number of other factors, strict adherence to certain architectural styles was relaxed and the PVE Art Jury allowed additional styles including Cape Cod and American Colonial in certain areas of the Peninsula.  Fast forward 80 years and here we are with the present day Peninsula, a mix of homes both in size and in style, ranging from beautiful 1920s-era Spanish estates to more modest 1950s-era ranch style homes and everything in between.

The Caslin Residence. Perched on the bluffs above Lunada Bay, lies a very nice 5,467 square foot Cape Cod home designed by Doug Leach and built in 2007 on a generous 18,880 square foot lot.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, Leach is one of the more prolific architects in the region and is known primarily for his Mediterranean and Cape Cod style homes.

(Source: NJC)

The home sits well on the lot, although I generally prefer the garage be hidden from view or at least more appropriately camouflaged with the rest of the facade.  The home replaces an older single-story home, likely built in the mid-1950s as evidenced from earlier aerial shots.

(Source: Bing Maps)


As you can see from the image above, not much has changed in terms of the layout of the home and its position (driveway and front door) on the 100x197 lot.  In fact, a later aerial shot shows the pool basically untouched in the new home.

 (Source: Bing Maps)

(Source: Bing Maps)

Home records indicate the current owners purchased the house in 1987 for $540,000.  The house is quite a nice example of Cape Cod, but the PV purist in me feels this style is out of place on the Peninsula.  I long for the original designs of the Palos Verdes Project planners that envisioned a truly unique retreat for the well-to-do residents of Southern California - a place unique in its identity and feel.  The sort of sensibility you get from a place like Carmel-by-the-Sea.

KEY STATS

Location: Lunada Bay, PVE
Style: Cape Cod
Year built: 2007
Architect: Doug Leach
Square footage: 5,467
Lot size: 18,880 (100x197)