South Whitter Palmer& Krisel For Sale – Whittier, CA

The second of the trio of new-to-the-market Palmer & Krisel-designed homes for sale in Whittier, CA is this property located in southeast Whittier, near Sierra Vista High School. Built in 1956, this 1,200 square-foot home provides three bedrooms, two bathroom and a two car garage on a 5,900 square-foot lot with an asking price of $380,000.

Front yard

The exterior of the home is one of our favorite rooflines – a shed roof on the detached garage that runs at an angle opposite that of the main home structure, giving the appearance of a butterfly roofline, as well as one of the more unique mid-century facades of any home out there. The front yard is simple – grassy with a pair of palms, along with a beautiful Elephant Foot Palm specimen adjacent to the front door.

The property was the recipient of a flip renovation back in 2012, and features finishes and materials reflective of that type of renovation. All the aluminum-framed windows and sliding glass doors were replaced with white vinyl mullioned windows, which changes the character and appearance of the property from midcentury modern to a combination of midcentury and east coat traditional.

Kitchen

Living room

Living room and fireplace

Dining room

The kitchen and dining room sit at the front of the home, while the living room overlooks the backyard. The living room features the signature open beamed ceiling still in place, and is anchored with a flat-faced fireplace that is partially covered in travertine. The kitchen has been updated with cherry cabinets, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Master bedroom

Master bathroom

Secondary bedroom

Secondary bedroom

Guest bathroom

The three bedrooms are all in their original configurations, with the end bedrooms still featuring their original clerestory windows. Much of the home still carries its 2012 flipper-beige paint color; however one of the secondary bedrooms has been painted pink, a stark contrast to the lack of color found throughout the home. Both bathrooms were redone during the flip, and feature more cherry cabinetry on the vanities, granite countertops and floor tiles used for the tub and shower surrounds.

Backyard

The southeast-facing backyard is open and grassy, with a lone well-worn concrete patio off of the living area and master bedroom. There’s no shade, shade trees or much other vertical landscape, creating an opportunity for personalization.

This home can be enjoyed as-is or would be a great property to “un-flip” through the incorporation of more midcentury and modernist-inspired materials, colors and finishes. Either way, it’s a neat property with lots of character and a great roofline.

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com here: 9566 Bluford Avenue

Or Zillow.com here: 9566 Bluford Avenue

South Whittier 1956 Palmer & Krisel Pool Home For Sale – Whittier, CA

This 1,264 square-foot three bedroom, two bathroom Palmer & Krisel-designed home in south Whittier, CA is predicted by Redfin to sell fast. It sits on a deep 8,500 square-foot lot that backs up to Sierra Vista High School, has a huge in-ground pool and a detached two-car garage with an asking price of only $420,000.

Driveway leading to front door

This is one of our favorite rooflines – a gable end on the dwelling portion of the home and a reverse shed roofline on the garage, giving the home an almost folded plate roofline appearance. The roofline is certainly dynamic, definitely cutting edge for 1956 and still pretty rare in mainstream housing to this day. It offers uniqueness not seen on typical midcentury tract housing.

As the garage of the home sits towards the back of the home, the long driveway serves as the entry walkway to the front door. The front exterior windows have all been replaced with white vinyl mullioned windows, whose busy pattern unfortunately detracts somewhat from the architecture of the home. Love it or not, the garage also features a mullioned-window garage door, which matches the white vinyl windows on the home, but could look so much cooler with a flat-fronted or opaque Clopay Avanti garage door.

Living room features a dramatic wall of glass and stacked red brick fireplace

Hidden behind that hutch is another stacked redbrick accent wall hiding the kitchen range and oven

As is the norm for most Palmer & Krisel-designed homes, the living and dining areas are at the rear of the home. While it may be tricky to note in the cluttered photos, the east-facing rear wall of the living room is dramatic floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the swimming pool area. The red brick modernist fireplace sits on the north wall of the room, and is flanked by a pair of windows letting in additional light.

Kitchen with the fridge in the dining room

Kitchen and stacked red brick 3/4 wall divider 

The kitchen is separated from the dining room by a stacked red-brick ¾ wall divider which, while rare for a Palmer & Krisel to incorporate red brick anywhere other than the fireplace, adds texture and character to both the living room and kitchen. The dining room sits between the kitchen an living room at the rear of the house and features a natural finished open beamed ceiling.

The kitchen cabinetry has been updated with lighter-colored raised-panel cabinetry and decorative molding, which while not the style of the home, is still functional. The bathrooms have been updated with simple, generic big-box store materials that leave them clean and functional, and can be updated at any time to match the modernist roots of the home.

Guest bath

Master bedroom

Two bedrooms have been converted to one

Other half of the expanded bedroom

The home was originally built as a four bedroom; however four bedrooms in 1,200 square feet is pretty tight, and a wall has been taken out between two of the bedrooms to create a long rectangular room, creating a three bedrooms where there were once four. The backyard is home to an enormous swimming pool with a diving board, waterslide and lots of patio space. There’s plenty of shrubbery, but the east-facing yard is devoid of any trees for shade or height.

Backyard is home to an enormous swimming pool with diving board and water slide

Eastern view of the backyard

This is a neat opportunity to own a Palmer & Krisel in a convenient location at a low price. It’s definitely ready to let its modernist roots shine and become a mid-mod showplace.

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com here: 12925 Racimo Drive

Or Zillow.com here:  12925 Racimo Drive

South Whittier Krisel For Sale – Whittier, CA

This is a newly discovered Palmer & Krisel neighborhood (we just found out about yesterday!) in South Whittier, California. This home was built in 1956 and contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a two-car garage on a 5,800 square-foot lot with an asking price of $379,900.

The elevation of the home incorporates very familiar and trademark Krisel-design styles – starting with the reverse pitch garage roofline; large, aluminum framed windows, inset front door and the vertical eave line on the garage. There’s also clerestory windows on the side of the home, and a brick chimney poking up from the back. The front of the home is painted a very non-descript beige while the front yard landscape clean and green – a simple lawn with a few palms for height. The rest of it is a blank slate waiting for a new owner.

The kitchen is immediately off to the right of the entryway, and appears to still have it’s original cabinets and potentially original tile countertops and range (it’s a little tough to tell from the pictures). The dining room is just to the right of the kitchen, still at the front of the house, and features a large sliding glass door granting access to the front courtyard patio.

Kitchen

Dining Room viewed from Living Room

The living room sits at the back of the home, and hold another great Krisel hallmark surprise – a corner  positioned fireplace which features vertical block banding, offset firebox and a large proportional, clean-lined overmantle. This was a great, clean cutting edge design for 1956 which is still relevant and harmonious today.

Living Room

Living Room - Check out that fireplace - what a piece of architecture!

The rest of the living room features those fantastic open beamed ceilings, is open to the dining room and separates the divide with a small soffit which hides mechanicals. The three bedrooms show cluttered, a sign that the owners have outgrown this home, but all have clerestory windows, which help make a small space feel larger. The bathrooms look to have been updated at some point over the last 20 years, and the hall bath is preceded by the indoor laundry area.

Out back there’s a huge covered patio with a great waffle-ceiling covered patio taking up half of the space. The rest of the backyard holds mature trees, a small lawn and a potting shed. The property backs up to the Sorenson Avenue Drainage Channel, which means there’s no rear neighbors. The listing describes this as a great starter home – and they’re right, but it’s also a great piece of mid-mod architecture worthy of a new owner who will continue to appreciate it.

Master Bedroom

Hall Bathroom

Rear Patio - Love that mid-mod ceiling!

Front patio between home and garage

Check out Redfin for more photos: 9520 Bluford Avenue

Or Realtor.com here: 9520 Bluford Avenue