The June 2008 edition of Polar Inertia takes a photographic look at the mobile home trailers of Palm Springs. They're prefab, mobile and affordable! Beat that Marmol Radziner. Photographer Jeffrey Milstein eschews the long explanation about society, housing, or aesthetics and simply notes the focus of his photo expo: " a project documenting the mobile home trailers of palm springs, california."
· Palm Springs Trailers [Polar Inertia]
The best posts usually originate in our comments. To give appreciation to our amazing (and sometimes angry) commenters we feature their broad strokes of wisdom in a tidy comment roundup.
2) Reader Rant: Parking Tickets in Pasadena "Let's admit that this isn't merely a Pasadena problem. I've been illegally TOWED in Los Angeles and ticketed incorrectly in Weho and in both cases, recently an unpleasant anal raping instead of justice."
3) Class Attack "I personally view graffiti as a big fuck you to a civilization that has been saying as much to its own people. I'm not interested in painting on walls, but I definitely share that feeling."
4) Questions from A Bitter Renter: Is the Inland Empire Forever Screwed? "The BIG problem with the IE is that it has no character. It is full of malls (shopping, outlet, mini) and chain restauants. That is why the IE is undesirable for many urbanites. (Kind of like downtown LA - oh, did I say that? yes, I did...)"
This is like deja vu all over again. For the second time in as many months, architect Leo Marmol is giving his three-bedroom Desert Hot Springs home yet another pricechop. When it went on the market in January, it was listed at an optimistic $1.85 million. Fast forward to March and it was chopped 20 percent, to a more reasonable (though still very, very high given its location) $1.5 million. Today's chop? Another 10 percent, at $1.35 million. How low can it go? Place your bets now, folks.
· The Desert House [Architectureforsale.com]
· Pricechopper: Architect Marmol's Desert Hot Springs Home Cut! [Curbed LA]
· Architect Marmol Lists His Desert Hot Springs Home [Curbed LA]
Drama in the desert! Earlier this month, the Richard Neutra-designed Palm Springs Kaufmann House sold at a Christie's auction for$15 million, and now comes word the deal has been nixed. Christie's released the following statement: "The contract has been terminated by the Seller by reason of a breach of its terms by the buyer." Holy crap, what happened, i.e., what were the terms that were breached? Christie's statement: "This is a complex real estate sale and we cannot comment." Follow-up questions: Do you still get to keep the commission and will the house be put back on the market? "Nothing has been decided." Poor kicked-around house.
· Sold! $19 Million Total For Neutra-Designed Palm Springs House [Curbed LA]
At seven bedrooms and 8,800 square feet, this Palm Springs home is gonna kill you on the air conditioning/electric bill, but how great is that lighted tub? A reader nominated this home for a "Hideous" slot, noting that this "tragedy is enough reason to hop county lines." Located in Los Palmas Heights, the home has three separate living areas that are all connected, according to the listing. So many right angles! Smutty party pad is yours for $2.9 million.
· 700 W. Stevens Road [Windermere]
· That's Rather Hideous: Silver Lake Home Goes Day Glo Bright [Curbed LA]
Brian Linder, founder and president of real estate firm Value of Architecture, informs Curbed that the Richard Neutra-designed Palm Springs Kaufmann House, which was on the auction block this afternoon at Christie's Post War & Contemporary Art sale, sold for $15 million plus $4 million in commission fees and other complicated sounding expenses. The pre-sale estimate of the home was $15 million-$25 million, so it doesn't sound like the bidding got fierce. No word yet on who the buyer is. UPDATE: The Desert Sun notes that execs at Christie's were surprised the bidding didn't go higher. "In the end, the famed house designed by Austrian architect Richard Neutra underperformed a bit."
· Kaufmann House Set for Auction [Curbed LA]
A five-bedroom Beverly Hills home that was once the residence of Dean Martin is on the market for $5.495 million. According to the listing, Martin lived in the home from 1981-1989. [Big Time Listings]
Actress Teri Garr is selling her Brentwood home for $3.995 million. There's a sad back story: Garr, who suffered a brain brain aneurysm in 2006, recently told the Daily News: "The other day, a guy came to fix my computer, and I told him, ‘I’ve got good news and bad news. The bad news is I’ve got to sell my house because I can’t work. The good news is I’m walking.’ He said, ‘I think the good news is much better than the bad news.’ I have to look at it that way.’ [Big Time Listings]
Actors Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance have taken out the PriceChop and given their Hancock Park home a whack: The home has dropped to $4.6 million, down from $5.999 million. [Real Estalker]
When last we checked on the John Lautner-designed motel in Desert Hot Springs (an area far less fashionable than nearby Palm Springs), rumor had it the motel, which underwent a couple of pricechops, was in escrow. Proud new owners Tracy Beckmann (an interior designer based in Silver Lake) and Ryan Trowbridge (a self-described artist and entrepreneur) confirm that escrow closed on April 25th. They write: "The property, having sat unused for some time now, is clearly in need of much love." While they haven't yet divulged plans for the property they did tell us of their love of Lautner, and that "a pool is definitely in the near future!"
The pair also intend to contact Lautner's daughter and the Lautner foundation as plans progress. Final price for the property was $425,000 plus closing costs. Why such a long escrow period? "We are delighted with our purchase even though it took more than four months to close escrow due to [the] uniqueness of the property and it's location which made funding this project a challenge." Glad that's finally sorted. We can't wait to see the future pool.
· News from the Desert: Kaufmann To Be Auctioned, Lautner in Escrow [Curbed LA]
The best posts usually originate in our comments. To give appreciation to our amazing (and sometimes angry) commenters we feature their broad strokes of wisdom in a tidy comment roundup.
1.New Santa Monica Ordinance Would Limit Lawn Size: "Hey, I am free market all the way and agree that users should pay for what they use, and separate water meters for tenants is good idea but the cost of installing meters is prohibitive (based on current costs anyway)..but the REAL elephant in the room is swimming pools. Why would SM come down on "homeowners" while allowing/ignoring the water loss (some say waste) of pools?"
2. Palm Springs Kaufmann House Awaits Auction: "Kaufmann is one of if not the most famous house in the Coachella Valley. It is hard to believe today that a short 10 years ago the property was being marketed as a tear down. The Harrises deserve a lot of credit for what they did. There is no comp for Kaufmann. And since it is being sold as art not as a home, the rules are different. When was the last time you heard art collectors discussing the value of a painting based on comparisons to similar sized/colored paintings by different artists.... If this auction is successful, it will change forever how architectural masterpieces are marketed."
3. Proposed 747 Area Code May Be Driving Out Locals: "[Area codes] 213, 310, and 714 are old, but not excessively imbalanced as far as symmetry goes. 323, 424, 626, 818, 909, 949...ahh. Delicious symmetry. But then you get 562 and 951, which are all front-loaded. Ugh. No."
· Curbed Reader Comment Round-Up [Curbed LA]
[All image via Christie’s Realty International Images Ltd.]
As previously noted, on May 13th auction house Christie's will offer up the Palm Springs Kaufmann House to bidders as part of its Post War & Contemporary Art sale. Christie's pre-sale estimate of the home: $15 million-$25 million. Designed by architect Richard Neutra between 1946 and 1947, the home is, of course, featured in the current Christie's catalog, but also getting shot for virtually every high-brow and low-brow publication out there. Head high-brow for interior images--hello, kitchen!
· Richard Neutra Kaufmann House [Christie's]
· News from the Desert: Kaufmann To Be Auctioned, Lautner in Escrow? [Curbed LA]
"My Name is Earl" actress Jaime Pressly paid $2.25 million for a five-bedroom, five and a half-bath, Mediterranean-style house in the Sherman Oaks area. But Pressly still can't sell her Tarzana home; it's listed for $1.299 million. [Big Time Listings]
Terri Seymour, an actress and the girlfriend of "American Idol"'s Simon Cowell, paid $4.6 million for a 3,194-square-foot home in the Bird Streets. It's worth checking out the listing for the home, it's here. [Big Time Listings]
Hotelier Jason Pomeranc (Thompson Beverly Hills, 60 Thompson) paid $3 million for a five-bedroom, three and half bath Midcentury home. He has hired Brad Dunning to restore the home. [LA Times]
It's another edition of our irregularly scheduled look inside the blogs of our realtor friends. If you're a SoCal Realtor with a blog we should be reading, drop us a line.
1) PriceChop Hits Westwood Home: The unkindest chop, the one that takes you below a million, has hit an underwhelming property in Westwood. Why can't it sell? Scott McIntosh answers: "Well, there are several reasons as to why this house is priced lower than one million. First, the house is the last house on Greenfield next to Pico. Therefore it sits right on the alley next to Norms. Second, the house doesn't have a conventional type of floor plan. Your first step into the house is right into the kitchen counter." [Westwood RE Market]
2) Realtors Gone Wild: On Wednesday, Judy Graff spotted riot police at a Re/Max office: "...I spotted several police outside of the Re/Max in Burbank on Glenoaks and Cypress. These were the bullet-proof vested guys, not the regular uniformed officers. What's going on? Is there an agent riot happening? A distraught seller taking hostages? I hope all's okay..." [SFVRE]
3) First the Gays, Now the Canadians: We always enjoy learning about new trends. Realtor Paul Kaplan reports that Canadians and their fancy Canadian dollars are arriving in Palm Springs. "In the past few months we have been receiving a number of inquiries from our neighbors in the North, inquiring about purchasing in the Palm Springs area... Recently, my clients from Vancouver were shocked at what they could purchase here for $400,000 compared to what that same house would cost them in Canada." [ActiveRain-Paul Kaplan]
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1) PriceChop Hits Westwood Home: The unkindest chop, the one that takes you below a million, has hit an underwhelming property in Westwood. Why can't it sell? Scott McIntosh answers: "Well, there are several reasons as to why this house is priced lower than one million. First, the house is the last house on Greenfield next to Pico. Therefore it sits right on the alley next to Norms. Second, the house doesn't have a conventional type of floor plan. Your first step into the house is right into the kitchen counter." [
