Hello Everyone,

Quickly before I start. In case you are rebuilding or know someone who is, I just want to make sure that as many people as possible know about the pre-approved plans the county is working on for fire victims. There are 2 main benefits to these pre-approved plans. First they will be remarkably cheaper than hiring your own architect and engineer to start from scratch! Secondly, they are trying to give homeowners options that match the design aesthetics of the homes we lost in the fire and I know everyone wants Altadena to be as charming as ever. They don’t have the plans up yet, but supposedly in the next 4-6 weeks they should have the catalog of choices up and running. If you are interested, keep an eye on THIS LINK to see when the catalog is posted!

Being the week before Memorial Day Weekend, I wasn’t expecting too many new listings to be on caravan this week. But I was wrong! There were so many homes to see yesterday, I had to ask my husband to drive me around so I could see as many as possible! I actually saw 18 homes yesterday just in the Pasadena area and I was so pleasantly surprised to see so many nice ones!!

So if you're around this weekend there are plenty of homes that are definitely worth a visit!

The pictures don’t really do this home justice. This home is the epitome of a classic ranch…simple, casual and open to emphasize its beautiful surroundings! I love the setting with a large grassy area from where you can soak in the view. The upgrades have been so lovingly thought out. Simple, elegant and casual at the same time. Definitely worth seeing this one just to see how this house feels!

I didn’t think I would like this house so much because I didn’t care for how the 2nd story addition was messing up the curb appeal. But I was pleasantly surprised by the inside. It definitely is a lot of space for the money! The living and dining room are a smaller space, but the massive family room upstairs more than makes up for that! They added some fun elements with the kitchen remodel that I like. The bedrooms are all a very nice size and the bathrooms have been redone, though I think that style would go better with a spanish style home. Not sure if the upstairs was originally intended as a massive primary or as a family room, but I definitely like it better as a family room… .in fact I would add a kitchen set up in there for parties. It's that huge. The 3400 sq.ft does not even include the enclosed porches both upstairs and downstairs! There is so much living space that if you needed more bedroom space you could certainly carve out a couple bedrooms upstairs and still have a nice family room space!

This is another beautifully restored character home. This one is a Federal Bungalow style home with the columns in the front that add extra elegance. I love the symmetry of a bungalow with the door in the center and beautiful windows across the front. It has a great open feel with the breakfast room & kitchen opening out to a covered patio that looks out over the large backyard. It was originally a very large 2 bedroom home and then at some point another bedroom and primary suite were added on. Ideally it would have been off the same hallway but in this case the new hallway is coming off the kitchen. Everything was redone very tastefully…. though I don’t like the counter or backsplash in the kitchen…. I would want something different. Those are easy fixes… living on Hill though is tricky because it’s such a busy street.

This is another beautifully and thoughtfully remodeled character home preserving its original detailing while adding those modern features we love to see in a home these days. I think the front landscaping is lovely and so do a lot of people since they won the “Golden Arrow” award for landscaping! This house is quite impeccable….just look at the exterior shingles on the house….they have been meticulously prepped before being painted. You can just tell when people do things the right way….and I for one definitely appreciate that since I see so much sub par work! I love how they opened the kitchen and how the original built-in buffet merges seamlessly with the new kitchen cabinetry. The individualized locker style cabinets in the mud room are a wonderful touch. Very well done and my favorite house overall this week!

I’ve always loved the curb appeal of this home with that beautiful landscaping in the front! Let me tell you the landscaping in the expansive backyard is also just as lovely! Inside, it is as neat as a pin and I was shocked to find out that not only was it not staged… but that this was the tenant’s furnishings! Turns out that the tenant is moving out of state and the owner does not want to rent out the home any longer. It is a lovely classic traditional home that has been lovingly maintained and upgraded. I love that it has 3 bedrooms and a den! Many times in this era the 3rd bedroom is a convertible den. But with the den actually being an extra room, that leaves options to open the kitchen up to the den to create a great open family room type flow to the outdoors. The main problem is that the 2nd bathroom is between the kitchen and the den. The easiest solution is to make the den the master, but then I lose my option to create that nice open family room setup. I could always add on to the last bedroom to create a really nice primary and I would still have plenty of yard space!

There were so many homes this week that had very recent and very nice remodels that I was actually very surprised! This one in Bungalow Heaven has been done so nicely! The new windows are classic with a modern edge to them. I love the kitchen redo. It’s a beautiful wide galley style with deep green cabinetry and saltillo colored tile laid in a herringbone pattern. And of course the large set of doors that flow out to the backyard. Which is surprisingly a decent size given that the house sits so far back on the lot!

My favorite thing about this home is the yard! The house is ok …not my favorite…but cute enough. It was originally a 2 + 1 and then they added a master off the kitchen. Coming off the kitchen is a bit awkward and then you have to step down to get into the space… so not my favorite. The kitchen is showing a bit of wear but can easily be freshened up with a nice stain or paint job on the cabinets. But I love walking into that brick courtyard in the back….so European. I just like that formal separation from the rest of the expansive & lushly landscaped backyard. To top it off….way in the back you have 2 extra little structures….a “she shed” & a “man cave”!!

This craftsman is even more adorable! It has more of the character detailing you expect in a craftsman with shingle siding and stained wood trim work, doors and built-ins. It is a 2 bedroom, but then there is a large office in the front that is off the living room. It’s a shame the pocket doors have been removed at some point, but still you can put some back in and use that space as a bedroom if needed. It is very interesting that the 2nd bath is a proper primary bath but looks so original to the house… which of course back then there would not be a primary suite in such a small house. I’m thinking it was the original bathroom and they closed up the access off the hallway and opened it to the back bedroom. Then they configured a smaller bath off the hallway when they redid the kitchen. Either way it is very cute and very well done! But wait… there is even more! In the backyard there is a cool 50s artist studio that can be used for so many things… really great to have a space like that when you live in a smaller house!

This little house packs a lot of punch in 1008 sq.ft! It is a simple yet darling craftsman style home that has been tastefully remodeled throughout. The front porch is sweet and it gets great light streaming in through all the original wood frame windows. The square footage is proportioned out just right to give enough space to every room. One negative is that it sits on the corner across from the dorms of the international boarding school. That’s not an issue except that it’s always nice to look across another home. Also because it sits on the corner it has very little backyard. If you privatize the front yard with hedges and trees it will block the view of the dorms and make the front yard a much more private and usable space for the home!