How Badly Do You Want to Live on the Beach?

It’s always instructive to take a close look at a beachfront property, especially when the house needs substantial work. Given the amount of money you’d have to spend fixing up 4581 Avenue Del Mar in Carpinteria, the $6.85 million price becomes even more purely about the location. I haven’t seen the property in person, but it seems possible that someone will buy it and tear it down.

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Bedrooms: Four.
Bathrooms: Four.
Size/Acreage: 2,589 square feet / .13 acre.
Price: $6.85 million.
Last sold: Unknown.
Listing agent:
Kathleen Winter of Berkshire Hathaway.

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First, the good news: location, location, location. While there are houses cheek-by-jowl on either side, to the front and back is wide-open nature.

The house itself, built in 1954, has a quirky midcentury charm in front, while the back is all about the beach. The structure was evidently enlarged in 1990.

The less-good news is the floor plan, with that awkward pinch at the entry and the corresponding trapezoidal shape of the kitchen and office.

Despite the stager’s best efforts, I’d wager that the interiors haven’t been substantially touched since the addition thirty years ago. Or maybe the tongue-and-groove paneling is new? But then why not go for white in at least one of the two living rooms?

The kitchen is a telltale sign.

White paint definitely helps the bedrooms, but the one bathroom we get to see is a non-starter in a house at this price. The others can’t be better.

A redo or a teardown? Time will tell. In the meantime, contact Kathleen Winter of Berkshire Hathaway for a showing. Be sure to tell her Siteline sent you.

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