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228 34th St, Manhattan Beach

$3,600,000

HOUSE, VIEW, AND CAR! Buy this amazing house and get a new 2010 Porsche 911 Convertible!

Celebrity beach home. 2 blocks to beach. 1 of the largest rooftop decks around. 1700sqft Rooftop features: 3 separate sections, lounge chairs, built in grill, sound system, and a bed! White water ocean views. Oversize 4 car garage. 4th bedroom space was added to master to create huge master suite with a patio. Upgraded kitchen. Din. room. 2 living rooms, full bar, chef’s range, & more.

Open House Info:

Friday, December 11, 2009 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Sunday, December 13, 2009 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Listing Agent:

Kofi Nartey

kofi@sotalot.com

310-849-5634

Photos by Adrian Tiemens for Photos4RealEstate.com.

I am a proud board member of the West Los Angeles IAHSP chapter and have been lucky enough to participate in this wonderful event for the last several years.

This year our chapter chose the Richstone Family Center‘s Transitional Living Program as our beneficiary. The program serves young women (ages 18 – 24) from LA County, who have been emancipated from foster care. For the young women in the program, this is often the first time they have experienced a safe, stable and healthy home environment. Richstone’s program provides housing, case management, counseling, life skills, referrals and 24-hour support for residents.

Much of the original furniture in the main house was ripped and filled with holes and the art and furnishings were a mish-mash of hand-me-downs. The walls were stark white and the ceilings were damaged. Thanks to very generous donations from Brook Furniture Rental and Fashion Furniture, paint and supplies from Sherwin Williams and Lowes, fabric from Beach Drapery, cleaning services from Ready Clean, and labor from local painters Carlos Lopez and Albert Hernandez and contractor Brad Erwood (as well as about 10 of our members), our chapter was able to pull off an amazing transformation in record time!

Though the planning took several months, all the work was done in the course of a single week. Chapter members Kevin Htain, Adrienne Sherlock and Karen Keating handmade the window treatments from donated fabric. Our contractor repaired damaged ceilings and installed new ceiling fans to bring in air and light to dark and hot rooms. Our painter painted almost every room in the main house. And Brook and Fashion delivered all their donated items, all before our chapter members arrived en masse this morning!

All the chapter members donated items from their own inventories to add the finishing touches. I brought in art, throw pillows and plants, vases and kitchen decor. Others helped with miscellaneous decor items, even running out to purchase a few last minute items we were missing.

The result was nothing short of astonishing! The board members of Richstone Family Center and a few of the residents arrived once every last piece was in place. As they toured the new house, you could see the amazement in their faces. They noticed every detail, and all agreed that the changes in their environment would make residents take pride in their home and work harder to maintain it.

There is nothing like the feeling of giving back in your community. I encourage each of you reading this post to reach out to a local soup kitchen, battered women’s shelter or senior center – whatever gets you excited about helping. Even a small gesture can bring smiles you will remember for a lifetime!

Entry Before

New paint, art, lamp and accessories and now this entry says "Welcome Home!"

Living Room Before

Paint, art, throw pillows and some new ottomans warm up what was a lackluster rarely-used space

Dining Room Before

Once again, paint, art and accessories completely transform this space

View from Dining Room into Living Room (notice we added a small 2-seater table in the niche to the left of the larger dining table to allow for more seating options)

TV Room Before

New furniture, paint, art, drapes and accessories add life and color into this much-used den

TV Room After

Kitchen Before

Paint, drapes and accessories make this kitchen feel more inviting

Notice the homemade art above the microwave. It was made from leftover donated fabric that matched the curtains in that room

Kitchen After

Counseling Room Before

Counseling Room Before

This may be the most dramatic transformation of all. The counseling room was so drab and uninviting, filled with mismatched furniture and functional, but ugly, file cabinets. New furniture and some creative use of the existing pieces allowed for the necessary seating and storage. Paint, window treatments and accessories created the warm and calm feel that we hope will encourage residents to open up in their therapy sessions.

Working in the kitchen

Dan Keating and I hanging art above the sofa

We almost couldn't fit the new loveseat into the counseling room

Unpacking

Kevin & Adrienne even Stage the Scrabble Game

Stagers never forget the details!

A couple of months ago, I posted a blog asking for your support as I entered the competition.

Most of you know me as a professional Home Stager in Los Angeles, but you may not know that I am also a mom of two wonderful kids ages 3 & 6. I started my Home Staging business in 2004, when my eldest was just a toddler, as a way to be home with him while also doing something I loved. Though having a home-based business does allow for some flexibility with my schedule, as any working mom knows, it is also a tough road to haul. Now that my Staging business has grown, I often find myself working much longer hours than I did when I worked for someone else. And I struggle with balancing work and family life just like all the other working parents in this country. So I was very excited to learn that now there’s a way for entrepreneurial moms to be recognized for their hard work!

StartupNation, in partnership with Ladies Who Launch, has created a Leading Moms in Business competition, and I would love your vote.

Please click on the StartUp Nation logo below and it will bring you to my profile page. Below the photo, click “Vote for Me.” You can vote every day if you are so inclined, but even just a single vote would be much appreciated!

The contest ends on March 30th so we’re in the home stretch now and every vote counts!

Today was the Grand Opening event for Hobart Heights. Hobart is the 3rd low income housing community we did the interior design work for (see projects #1 and #2 here). They are always great projects, due in large part to our wonderful client American Communities. They are a joy to work with, and we look forward to many more projects with them.

Today was the first time I attended one of the Grand Openings, and I was blown away by what I witnessed. For starters, Herb Wesson was there.  Herb is the LA City Councilman representing the 10th District. He was instrumental in advocating for this and other similar developments meant to provide affordable housing for Los Angeles residents so they can live in the same community in which they work. (Just to give you an idea, a 3 bedroom unit in this building rents for between $500-$1000/month, whereas similar apartments in the neighborhood rent for $3500!)

Representatives from the Los Angeles Housing Department and the Community Redevelopment Agency were also on hand to congratulate everyone involved for a job well done. This building was located in a historical neighborhood so there were many “hoops” to jump through in order to get the plans approved. But it was obviously worth the effort. Beautifully designed in an art deco style, with the comfort of the residents in mind, this building has created a new life for the deserving people who live there.

The most touching part of the entire presentation was when a current resident spoke (via a translator) about the way in which living in the building has changed her life.

This woman is the mother of a disabled daughter. For 13 years before moving into Hobart Heights, she had to carry her daughter on her back up to the 5th floor of her old apartment. She was in tears when she spoke about how the simplest things that we take for granted have changed her life. The ramp up to the front of the building and the elevator, as well as the handicap accessible bathroom and kitchen, allow her daughter to be truly self-sufficient for the first time in her life. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after this lovely woman spoke.

With all the doom and gloom in the news, it was wonderful to hear some positive news and to know that there is funding for many more similar developments in the area. Many local politicians are working tirelessly to create affordable housing, as well as job opportunities and open space (parks) for LA’s under-served residents. Let’s hope they succeed in changing many many more lives.

Well it was a great success! There were 10 seniors who attended, and they all gave me wonderful feedback and said they learned a lot from the presentation. One in particular was ready to sell in the near future and had several specific questions.

At the end of the presentation, I had one of my Realtor partners give a 5-minute introduction to our next seminar (scheduled for Saturday April 4th at the Keller Williams office in Santa Monica) that will cover the following topics:

• how the sales process is different in a buyers’ market
• how a pre-sale inspection can save you thousands of dollars
• creative pricing strategies
• offering seller incentives that movtivate buyers
• strategies for selling when your mortgage is more than your house is worth
• bullet-proof ways to pick the ideal buyer,

and of course…

• how to properly prepare your home through staging

All in all I was very pleased with the outcome of this seminar and hope this is just the first of many that I do at local Senior Centers!