Allied Gardens Palmer & Krisel Restoration Opportunity – Hacienda Heights, CA

Built in 1960 in Allied Gardens in Hacienda Heights, CA is this Palmer & Krisel-designed restoration opportunity. With a solid form, this home features three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,240 square feet and a includes a rear-yard two-car detached garage on a 6,600 square-foot lot and carries an asking price of $458,300.

The home sits on a wide east-facing pie-shaped lot which has recently been fenced in for some reason. A wide lawn sits behind the decidedly anti-modernist fence, and a large shade tree sits precariously close to the front of the home. Unfortunately all of the large, floor-to-ceiling four pane windows that were once located on the front of the home were removed by the current owners, and replaced with shortened, chest-high mullioned white vinyl windows recently.

Living room 

Living and dining area

Dining room

Inside, the living room sits at the rear of the home, overlooking the backyard through more mullioned replacement windows. The original fireplace and paneled surround has been maintained, while the original clerestory windows that were once above the fireplace have again recently been drywalled over.

Kitchen 

Kitchen - blank wall was once opening to entry

The original kitchen cabinetry surprisingly still in intact, and has been retrofitted with composite counters and stainless steel appliances. The opening to the entry hall has been sealed off, creating a strange blank wall between cabinet openings that makes the kitchen feel smaller than it is, while a boob light above the kitchen sink begs to be replaced.

Secondary bedroom 

Secondary bedroom 

Master bedroom 

Guest bath

The secondary bedrooms are split from the master, with the master bedroom sited off the entry on the south side of the home, and the secondary bedrooms located along the north side. The bedrooms are relatively diminutive in size, and the bathrooms have been updated in new traditional, not in keeping with the architectural style of the home.

There’s no photos of the backyard provided, but the detached two car garage sits along the north side of the rear yard, while the rest of the space contains a patchy lawn that’s about half as wide as the front yard. A lone tree sits along the south side of the yard, leaving the rest of the space an opportunity to create a personalized space.

This one has unfortunately been sanitized, but the bones are still there to work with and restore, should a new owner decide to make this a restoration.

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com here: 1702 Armington Avenue

Or Zillow.com here: 1702 Armington Avenue

Allied Gardens Palmer & Krisel Pool Home For Sale – Hacienda Heights, CA

Brand new to the market is this 1955 Palmer & Krisel-designed home in Allied Gardens in Hacienda Heights, CA. With three bedrooms and two baths in 1,200 square feet, this home includes a detached garage and an in-ground pool all on a 6,100 square-foot lot and carries an asking price of $480,000.

Front of home

Corner side of home

The front of the north-facing home features huge mature pine trees, set in a front lawn which has recently become another drought victim. The home sits on a corner lot, with the detached garage sited in the backyard of the home accessed from the corner side of the home. The home generally retains original features out front, with original four-pane front windows most noticeably modified with air conditioner retrofits.  

Living room 

Dining room 

Inside the home, the living and dining rooms sit at the rear of the home, overlooking the backyard. The living room features a modified flush fireplace with east-facing clerestories above. The original floor-to-ceiling windows in the living and dining room have been shortened and replaced with small, square white vinyl retrofits, which cut down on the amount of natural light entering the south-facing room.

Kitchen with original cabinets and sink

Kitchen 

Laundry sits open to kitchen 

Original floating island between kitchen and dining

The kitchen sits at the front of the home open and adjacent to the dining room. Most of the cabinetry is original, along with tile countertops, sink, faucet and floating island. All appears to be fairly well-preserved after 61 years of use.

Part of master bedroom - this was the best out of like 15 photos

Master bath with original vanity and medicine cabinet

The master bedroom sits off the entry at the front of the home, and shares a jack-and-jill bathroom with the entry hall. The master bedroom still includes its original clerestories, while the master bath still maintains its original marble vanity and medicine cabinet. The secondary bedrooms sit on the west side of the home, along with the guest bath, adjacent to the kitchen and dining rooms. The guest bath has been updated with newer fixtures and vanities, indicative of a big-box store renovation.

Back of home

Patio, fire pit and pool

Pool and fire pit

The backyard is relatively small in size, with the swimming pool occupying most of the yard. A severely cracked patio surrounds the pool, with a rough-appearing fire pit sited between the back of home and pool.  The detached two-car garage occupies the rest of the backyard, which backs up to adjacent Haliburton Road.

This midcentury home just needs an infusion of modernism, with creative solutions to both the front and rear yards, and lack of central air needing to be solved. 

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com, with lots of really bad photos here: 16002 Flamstead Drive

Or Zillow.com here: 16002 Flamstead Drive

Allied Gardens Palmer & Krisel For Sale – Hacienda Heights, CA

This has been a banner month for modified Palmer & Krisel homes, and this new listing in Hacienda Heights, CA is no exception. Built in 1955 as part of the Allied Gardens development, this modified midcentury home features four bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,450 square feet with a very large two car garage all on a large 8,000 square-foot lot with an asking price of $498,000.

Front of home - garage roof has been raised & heighten from original

The two most noticeable modifications to this California contemporary home are the upwards expansion of the two car garage and the high hat roofline which has been placed above the entry. Cornices have been added to both modifications, along with archways to match the Victorian-style front door. Originally this home would have had a much more unassuming entry and more appropriately-scaled detached garage.

The home sits on a large grassy pie-shaped lot in the knuckle of Matchleaf Avenue, allowing for a large southeast-facing rear yard. White vinyl-mullioned windows have taken the place of the original trimline aluminum windows out front, which alters the intended character of the home.

Dining room addition

Kitchen

Inside, there’s only three photographs provided of the interior of the home, leaving the rest to be discovered upon viewing. A small dining area has been added in the former service porch between the kitchen and the garage, with a pass-through constructed through a former window.  The kitchen is located at the northern corner of the home, and features raised panel cabinetry with laminate counter tops from what appears to be a mid-1990’s update.

Living room

The living room sits adjacent to the kitchen, and features clerestory windows and original paneling. A traditional mantle has been added to the original fireplace, which blurs the modernist lines of Krisel’s architectural hallmark.

The four bedrooms and two bathrooms occupy the southern half of the home, with two bedrooms and a bath along the front of the home and two bedrooms and a bath facing the rear, in a floorplan that we’ve seen all over from Santa Ana to Pomona, Las Vegas to Whitter. There’s no photographs provided of the bedrooms, but dimensions were typically small, approximately 10’ x 10’ in size. Homeowners tend to remove a demising wall between bedrooms in these models to create one large master suite.

Covered patio & back of home

Covered patio

Backyard

The backyard is large and grassy, containing a few fruit trees and a small covered patio area, essentially leaving it a blank slate for a water-conserving modernist makeover.

There’s a bit of work that’s going to be required to bring this house back to its original aesthetic, but most of the bones are there for those willing to take on a challenge.

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com here: 1780 Matchleaf Avenue

Or Realtor.com here: 1780 Matchleaf Avenue

Allied Gardens Palmer & Krisel For Sale – Hacienda Heights, CA

After a little digging last week we were able to uncover the Palmer & Krisel-designed neighborhood of Allied Gardens, built in 1955 by builders Bollenbacher & Kelton. This particular midcentury home features four bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,699 square feet with a two-car garage on a 6,100 square-foot lot with an asking price of $530,000.

The home has been expanded from its original 1,200 square-foot floor plate with additions between the main home and the formerly detached garage and a small extension that extends off of the rear of the home. This home was the victim of a flip in 2012, which saw bathrooms, kitchens and windows updated, including removal of the signature clerestories.

The front of the home reflects still retains its general Krisel exterior, with modifications reflective of the addition that was put on between the garage and home sometime in the 1970s. This addition removed several of the front windows and modified the roofline, but luckily doesn’t significantly alter the overall aesthetic of the property.

Original Allied Gardens Home, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)

Like most Krisel homes, the kitchen sits at the front of the home while the living and dining rooms site at the back. The kitchen has been opened up to the entry hall and living room, leaving little room for spatial division and in-home privacy. The kitchen features traditional big-box store style cabinetry that is more traditionally-styled than the contemporary architecture of the home, and like most flips, sports granite countertops with stainless steel appliances.

Living Room and addition. Removed clerestories around the fireplace and small windows at the addition create a darker-than-intended living area 

Kitchen - The original clerestories would have been above the cabinetry above the range

As the clerestories have been removed, the kitchen and living rooms show much darker than originally intended, and the rear addition adds square-footage onto both the dining and living rooms yet cuts the quantity of light entering the living areas.

Guest Bathroom

Master Bedroom

Secondary bedroom - we like the bedspread

The Master Bedroom shows fairly cluttered, but like many Krisels this wasn’t a large home, and used tricks like open beamed ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows and clerestories to open up space. Unfortunately all of these have been removed, so rooms show tighter and smaller than planned by the architects. Both bathrooms have been renovated in a very generic style indicative of materials found at do-it-yourself stores. The secondary bedrooms are positioned at the back of the home, and show as tight as the master bedroom.

Backyard

The backyard is fairly simple, consisting of two large concrete pads and a small grass/landscape area, and loses some square-footage due to the addition off of the living room.  Overall this home could be a really worth renovation, with lots of room to restore defining elements which have been watered down over the years.

Check our Redfin for more photos here: 1645 Matchleaf Avenue

Or Realtor.com here: 1645 Matchleaf Avenue