Table of Contents
Welcome back to the Real Estate newsletter. Our coverage this week serves as a sort of timeline of Los Angeles’ architectural history, diving into how the city became a celebration of single-family housing.
The West promises many things to lure Americans from other parts of the country, and one of them has always been space. L.A. and its sprawling suburban landscape is the perfect setting for a single-family empire, and this week, columnist Patt Morrison sifted through her collection of vintage postcards and reminisced about the inventiveness and architectural talent that has come to define the city.
She even pinpoints the great Southern California sales pitch: Live better horizontally.
Two current luxury listings showcase the best of single-family housing in the past and present. The former was built by Paul R. Williams, one of the most influential architects in L.A. history.
He worked on thousands of projects both private and public, and the latest one to surface for sale is in Pacific Palisades, where a stunning traditional-style spread is up for grabs for $35 million. It was the longtime home of Steven Bochco, the late TV producer who racked up 10 Emmys during his decades-long career and created shows such as “Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law” and “NYPD Blue.”
The other one is more indicative of the modern market in which developers erect ultra-luxury homes on speculation — meaning there’s no buyer in mind. Instead, they hope to throw in enough amenities to lure a deep-pocketed shopper willing to fork over millions for a home with no history.
It’s a risky trend, and one that showcases the profit potential at the top of the market. In the high-stakes game of “How much money can I possibly make on this project?” there are winners and losers, and this week found a winner when developer David Wojtaszek sold his spec house in Laguna Beach for $43.5 million.
The massive sum makes it the priciest sale this year in Orange County and one of the most expensive transactions ever in the area. It also set the county’s price-per-square-foot record for new builds at $8,733.
As far as coastal homes go, Laguna Beach is a relatively safe bet at the moment — at least compared with Northern California. This week, a study found that cliffs along the state’s northernmost coast have been eroding faster than the bluffs of Southern California.
Our story includes a handy map of where cliffs are crumbling the most, as well as expert analysis on what we should expect in our climate change future.
Lastly, we looked at a potential boon for renters forced to pay application and other fees over and over as they search for apartments. A new bill approved by the California Senate aims to address the issue by allowing renters to buy reusable credit reports, which they could use multiple times instead of paying for new reports every time they want to apply for a new place.
As always, while catching up on the latest, visit and like our Facebook page, where you can find real estate stories and updates throughout the week.
L.A. — a single-family stronghold
A vintage postcard from Patt Morrison’s collection shows silent film star Estelle Taylor and boxer Jack Dempsey at home.
(Patt Morrison / Los Angeles Times)
The great Southern California sales pitch is to live better horizontally, writes Patt Morrison. The ideal, goes the sales pitch, is to live next to your neighbor but not too close. And certainly, not above or below.
Morrison adds that our public beauty spots deserve a visit, by all means — the world-class Disney Concert Hall, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Central Library, Grand Central Market, the Watts Towers, the Wiltern Theatre as well as City Hall and Union Station. But it’s the houses that surprise visitors and gratify residents, even if they can only be glimpsed from a street or a sidewalk.
Commenting on the singular style of homes across L.A., Morrison says: “Bad taste is really a kind of solace. For all of those houses you envy and crave, you can make yourself feel better by ridiculing the hideous ones: the bogus hacienda, the house with the simpering wishing well, the drab little cube with pompous, Hampton Court-sized faux-heraldic animals, the houses with so much gaudy gilding that you have to hurry off to the ophthalmologist.”
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TV producer’s architectural haven lists for sale
The double-lot estate includes a main house designed by Paul R. Williams, a guesthouse, swimming pool, tennis court and cabana across 1.4 acres.
(Anthony Barcelo)
The longtime home of Steven Bochco — the late TV producer behind shows such as “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law” — has surfaced for sale for $35 million in Pacific Palisades.
The traditional-style estate has a few good things going for it. First off, it was built in 1937 by Paul R. Williams, the iconic architect who worked on thousands of projects across Southern California during his prolific career that included the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The property also sits on a double-lot with 1.4 acres, making it one of only a handful of homes currently on the market in the area with more than an acre.
There’s also a bit of celebrity pedigree, as the estate was once owned by actor Sylvester Stallone. Bochco bought it in 1997 and died in 2018. His estate is overseeing the sale.
Spec house sets a yearlong high
Built over the course of six years, the spec house combines warm woods, limestone floors and walls of glass across roughly 5,000 square feet.
(Toby Ponnay)
A brand-new house in Laguna Beach has traded hands for $43.5 million, making it Orange County’s priciest sale this year.
The staggering sum also makes it the most expensive transaction ever in the affluent enclave of Emerald Bay, and one of the top sales ever in Orange County. The current record was set last year, when hedge fund manager Joseph Edelman spent $70 million on an 18,000-square-foot mega-mansion in Laguna Beach’s Abalone Point.
This one’s a bit smaller at less than 5,000 feet, which helped it break another record. At $8,733 per square foot, it’s the highest price per square foot ever for a newly constructed home in Orange County.
A warm mix of wood and glass, the house was built on speculation — meaning without a buyer in mind — over the course of six years by David Wojtaszek, founder of development company Divita Builders. He bought the property for $8.45 million in 2017. Records show that the buyer is a limited liability company based in Las Vegas.
California’s collapsing cliffs
Studies show that this coastal cliff in Del Mar erodes at an average rate of 6 inches annually.
(John Gibbins / San Diego Union-Tribune)
Cliffs along California’s northernmost coast have been eroding faster than the more populated bluffs of Southern California — one of many conclusions highlighted in a new map and study that analyzed, for the first time with high-resolution data, every cliff along the state’s long and varied shoreline, writes Rosanna Xia.
The study, conducted by researchers at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, also identified hot spots in areas both north and south: The rate of cliff collapse was more than 16 feet per year in places such as the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Big Sur, Point Arguello and Martins Beach just south of San Francisco.
Overall, the highest rates of erosion were detected in the counties of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte. Hot spots there include Usal Beach, the King Range, Centerville Beach — which are all part of a region known as the Lost Coast — and an area about two miles north of the Klamath River.
New bill addresses renter application fees
Flanked by her kids, Kennia Viera, center, of Los Angeles, protests over rent costs.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
When would-be renters go apartment hunting in California, they often end up paying over and over again each time they apply for a unit, writes Summer Lin.
The application fees can be burdensome, discouraging some renters from conducting a wide search and adding to the challenge of finding an affordable home.
Assembly Bill 2559, which the California Senate approved Monday, seeks to relieve renters of some of the costs for credit and background checks, as other states have done. It would allow renters to purchase reusable credit reports instead of paying for new ones each time they apply for an apartment.
To the disappointment of some renters groups, the Senate amended the bill to make it voluntary for landlords to accept the reusable reports, meaning apartment owners will still be able to order reports from their own provider, said Mike Blount, chief of staff for Assemblymember Christopher M. Ward (D-San Diego), who sponsored the bill.
What we’re reading
For its latest installment of “The Hunt,” the New York Times profiled an L.A. woman who was priced out of the city and headed east to Upland with a budget of $525,000. There, she found three places: a four-bedroom house still under construction, a three-bedroom home with an open floor plan, and another three-bedroom spot complete with a patio. I won’t spoil what she ended up buying.
In light of a stunning report that accused a Las Vegas landlord of including a “sexual intercourse” clause in a leasing contract, Curbed spoke to a tenant-rights lawyer who said the practice is much more common than most people realize. The lawyer said they’ve seen a lease calling for daily lap dances, and dozens of others in which the landlord has to approve a female tenant’s overnight guests.