5223 Winnetka Ave Will Make You ROTFL And Say WTF!
Siegfried? Roy? Liberace?
Oh man, normally I wouldn’t even bother to re-post a real estate related story off of Curbed LA. But, you’ve absolutely got to see the interior of the house at 5223 Winnetka Ave in Woodland Hills. See all the pictures on Curbed LA’s site. It will be worth a good laugh or two on this rainy Friday. And just think, for a mere $6.5 million it could be yours! This asking price is absurd because the location of the house is very mundane and they guy paid $2.25 million for it in ‘07 and we all know where the market has gone since then. But hey, maybe gilded leopard statues get you amazing bang for your buck!
When we spied the exterior of this eight-bedroom, seven-and-half bath we consulted with an expert to try to figure out what exactly was going on, architecturally-speaking. Neoclassical Revival columns and balustrades, she thought. Mediterranean roof. French-inspired quoins flanking the entrance. The mashed-up exterior didn’t even hint at the wonders to be found inside. But here’s our dirty little secret. We sort of love it. It’s a fine line between something truly hideous and something that is actually secretly spectacular. What’s the difference? Like the Supreme Court definition of pornography, we can’t explain it. We only know it when we see it. With a “palace” this majestic, we can only imagine the dungeon that lies beneath. According to the listing, the house was “designed by top industry designers and transformed into a true royal mediteranean palace with no expense spared.” The designers also had “a meticulous approach to fine details that created the emotional and rich ambience this palace exudes.” The owner, who was profiled in the NY Times a decade ago for quitting yeshiva to become a tech millionaire at the age of 18, is also hoping to make a hefty profit on this investment. Purchased in 2007 for $2.25 million, today’s asking price is $6.5 million or $801 per square foot. That’s almost triple neighborhood comps.
Visit Curbed LA to see all of the images.
Popularity: 14%
SF Valley Cultural Landmarks In The News, Including “Corbin Palms House” In Woodland Hills
Corbin Palms Advertisement
Some San Fernando Valley landmarks were in the news yesterday, including a home in Woodland Hills.
Chris Nichols knows a good beer-barrel building when he sees one. And a group of Kennedy High School students has an eye for San Fernando Valley architectural gems.
Both are seeking to save four historic buildings, from a Lankershim Ranch reading room to a North Hills church.
And both are working to name each a city Historic-Cultural Monument, which would protect such landmarks as the onion-domed Sepulveda Unitarian church and the barrel-shaped bar once known as the Idle Hour Cafe.
The nominations for monument status, including three by the Kennedy High students, will be considered today by the Cultural Heritage Commission. If approved, the applications will likely clear the City Council this spring.
“It’s particularly exciting to have four remarkable San Fernando Valley landmarks in a single Cultural Heritage agenda,” said Ken Bernstein, manager of the city Office of Historic Resources.
“It’s tremendously exciting that a Valley architectural magnet school is preparing an entirely new generation of preservationists to take responsibility for Valley history.”
Fewer than 10 percent of the city’s nearly 1,000 historic-cultural monuments are located in the San Fernando Valley.
One of these sites is the Corbin Palms House:
The Corbin Palms House, an impeccable ranch-style house in Woodland Hills built in 1955 by William Krisel and Dan Palmer. The duo designed many modernist homes in the Valley and Palm Springs.
A site I found called Eichler Networks did an great write up about Corbin Palms here (a must read), and this is there blurb about that development:
• Corbin Palms is located on the west side of Corbin Avenue, between Calvert and Hamlin streets. The 6100 and 6200 blocks of Jumilla have homes that are particularly well preserved. Two landmark homes share a broad, park-like lawn on Corbin, just south of Topham Street. Victory Boulevard has a remarkable array of palms.
I was trying to figure out by searching online exactly which home they are speaking about in the article, and as of this moment I’m not sure. If anyone has any idea, please leave a comment so I can find it and go take a picture.
Popularity: 8%
The Arbors Apartment Community Gets Flipped For $17 Million Loss?
Man, it’s a slow news week so far in Woodland Hills. Must be all this gloomy weather? So, I’ll cover this mind numbingly boring real estate transaction.
A joint venture between an affiliate of the San Francisco-based Swig Co. and an institutional real estate investment fund managed by Capmark Investments LP has acquired the 250-unit Arbors at Warner Center multifamily residential community located in the Warner Center area of Woodland Hills.
The property was purchased for approximately $33 million dollars — about $132,000 per unit.
Now, what sort of makes it interesting is that back in mid-2006 an Orange County company purchased the property for $50 million.
An Orange County real estate investment firm has paid more than $50 million for the Arbors at Warner Center, a 12-building apartment complex, and will invest several millions more in an extensive renovation, officials said Tuesday. The price paid by Real Estate Partners Inc. to Gateway Arbors LLC works out to about $200,000 per unit.
Now, I can’t exactly tell if it was Real Estate Partners that sold the property in this most recent transaction, but it certainly stands to reason. Maybe the new buyers got a sweet deal, but I’m guessing the seller got hosed thoroughly on this one. $17 million hit has to sting!
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