PICTURES, PICTURES, PICTURES

More memories...

Two more shots of the baby shower:

Ah, memories!

I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos of the good times had here. The memories documented here include:

*Thanksgiving 2008
*The Gausselin Baby Shower
*Hanging out in the backyard by the fire with friends and wine

If anyone out there has pics of good memories at 2471 Silver Ridge they want to share, now is the time!

Thanks for the good times, all!

Selling myself

Well... it's true. My owners are putting me on the market. I'm a bit disappointed in them, but they assure me that they'll miss me tremendously and that it is with mixed emotions that they're doing this. I'll miss them so much. They've taken such great care of me and given me so many upgrades. But, they tell me that there's someone else out there who will appreciate me even more.

And here's the thing. I KNOW I'm special. Everyone knows it. But it's still hard to be let go like this.

I suppose as soon as we have the first open house (this Sunday, August 10th) I'll feel better as people go gaga over me. And they will. I'm sure of it. I'll be using this blog to post information about the sale and how you can come see me and all that.

Apparently my owners are still finalizing everything, but they do plan on having the first open house on Sunday, August 10th (not sure of the hours,) the first Realtors tour on Tuesday during the day and a Tuesday Twilight Open house to dazzle everyone with my brilliance on Tuesday, August 12th in the evening. More details to come.

For now, here's a little description of all that I am:

A stunning mid-century modern view home in the Silver Lake Hills

This 1958 Mid-Century Modern 3 + 1.75 + bonus room and detached garage is situated on a street-to-street lot in the Silver Lake Hills and features Million dollar Panoramic views of Griffith Park, Griffith Park Observatory, Hollywood Sign, San Gabriel Mountains, Treetop, City Lights, Surrounding Silver Lake Hills, Beautiful sunrise, sunsets and moonrise views, Mid-Century Modern architecture, open concept kitchen/living/dining room, beautiful hardwood floors throughout, lots of light, brand new designer kitchen with Caesar Stone countertops and a large island/breakfast bar, high-end appliances, a 40 foot long balcony that spans the length of the house, a large original wood burning brick fireplace, brand new closets and a fabulous outdoor oasis with architectural drought-resistant landscaping, built-in lighting, Weathermatic Irrigation System, perfect for entertaining including built-in grill and concrete seating, beautiful fire pit and bamboo fencing. Walking distance to the Red Lion, Gingergrass, Silver Lake Wine Store, Starbucks, Ralph's, The Coffee Table and the new (currently in progress) Silver Lake library!! Near the 2 and the 5, minutes from Elysian Park, Dodger Stadium and a ten-minute drive to downtown, Eagle Rock, Glendale and Pasadena.

PRICE? Well, you'll have to check back to find out. Like I said, this is all very preliminary. But if I had my wish I wouldn't let them sell me off for less than one million dollars. That's what I'm worth. But, not in this market, they say. So someone is going to get me for a song. Could it be you?

RST Design + 73 Construction

Colin & Rebecca from RST + 73 Construction (the wonderful couple responsible for my kitchen transformation) have uploaded our project to their site. Check it out. There are more pictures of the kitchen. And if you move the cursor over the pics, you'll get a little information. Once you enter their site, click on Silverlake III and lo and behold, there I am.

www.rst73.com

LANDSCAPE Before & During

I used to have a less than desirable exterior. Here I am before and during the transformation:





My retaining walls were buckling, a ginormous planter monopolized valuable entertaining space, a dead tree flanked my side, my concrete patio looked as though someone had taken a jackhammer to it and stopped after deciding it wasn't worth it, railroad ties serving as stairs were falling, my staircase and rickety fence were growing more and more precarious, my entry way was less than appealing, my side yard was just dirt and weeds and my hillside was overrun by relentless Morning Glory...

There was space. But it was ugly. My exterior did not represent my beautiful interior. No one had cared for my exterior in a long time.

My current owners saw the potential and got an expert (who happens to be a neighbor) to help execute the vision.

Stay tuned for the "after"...

KITCHEN Before/During/After

Time for some BEFORE/ DURING/ AFTER photos of my kitchen. Yay. Now, when my current owners moved in, I admit, my kitchen was dark, dreary and dated. The black linoleum tile flooring was dark and scratched up, the popcorn on one portion of the ceiling left one scratching one's head, a little wall next to the stove that blocked the views and the huge hollow beam blocked light and the larger wall separated the kitchen from the living/ dining area. The cabinets were shallow and didn't close all the way and the water heater was taking up all the space in the pantry.

Colin and Rebecca from RST Design + 73 Construction stripped me down to my bones and started from scratch. Here are some of the things they did (in non-technical terms):

-Installed open shelving
-Built an island
-Counter tops= Caesar Stone
-Removed the water heater and replaced it with a Tankless (energy efficient) water heater in another location
-Removed the old cabinets & replaced with open shelving and new cabinetry
-Removed the beam, half wall and opened up the kitchen to the living/dining allowing more light and a loft/ open concept feel.
-Used bright colors.
-Replaced the black linoleum with hard wood to match the original hardwood floors in the living/dining room
-installed ceiling lights
-built a floating custom countertop/desk

The result? A beautiful space that emphasizes the amazing views and serves as a highly functioning kitchen where everyone gathers & people cook more often. A term that seems to be used all the time on design shows is "open concept" and it does apply here. Removing the wall that separated the kitchen from the dining/living area created a much more open loft-like space... now when someone's in the kitchen cooking, they're still a part of the rest of the house and the conversations that are happening in the living/dining areas.

Colin and Rebecca did and amazing job!

Not a day goes by that I don't brag to myself about how awesome my kitchen is.