Remember the model home in the Bluth Company’s Sudden Valley
development from the TV show ‘Arrested Development?’ That’s all I can think of
when looking at this 1955 Palmer & Krisel-designed home in North Long
Beach, CA. With a turret added by a previous owner, this home incorporates four
bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,038 square feet with a two car garage on a 6,300 square-foot lot with
an asking price of $499,000. Last sold in September of 2015 for $367,500, the
property has recently been flipped with lots of cosmetic-only upgrades.
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| Front of home |
This linear home faces south and features a grassy,
walled-in front yard with a long, wide driveway occupying much of the front
yard area. The home has been added onto and modified, with its most noticeable
feature a small turret over the traditionally-styled leaded glass front door.
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| Entry corridor with lone pass-through to kitchen |
Inside, the home resembles a large warehouse, with nearly
every demising wall removed from the living room-kitchen-dining area. The entry
hall is the former outdoor service porch that once sat between the main home
and formerly detached garage. The entry leads into the warehouse like-space,
which has lost most of its original intended definition.
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| Entry, kitchen and living and dining rooms |
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| Cavernous living area |
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| Kitchen and living area blend together |
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| Kitchen and living area again - there's not much privacy in this home |
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| Kitchen |
The original open beamed ceilings have been drywalled over,
and numerous inexpensive can lights have been added along with HVAC ducting.
The kitchen is open to the warehouse area and the entry thanks to a strange
pass-through, and of course features granite counters and stainless steel
appliances. The rear wall of the home features only two north-facing windows to
the exterior, and those are through mullioned white vinyl panes.
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| Guest bath |
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| Bedroom |
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| Bedroom with divits to remind us of where windows once were |
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| Master bath |
The guest bath has received a very traditional renovation,
with floor tiles covering both the floors and walls, mosaic accents and overly
ornate trim pieces. The master bath receives the same treatment, and has been
modified with a large open shower that reads like an afterthought in placement.
The bedrooms all generally reflect their original layout, with the bedrooms at
the front of the home still containing indents where original windows and clerestories
once were. Why these weren’t just covered up or even restored when the house
was being renovated is a mystery.
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| Backyard |
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| Backyard |
The backyard is pretty much like the front, filled with
concrete, a covered patio and a lone tree. The home no longer reads as a Palmer
and Krisel, which is too bad. At the purchase price restorative action could have
been taken and modernist elements befitting the architecture could have been brought
back in. If there’s anyone out there who likes large warehouse-like spaces and
remnant of modernist architecture, then this one could be a perfect fit.
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