latimes.com — After Diana and Stuart Livingstone purchased this two-story brick Italianate estate home in Old Towne Orange from a Catholic missionary in 1987, they realized they had stretched themselves to the brink of financial disaster. The timing couldn’t have been worse: the stock market crashed that year, and Diana found out she was pregnant with the couple’s second child shortly after they [...]
latimes.com —When San Clemente-based architect Michael Luna designed the two-story 1,141- square-foot addition to the back of this 1929 home, he sought to revitalize the historic property while respecting the original structure. Virgil Westbrook, one of several architects brought in by San Clemente founder Ole Hanson, conceived the original 1,018-square-foot home. A combination of brick pavers and sea blue tiles, which outline the [...]
latimes.com — The view from the waterside terrace of this French Mediterranean styled two-story in Corona Del Mar reveals a clue about the old China House that stood on this and adjoining land 22 years before: sea-battered posts once supported an Oriental-style walkway still stand a few feet out into Newport Bay. Nearby on Way Lane, a section of its pagoda roof was [...]
latimes.com — Mike Perryman grew up in Manhattan Beach. Like his father, who built homes in the Hollywood Hills, he became a home builder with an eye for modernism as well. So when Perryman received a tip that a west-facing property on Fisher Avenue was up for sale, he did not hesitate to make an offer and to snatch it up. Fisher is [...]
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: NELLIE GAIL RANCH – latimes.com — Compared to the high-density residential developments surrounding it, Laguna Hills’ Nellie Gail Ranch is an anomaly. A stone’s throw from major freeways and a few miles from the ocean, employment and shopping centers, Nellie Gail offers its residents a combination of equestrian-themed tract and custom homes spread across its 1,350 acres. Early days Nellie Gail [...]
latimes.com — STEVE BROWNELL has a dim view of his tankless water heater, and he's in denial about his utility bills. Three years ago, the Irvine resident installed the heater in his 3,000-square-foot, single-story home with the goal that the unit would pay for itself fairly quickly through lower gas bills and provide an endless supply of hot water. "At the time, I [...]
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: FRENCH PARK – latimes.com – French Park, a residential neighborhood northeast of downtown Santa Ana, is an architectural wonderland, a place where historic homes are spared the wrecking ball and moved into a safe haven. Built from the late 1890s through the 1920s by some of Orange County’s most prominent movers and shakers, home styles include Victorian, Craftsman, Colonial Revival, English Tudor [...]
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: MIDWAY CITY – latimes.com — As small and vulnerable as they may appear on the map, the three unincorporated islands that make up Midway City represent a 50-year fight to remain independent. The area is bordered by the cities of Westminster to the east and Huntington Beach to the west. It has a Midwestern flavor with wide streets and large lots. Award-winning [...]
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: HUNTINGTON BEACH'S SEACLIFF – latimes.com — Image is everything. When Huntington Beach was emerging from its gritty oil past, a new residential development was simply titled “upper” and “lower”, a no frills public golf course was years from becoming a private country club and a supposedly modern shopping center was better known for its elaborate roof-high bird murals than for its retail [...]
NEIGHBORLY ADVICE: SUNSET BEACH – latimes.com — Blink and you’ll miss it. Sunset Beach, an unincorporated 1 1/4-mile sliver along the northern edge of Orange County’s stretch of ocean, is a tight-knit community. For more than 100 years, tourists and residents have been drawn by the beauty and serenity of the surfside sanctuary where pretty much anywhere is a short walk to the sand. [...]