I love talking to both buyers and sellers about fixing up their houses, and love to share my own experiences. It gives me a perspective on difficulty level, cost and what gives you the most bang for your buck. I've renovated my own home, other investment properties and now this home for my mom. You can read more about how we purchased this home in probate sale here. Enjoy these beautiful photos from the amazing Stephanie Wiley.
Imagine a home that had once been loved but more recently had a lot of deferred maintenance. Sam had lived here since his grandmother had purchased the property and the property transferred to him in the 1970s.
The home had suffered tremendous damage during the Northridge earthquake and was renovated in 1994. The house had fallen off the foundation, so a new foundation was poured and the house was bolted onto the new foundation. The garage had collapsed, so a new one was built in it's place. Sadly, all of the original features of the house had been stripped out during the 90s renovation and all that remained was the original wood plank exterior.
By the time we got it, the property was in rough shape since it had sat empty for more than a year after Sam was moved into a care facility. There was extensive termite damage to the flooring and some joists, plus there was a water leak around a rear light fixture.
We worked with a local architect and engineer to draw up plans to change around walls in order to make this 2 bedroom and 1 bath home into a comfortable 3 bedroom and 2 bathroom open concept bungalow, all within the existing square footage.
We were lucky that a large back laundry room gave us additional space to work with. Design took about a month, with about three weeks for the permitting process. Sadly the original flooring was damaged behind repair, with extensive water and termite damage throughout most of the main rooms. The joist under the main damaged portion was rotted through, and it was replaced during renovation.
Stove: vintage O'keefe and Merritt from craigslist. Faucet: Delta Trinsic, Amazon open box item.
Kitchen : Ikea, custom sprayed Bjorket doors. Liz's Hardware handles. White Quartz counters : MSI
Guest bedroom
Master bedroom
Master bedroom with ensuite bathroom and closet (closet is behind the door)
Third Bedroom
Main bathroom with washer dryer
Master bathroom with pocket door
Backyard
Love the house? Best of all, you can rent it when you're in Los Angeles. It's available for short and long term stays. Click here to find out more.
Before you go off into the internet to watch cat videos, please enjoy this potato quality photo collage of the before pictures.
Photo credit for all beautiful photos: Stephanie Wiley Interior Photography
List of sources:
Firepit - Lowe's