Our mid-century property guru returns with a look inside the walls of a marriage gone sour and the house caught in the middle. Poor house.
"Back on the market in under a year, the 1928 Lloyd Wright Samuel-Navarro House is for sale at $3,100,000.
Built for Louis Samuel and later owned by silent screen actor Ramon Navarro, who was beaten to death by a street hustler in the home in a different home, the Samuel-Navarro house was purchased and restored by Diane Keaton in the 90s. Since then, its flipped a couple times, keeping her tasteful work in tact. Most recently selling for just over $3,000,000.
The home is in the "now hip" (according to the TMZ.com bozos, who missed this trend by say 10 years) "Oaks" section of the Los Feliz Hills and is highly published.
I nearly cried at the open house Sunday. Once all white walls and concrete floors, letting green painted wood work and the hammered-cooper friezes and panels provide contrast and impact, the new owners had "remodeled" terribly, putting garish flocked wall paper on the master bedroom wall and painting everything else in dark, somber colors including blacks. It feels more drug den than architectural masterpiece.
The good news is that, beyond paint and wall paper, they did very little. The bad news is, beyond paint and wall paper, they did very little. While the austere bathrooms still work, the kitchen could use some upgrading and punch. The exterior needs a wash, patch and paint and the landscaping has a couple problem areas. Perhaps not having time, very little was done to the wonderful bottom floor which should be re-made into a new full floor master suite.
The reason as to why the house was back on the market was explained as "the owners are separated and now need to sell." Is it possible that one of those souls realized what was being done and bailed out of anger or embarrassment?
The architectural justice here is that even at full listing the owners will lose a bit of money after brokers fees and closing costs. And, as the house shows far worse than it did before, the chances of full list are slimmer than last time where the house sold at like $100,000 below asking. This leaves enough money for the next owners to buy one of the books the house was in and restore it to its former restored glory."
· Lloyd Wright Architectural - 2255 Verde Oak Drive [The Value of Architecture]