Noteworthy new listings….
While the exterior of 1130 Garden Lane ($17.5 million), built in 2007 on 1.75 acres in Riven Rock, evokes Italy in appealing fashion, the interiors push things rather far—antiqued paint, dried pasta visible in the kitchen cabinets fronts, etc. But that’s all fixable, the bathrooms are handsome, and the floor plan works nicely, with the main living areas and primary facing south, toward a broad yard with pool and guest house. Exterior stairs flank the loggia, an appealing spot that didn’t make the photo edit, so I’m breaking my own rule and running one of my own. P.S. All those little valance curtains look like something Alicia Silverstone wore in Clueless.
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A clunker in a great location, 3236 Braemar Drive ($5.25 million) was built in 1996 but feels a decade or two older, the 1970s lines topped with a suburban Spanish–style roof. The question then is, what to do about it? The potential is there: the Yankee Farm area west of Hendry’s Beach has off-the-radar cool, with proximity to the beach but no freeway noise; the lot is 1.29 acres, with ample room for a pool and ADU. The place is dying to be opened up to the outside, and as sexy as the spiral staircase is, you could reclaim that space—and apply it toward the kitchen—by moving access to the upstairs bedroom somewhere else (such as outside).
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The seller of 2700 Exeter Place ($4.495 million) paid $3.5 million in October 2023 and made many infrastructural upgrades and converted the garage into an ADU, resulting in a four-building compound at the end of a Mission Canyon cul-de-sac. With the buildings all on different levels, really is like a miniature hillside village. Besides the three-bedroom main house and garage-turned-ADU, there’s an art studio awash in light and an itty-bitty yoga studio.
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The 1953 house at 966 Chelham Way ($3.495 million), in the Westmontish area of Montecito, is one of the sparest ever, minimal to the point of monastic—the handful of posters affixed to a bedroom wall feel like a major act of teenage rebellion. You could warm it up a little, while still maintaining the edginess, with window treatments, rugs, and maybe even art. The landscaping is as low-effort as it gets, if heavy on gravel, and there’s a hedged-off hot tub in back. A housewarming gift idea for whoever buys it: a long brush to deal with the spider webs that will surely show up in those trusses.
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I nearly skipped the brokers’ open of 556 La Marina ($3.295 million), but I was glad I didn’t—I don’t think I’ve ever been on the part of the street that extends north of Cliff Drive, and the views are fantastic. The 1956 three-bedroom, two-bath house is a fixer, for sure, and the sensitive neighbors who have posted a sign overlooking the property are in store for a rude awakening, because the amount of work to be done is substantial. I hope we get to see what it looks like afterward.
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The ground floor of 343 E. Mission Street ($2.395 million), between Garden and Laguna, dates from 1920, and as you’d expect from that period, the rooms are not huge. But the upstairs primary added in more recent times is sized for today, without forsaking vintage charm. Love the stone frill atop the chimney.
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And a few others worth checking out:
••• 1080 Ladera Lane ($4.5 million): Architecturally kooky four-bedroom at the top of Ladera Lane. The path to the front door involves a footbridge (below)—put some piranhas in the pond for a Bond-film frisson.
••• 407 Northridge Road ($3.375 million): 1963 spiffer-upper with big views above San Roque.
••• 729 Mission Park Drive ($2.925 million): 1975 San Roque three-bedroom Tudor (?) with an ornery-looking fireplace.
••• 360 Mountain Drive ($2.75 million): FSBO three-bedroom near Foothill Road.
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