Crafting a comfy space
“You won’t find any modernist box developments in this neighborhood,” says Cassandra Corum as she offers a tour of her Koreatown home. Indeed, the two-story Craftsman that Corum shares with Shannon Reese looks out over a tree-lined street in a historic preservation district populated with stately homes. Located between downtown L.A. and Hancock Park, the neighborhood feels of another era — one where side-by-side, six-bedroom, single-family homes were the norm.
“I appreciate the history,” Reese says of Koreatown’s cultural diversity. “There’s Art Deco buildings like the Wiltern, Oaxacan food, Brazilian steakhouses and Kim’s Home Center,” which they’ve dubbed a “Korean Home Depot.”
After years spent living in a Hollywood loft, Reese, a nurse and house f lipper, and Corum, a real estate agent, wanted a change.
They purchased the home as an investment in 2015, rented it out briefly, and moved here in September after growing weary of Hollywood, its tourists and distant freeway access.
“I love how central Koreatown is,” Reese says. “Everything is easier to get to from here. It’s safe. There are a lot of families. We’re five minutes away from downtown Los Angeles.”
Adds Corum: “And we can walk to the Olympic Spa.”
The home was built in 1910 and features classic Craftsman details such as exposed ceiling beams, original crown molding, double hung windows and built-in cabinets.
In the front hallway, you can feel the home’s heritage as a dark walnut grand staircase leads to the second-floor bedrooms.
The upstairs is light and bright and filtered with sunlight, with five bedrooms and a cozy TV room the couple furnished with several function-before-beauty oversize recliners from Living Spaces (cup holders included).
In total, the 3,700-square-foot home includes six bedrooms and four bathrooms, a basement, and in keeping with the home’s Craftsman roots, a front porch overlooking the front yard. A deck in back provides shaded seating for alfresco meals.
The couple updated some of the woodwork, such as the door sliders, before they moved in and removed a second-floor kitchen (they believe multiple families were living here before they bought the house).
The interiors are overscale and comfortable, with large rooms, leather furnishings and white walls that allow the wood details to shine.
In the back are an assortment of fruit trees including pomegranate, persimmon, guava and kumquats that were planted by the families before them.
“Our neighbors have a pride in their neighborhood,” says Corum. “It’s really nice to live in a neighborhood like that.” HOME OF THE TIMES