Fairway Blvd | View Park

 

Custom built in 1936 by a USC professor in the heart of View Park, one of L.A.’s historically significant neighborhoods, this house was a local trophy property that had seen better days. The first step in the restoration was to address all the outdated systems, including new roof, new electrical, new HVAC, and new plumbing. The house is a grand Spanish revival with two stories — sited on a sloping corner lot, allowing for a very large above grade basement.

The lower level space consisted of a large recreation room looking out to the pool, with an adjacent apartment originally for the in-house staff. The new owners, expecting no live-in servants, wished to convert this lower level to a fully private unit in order to bring in rental income as soon as possible. In a state of serious disrepair — extensive cosmetic updates were required. Furthermore, since this unit was to operate independently of the main house, integrated systems were to be reconfigured — at the lowest possible cost while still offering a sense of style. Attractive laminate flooring was installed throughout, and the bathroom was completely gutted. The original kitchen was updated with new appliances (bought refurbished), some new cabinets to integrate with the original cupboards, and snazzy solid surface counters. The shared pool area was the access point for this lower level apartment, so to provide a more private entrance, a courtyard was created out of existing space, requiring the rebuilding of a small portion of a garden wall.

Upstairs in the main portion of the residence, there was a great deal of restoration. Original floors throughout had been covered, both tile and hardwood. The Kitchen was gutted and opened to an adjacent Breakfast Room. Here, a tight budget required stock cabinets and inexpensive quartz prefab counters. The space was “jazzed up” with a Malibu Tile backsplash, a splurge of about $1,800 – but just the custom detail to bring the space up a couple notches. The Master Bathroom was still sporting all it’s original 1936 tile, but completely painted over. This was restored as best as possible. A second bath was so badly previously remodeled that it was beyond saving, so it was gutted and rebuilt as well. The layout of the master suite was updated by relocating a number of doors, and closets to make it serviceable for today’s lifestyle. Outside, the pool was in a state of disrepair, both cosmetically and mechanically. This was addressed by sand blasting, retiling, and re-plastering the pool, and installing new mechanical equipment. The surrounding patio, already cracked, but further damaged by this work, was inexpensively updated with special patio paint for under $2,000.