It's the last week in December, when according to tradition we make up a bunch of awards and hand them out to all the best, worst, and shitshowiest of things that happened in Los Angeles real estate, architecture, and neighborhoods this year. These are your 2011 Curbed Awards.
Best Sets For Sale
3) The Alfred Rosenheim-designed American Horror Story house
2) The Dude's bungalow court from the Big Lebowski
1) The Fox Residence in Chatsworth, used in Dreamgirls, Ali, and on "The Jet Set" episode of Mad Men
Newcomer of the Year
Is there a better way for a 22 year old British socialite, unknown on this side of the pond, to make her intro into the US tabloids than by buying one of the most notorious houses in Los Angeles for $85 million? No, there is not. And that is just what young Miss Petra Ecclestone did when she picked up Candy Spelling's house in Holmby Hills.
Ugly on the Inside Award
For houses that are as awful as their owners. This year tere could be no other winner than the Huntington Beach house belonging to Bell's allegedly corrupt ex-city manager Robert Rizzo. It sold in October for $939,000.
Better Shelter Award For Achievements in Hipster Flipping
ModOp Design tried out something new this year--hipster condo flipping--and did pretty well at it.
Biggest Makeunder
Billboard queen Angelyne's Malibu condo looked just as it should, covered in pink plastic and Marabou feathers, when she put it in the market last year. But when it finally sold, the new owners flipped it out with boring white everything. Ah well, it seems to have worked--it recently sold for $800,000.
Most Phallic Pool
This one.
Best Real Estate Hijinks
Awarded to the celebrity who has the most ridiculous things happen to them in the course of selling a house. Of course this year's award goes to Rose "Pot Brownies" McGowan, who accidentally left the baked goods out for her broker and inspectors. She then sold her lovely house, hated her new house, and begged for the old one back from Paul McCartney's manager.
PriceChopper Hall of Fame
After nearly four years on the market and approximately 7,000 pricechops, architect Marmol Radziner sold his Desert Hot Springs prefab house for $600,000. Original asking price: $1.85 million.
TV Show of the Year
Friends went off the air seven years ago, but most of its cast members were selling houses (and nice ones) this year. There was Matthew Perry in Malibu (and everywhere else), David Schwimmer in Hancock Park, and Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox, both in Trousdale Estates.
Listing Trend of the Year
Gore Vidal set yet another trend when he showed up in the listing photos for his house in the Outpost Estates--all of a sudden there were people in every other photo on the MLS (ok, maybe more like every third photo). Jack Nicholson was an early adopter and others followed suit.
· Curbed Awards 2011 [Curbed LA]