Los Angeles Times

Flawed, but worth rehabilita­ting

Couple acknowledg­ed the ‘cockeyed’ Spanish Colonial’s structural woes yet saw a character that deserved clemency.

- By R. Daniel Foster

It takes courage to buy a sagging house. Yet some proverbial “good bones” did exist in a South Carthay 1934 Spanish Colonial home. They just needed to be reset.

“The house was cockeyed — it was a wreck,” said Tom Greer, who with wife Stephanie bought the three-bedroom home in 2011 for $1.15 million.

They recently sold the property for $2.55 million.

Poor drainage caused a sunken foundation at the rear of the home, and other structural problems included a tilted floor and ceiling, as well as seismic damage within fireplaces. Along with underpinni­ng the home, support beams were added and the chimneys rebuilt.

Renovation­s totaling $750,000 and completed in 2012 transforme­d the disaster into a fetching “echo of the home’s period,” Greer said.

Modernizat­ions included smart looks and amenities such as expanded closets, new French windows and a spacious gym carved from a detached garage.

The home is set in a Historical Preservati­on Overlay Zone, a designatio­n that mandates city approval for changes to exterior elements and landscapin­g.

“Working with them was fantastic,” designer Abeer Sweis said, referring to the officials he consulted with on landscape choices, repair and replacemen­t of windows, new light fixtures and stained-glass repair, among other improvemen­ts.

The couple and Sweis were first entranced by the living room’s handsome vaulted ceiling, the dining room’s coffered ceiling and the home’s many wood features, now restored.

“It was really cut up, closed off

— dark and dingy,” said Sweis, a founder and design partner with Santa Monica-based SweisKloss. “It smelled old; it felt old.”

Changes to the layout included removing two walls between the den and kitchen. Now, a liberal sweep of space flows to an outdoor dining terrace. A nearly 18-foot arch frames the kitchen thanks to a new structural beam.

The back of the house was reconfigur­ed to include a master bedroom’s new en suite bathroom and walk-in closet. A new powder room was created from a storage area, adding a third bathroom to the home.

A vintage telephone niche in the hallway was removed to achieve an optimal layout — a necessary but “regrettabl­e”

choice, Greer said.

Among other improvemen­ts: reconstruc­ted period doorway arches, addition of dark wood doors with Spanish details and installati­on of terra-cotta Saltilloti­le flooring throughout much of the house. The owners banished the more-recent past, removing can-shaped track lighting “straight out of the ’70s” from the living room’s curved beams.

An expanded hallway skylight brought in needed light. Another brightenin­g touch: New iron sconces by Unique Iron Lighting frame the fireplace and add a dash of Spanish romance.

The Greers offset the home’s dark wood by painting custom kitchen cabinetry a bracing bluegreen (Benjamin Moore’s Mountain

Laurel), a hue repeated on window and door frames. Kitchen counters are white quartz with a rippled texture (Eurostone’s Thyme finish).

Greer said a previous landscaper left massive, incongruou­s mounds in the backyard that blocked drainage, contributi­ng to the foundation damage.

The mounds were leveled in favor of gravel, drought-tolerant dymondia and olive and jacaranda trees. A new drainage system funnels water to an undergroun­d pit for natural filtering to the water table.

Peter Maurice and Tregg Rustad of Rodeo Realty were the listing agents.

 ?? David Tamburo ?? AFTER: This South Carthay home had a sunken rear foundation and tilted f loor and ceiling before its $750,000 renovation.
David Tamburo AFTER: This South Carthay home had a sunken rear foundation and tilted f loor and ceiling before its $750,000 renovation.
 ?? Pablo Mondal ?? AFTER: Two walls separating the kitchen and den were removed, making way for an entry arch of nearly 18 feet.
Pablo Mondal AFTER: Two walls separating the kitchen and den were removed, making way for an entry arch of nearly 18 feet.
 ?? SweisKloss ?? BEFORE: The layout of the 1934 house was cut up into small, awkward areas, such as the kitchen’s tiny cooking alcove.
SweisKloss BEFORE: The layout of the 1934 house was cut up into small, awkward areas, such as the kitchen’s tiny cooking alcove.
 ?? David Tamburo ?? AFTER: The vaulted wood ceiling in the living room was restored, and the fireplace is now framed by iron sconces, which add a touch of Spanish romance.
David Tamburo AFTER: The vaulted wood ceiling in the living room was restored, and the fireplace is now framed by iron sconces, which add a touch of Spanish romance.
 ?? David Tamburo ?? AFTER:Period arches were reconstruc­ted; doors with Spanish accents were added.
David Tamburo AFTER:Period arches were reconstruc­ted; doors with Spanish accents were added.
 ?? SweisKloss ?? BEFORE:Can-shaped track lighting “straight out of the ’70s” was deemed an eyesore.
SweisKloss BEFORE:Can-shaped track lighting “straight out of the ’70s” was deemed an eyesore.

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