1616 Cerro Gordo Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026
2 Br, 1.75 BA
$595,000

I saw this new listing in the hills of Echo Park yesterday. The charming 1-bedroom, 1-bath home was built in 1910 and also includes a 1-bedroom and bath guest cottage.

The residence maintains original architectural details, like this stone fireplace in the living room, but also includes updated amenities and systems.

There are large windows throughout, letting in the California sunshine and canyon views.

The updated kitchen includes stainless appliances and an antique stove.

The spacious master suite has downtown views and opens up to a multilevel deck.

Directly off the master suite is an attached nursery.

The detached bonus space could be used as a guest cottage, art studio or office.

The home is sited on a 5,362 square foot private lot with a beautifully landscaped yard, 2 fountains and a fish pond. And if you like to hike, this is the perfect location since it’s near the trails of Elysian Park.

See This House In Person!

Listing courtesy of Judith Oroshnik and Dean Decent, Prudential-Los Feliz.

1801 Bellevue Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026
3 BR, 2 BA
$499,000

This 3-bedroom, 2-bath Echo Park home has been completely remodeled with eco-friendly updates, including reclaimed wood, low-VOC paints, marmoleum and Brazilian cherry flooring, and rolled-steel windows.

The 1,422 square foot interior offers a modern, bright and airy feel with lots of windows and an open floor plan.

There is also a newly built, oversized garage!

See more photos, after the break.

The cozy den includes a wood burning fireplace and direct access to the patio.

The master bedroom offers an attached spa bath. Other home improvements include, a Noritz tankless water heater, central heat and air, and fully insulated walls and ceilings.

There’s also a spacious office.

The home is sited on a 5,610 square foot lot with ample private outdoor space, drought-tolerant landscaping and patio areas–great for entertaining and dining.

Plus, the newly built, spacious garage offers lots of possibilities!

This remodeled home has a lot to offer: gorgeous views, a good location, and it’s listed at a great price! If you’d like to see this house in person, email me or call me at 323-775-6305!

More info and photos of 1801 Bellevue Ave.

Listing courtesy of Tracy Do, Prudential-Los Feliz.

740 E Kensington Road
Los Angeles, CA 90026
2 BR, 1.5 BA
$829,000

This classic craftsman in Echo Park was built in 1903 and features period details through, including soaring 9’10” ceilings, transom windows, quarter-sawn oak floors, and a brick wood burning fireplace in the dining room.

The 1,474 square foot residence is surrounded by lush greenery. There is also a great outdoor space with a heated and private pool!

Check out more photos after the break.

The home has updated systems, including a tankless water heater, copper plumbing, rebuilt fireplace and foundation. There is also central heat and air conditioning.

The chef’s kitchen offers wood cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, center island and wine cooler.

The 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath home also has an upper level bonus room for use as a guestroom, office or studio.

The residence is sited on a 7,500 square foot lot with a private entertainer’s yard, including a large sparkling pool, fresh fruit trees, stone lounging patio and an outdoor kitchen.

If you’d like to see this craftsman in Echo Park in person, email me or call me at 323-775-6305!

More info and photos of 740 E Kensington Rd.

Listing courtesy of Carol Stewart, Sotheby’s International Realty-Los Feliz.

SUPER iam8bit opened last Thursday at the recently renovated iam8bit headquarters in Echo Park. Over 100 artists have reimagined their 80′s gaming fantasies through paintings, sculpture and other interactive media.

The inaugural iam8bit show in 2005, was one of the most popular group art exhibition in Los Angeles. It won accolades from dozens of publications, like LA Weekly’s “Best Art Show” and received media attention from CNN, MSNBC, Playboy, G4 and MTV. The book “iam8bit: Art Inspired by Classic Video Games of the ’80s” highlighted key pieces from the original show and became one of the best-selling video game-themed books of all time.

This year’s show is bigger and bolder than before, and is housed in a 4,500 square foot event space–nearly 5 times the size of the original show. It also includes a new book documenting this year’s event, “SUPER iam8bit: More Art Inspired By Classic Video Games of the ’80s”. Other highlights include: a special tribute to Galaga’s 30th anniversary featuring the world’s largest “arcade cabinet”; the transformation of the entire gallery into an 80′s gaming wonderland by designer decal collective BLIK; an interactive, “retro-fied” Kinect hack from Double Fine super-artist Drew Skillman; and much, much more!

The show runs until September 10, 2011, so check it out. For updates, follow them on twitter @iam8bitshow.

SUPER iam8bit
2147 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Gallery Hours:? Thursday 1-8pm, Friday 1-9pm, ?Saturday 12-9pm, ?Sunday 12-6pm

(Image Source: kotaku)

2006 Lake Shore Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90039
1 BR, 1 BA
$549,000

Originally built in 1922, this this eco-friendly California bungalow is located on a 10,000 square foot, county-certified farm and Certified Wildlife Habitat and includes updated “green” features, like a tankless water heater and appliances that conserve energy while reducing utilities.

The interior has high ceilings and an open floor plan. Outside there are over fifty trees, a vegetable garden, porch swing, rain barrel, views, and even a yurt!

This economic property offers peace and tranquility just minutes from downtown L.A.! If you’d like to see it in person, email me or call me at 323-775-6305.

More info and photos of 2006 Lake Shore Ave.

Listing courtesy of Darren Hubert, Blue Pacific Property.

2000 Baxter Street
Los Angeles, CA 90039
2 BR, 1 BA
$579,000

This charming traditional home is located in the heart of Echo Park. It was built in 1954 and is sited on a fenced, gated corner lot, surrounded by lush, mature bamboo and landscaping that provides shade and privacy.

The residence’s artfully designed interior blends original charm with plenty of modern updates. There are matching built-ins for media and storage in the living room, Douglas Fir parquet floors throughout and huge bay windows.

The 1,004 square foot home features a modern, open floor plan–great for entertaining.

The kitchen includes custom Walnut cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

There are two nice-sized bedrooms with ample light.

The home is sited on a 3,185 square foot lot with landscaped front and back patio areas. There is a large one car garage that can be used as a home studio or work space and additional off street parking for 2 cars.

Centrally located to Sunset Boulevard, Downtown LA, Elysian Park and Silver Lake. If you’d like to see it in person, email me or give me a call at 323-775-6305!

More info and photos of 2000 Baxter St.

Listing courtesy of Louise Leach, Sotheby’s International Realty-Los Feliz.

1310 Mohawk Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Front house: 3 BR, 2 BA
Back house: 2 BR, 1 BA (tenant occupied)
SOLD for $715,000.

Earlier this month, I gave you guys a sneak peek of my new listing, a newly rehabbed Echo Park bungalow. Now it’s officially on the market!

Built in 1905, this two-on-a-lot duplex features a remodeled, 1,279 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2 bath front house with an open floor plan and modern feel. The 674 square foot back house is tenant-occupied with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. This is a great opportunity to live in a gorgeous home and earn additional income to help pay the mortgage.

The main house offers lots of upgrades, including central heat and a/c, all new plumbing and electrical, tankless water heater, high-end finishes, stainless steel GE appliances, Kohler bathroom fixtures, and much more. The remodel was done by All That Is Solid, who just won the Envisioning Silver Lake Design Competition for the new plaza and monument at Silver Lake’s Sunset Junction.

The roomy master suite has plenty of closet space and an attached master bath.

The master bath offers dual sinks, soaking tub, separate shower, Kohler fixtures, and beautiful tile.

There is lots of light and closet space in the additional bedroom.

The third room could be used as an office space, guest bedroom, or bedroom.

The finished garage is perfect for a studio, work space, or home office.

Relax, barbecue, and dine on the newly built deck and patio area.

This charming home is in a great Echo Park location–extremely close to the shops and nightlife of Silver Lake and Sunset Junction.

More info and photos of 1310 Mohawk St.

Shopping at a giant supermarket chain can be pretty bleak. Navigating the parking lot alone can be a crazy-making experience! Heading to the corner store means you can walk, but it might also mean dinner is a 711 hot dog, which is probably not organic…

Green grocer Cookbook in Echo Park is the perfect answer. Owned by Marta Teegan (trained chef, master gardener, and author of Homegrown: A Growing Guide for Creating a Cook’s Garden) and Robert Stelzner, Cookbook sells local, responsibly grown vegetables, meat, cheese, bread, fruit, herbs, coffee, chocolate, and other goodies. Even though the shop is small, they have everything you need to put together a perfect meal, plus some decadent extras.

And for lazy people (me included), there’s fresh pasta, sauce and sandwiches from Heirloom LA, and a daily selection of prepared foods from featured cookbooks, hence the name!

Have you been to Cookbook in Echo Park? If so, let me know your thoughts in the comments section!

Cookbook
1549 Echo Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 250-1900
Open daily: 8am – 8pm

(Image Source: The Eastsider, At Home At Home, Eat Drink & Be Merry)

1310 Mohawk Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Front house: 3 BR, 2 BA
Back house: 2 BR, 1 BA (tenant occupied)
Call for listing price

I’m very excited to give my Take Sunset readers a sneak peek at one of my upcoming listings! This beautifully remodeled bungalow was built in 1905 and it includes tons of improvements–central heat and a/c, all new plumbing and electrical, tankless water heater, high end finishes, stainless steel GE appliances, Kohler bathroom fixtures, and much more.

The main house is 1,279 square feet and is vacant. The back house is 674 square feet and has a tenant. This is a great opportunity to live in a gorgeous home and make income to help pay your mortgage! The home is in a great Echo Park location, extremely close to Silver Lake and Sunset Junction.

If you’d like to see this remodeled home before it hits the market, email me or call me at 323-775-6305!

2220 Reservoir Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026
2 BR, 2 BA Main House + Studio Apartment
Listed for $749,000
Sold for $739,000

The newest offering from ModOp Design is a top to bottom remodeled craftsman in the heart of Echo Park, close to the restaurants and shops of Sunset Junction and to the Silver Lake Reservoir.

The beautifully restored 1,300 square foot main house has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a private deck, and yard. There are numerous upgrades, including restored original redwood siding, solid oak floors, custom birch cabinets, Carrera marble bath counters, solid wood window frames, Heath tile accents, and stainless steel appliances.

There are energy efficient upgrades throughout including a tankless water heater, no VOC paint, drought tolerant landscape, and low-E dual pane windows & french doors.

The property is a legal duplex and includes a separate studio apartment with 400 square feet of space above the finished garage. The apartment includes its own fenced-in yard (with a wet bar!) and downtown view. You can rent this space for income or use it as a guesthouse or home office.

After the break, more photos of 2220 Reservoir, plus an interview with Greg Steinberg of ModOp Design. Greg answers Take Sunset’s questions about the renovations of this 89-year-old craftsman home, including how he removed the stucco exterior and other details. Check it out!

Reservoir before the stucco was removed

Take Sunset: Can you describe the process of renovating the exterior of this home? Particularly the process of removing the stucco?

Greg Steinberg: I was going through my Twitter feed and ran across a video of how to de-stucco a craftsman house. The first step was to do a test area to see how easily the stucco would come off and to check the condition of the original redwood siding underneath. The test went well, so I went ahead and gave my contractor the OK to remove all the stucco.

The newly exposed original siding

TS: How did removing the stucco affect your budget?

Steinberg: One of the biggest expenses in construction are the dump fees and stucco weighs a lot so that added up in terms of cost. In addition, most remodelers use composite siding in order to match the original. In the many places where it needed to be repaired, we used redwood siding to match the original from 1923, which was an additional cost.

Exterior with stucco removed & redwood siding repaired

TS: With the exterior restored to its original condition, do you feel the home is more authentic to the style of homes in Echo Park?

Steinberg: ModOp Design’s modus operandi is to preserve and restore as much of the original exterior architectural features as possible. Echo Park is a historically significant neighborhood in Los Angeles, and we felt it was important to do what we could to respect that.

TS: Can you talk about renovating the bonus space? It can be used in many different ways–as a duplex, studio, home office, or guesthouse. Was that flexibility a challenge when deciding how to renovate it?

Steinberg: What’s cool about the bonus space is that it is completely separate from the main house. It even has its own garden sanctuary complete with a wet bar! For that reason, it is perfect for a variety of uses. If I was to buy the property, I would love to use it as a private office space with a 10 second commute by foot. And if it’s used as a rental, it will bring in more income than a duplex that shares wall space, since it’s a free standing unit.

The kitchen before

The kitchen after

TS: One of my favorite aspects of the remodel is the kitchen with its fantastic center island, custom cabinets, and open flow to the back deck. It’s such a great entertainer’s kitchen, and it immediately reminded me of your own kitchen!

Steinberg: As soon as we bought this house, we couldn’t wait to open it up to the outside. We did the same thing to our own home and we love it.

Steinberg: (cont.) It’s L.A. The weather is perfect and everyone wants to eat, drink, and entertain with the ability to move easily from inside to outside. This house was designed with that in mind.

TS: Another detail I really like are the solid wood window frames.

Steinberg: About the windows, once you live in a house with low-E dual pane windows, your life gets a whole lot better. The reduction in noise level from the outside is huge! Plus, the weather stays outside. It’s one of those things that once you experience the difference, you would never go back. On an aesthetic level, it was important to us to go with solid wood windows. It would have been wrong to restore the siding and then put in vinyl windows.

TS: Are there any other details about the remodel that you’d like to point out?

Steinberg: We used solid core interior doors. They look the same as hollow doors, but they close much nicer and have that quality feel. We also used 3/4″ solid oak floors. A lot of others use thinner floors or engineered hardwood flooring, which don’t feel as solid and will wear out much sooner.

TS: While working on this home, did you imagine the people that might end up living here?

Steinberg: I imagined many different scenarios because this property has so much flexibility. Echo Park is where people who care about art and community want to live. An artist or musician could live in the loft space and use the downstairs as a work studio and rent out the house. Or a family could live in the house and have their mother in law live in the back house. You are within walking distance to tons of great restaurants and stores and Silver Lake and Los Feliz are a short drive away. I want to live here!

If you’d like to see this charming and unique craftsman in Echo Park, email me or give me a call at 323-775-6305!