House of the week - sideways

Would you like to live in a house on its side? That costs over $1 million in the Hollywood Hills? No? Me neither.  But here's a new post and picture direct from the mls.  I won't add the address because I don't want to embarrass the listing agent.  Further, when you click on any of the links, including the actual mls number, it will take you to a different house.  New-fangled marketing, unfortunate mistake, or end times? You decide.

House of the week: 210 N. Norton in Windsor Square, in an HPOZ neighborhood

Yes, we all love mid-century modern architecture, but I'm a sucker for this kind of character design.  Before getting into the specs, why did I select this home? Because it's in an HPOZ, or historic protection overlay zone.  This, yes, preserves the historic architecture of many L.A. neighborhoods.  Owners can't make many changes to these homes without city approval.  Before you get all "too much government interference in our lives" on me, here's the benefit.  Many homes in these HPOZ neighborhoods qualify for Mills Act property tax exemptions -- yes you pay property tax, but not nearly what you'd ordinarily pay.  Nice, eh?  Anyway, this home features three bedrooms, three baths, almost 3000 sf of living space, and is on an 8000+ sf lot.  It has been splendidly maintained inside and is priced at $2,699,000.  A property tax cut on that assessed value would be quite welcome.

White, gray, wicker: is home-for-sale staging beginning to look all the same?

I love good staging at homes for sale.  Yes, furniture and accessories do help to sell homes.  Lately, though, I've noticed a sameness to the staging at most of the homes for sale that I see here in the L.A. area, regardless of who the staging company is.  Everything is white and gray, with a "pop" of  bright accessory color.  And wicker.  Lots and lots of boxy wicker outdoor furniture. (There's a lot of new home design similarity too, but I'll save that for another time.)  The east side homes aren't quite as guilty of this as the west side and valley, but they're catching up.  For example, this is what I saw during just the last few days. I wish I had invested in this patio furniture company.