An owners perspective
WHAT DO THE OWNERS SAY ABOUT 12702 LANDALE STREET?
It’s 1-in-200…We love this house!
Over a decade ago, we bought our first home in Los Angeles. We really didn’t know the first thing about selecting a “property” and poured over weekly listings and photos, and must have driven by and looked at over 200 houses in all parts of the city…driving our broker mad!
We thought we would find a home that was move-in ready and exactly the style we thought we wanted. NOT TRUE. It took us quite a while to be able to picture ourselves living in someone else’s surroundings; how we could transform a house into becoming our own home.
But being picky served us well. By the time we got around to looking at 12702 Landale Street in Studio City, we were able to envision how perfect this house could be for us…and grabbed it up!
It offers everything you could possibly want in L.A. living.
First of all, our 2700 square-foot, 1-story home is a true California ranch. It sits on a sprawling half-acre flat lot in the middle of Studio City, giving you ample head room to think and to breathe. The entire property is fenced, gated and filled with mature trees—Pine, Oak, Maple, Walnut, Pecan, Camphor and Mulberry, some towering 40’ or more. The animals have room to run—full-out—and are happy, contented and healthy!
This is indoor/outdoor living at its finest. For the majority of the year, we throw the French Doors open to embrace the back yard, warm breezes and overlook our kidney-shaped black-bottom pool. We have entertained cozy dinners of four and receptions of over 100, and the home and yard can handle all of it with ease. Of course, you may want to have some help with the food…
We have created brick pathways and raised flowerbeds in the front and back and keep changing them out from orchids one year to annuals and perennials the next. We have birdbaths for our feathered friends and a couple of fountains that sound cool and refreshing in the summer months. Just sitting out on the back patio, we look out over our half-acre expanse of green that, no fooling, IS our own private park.
Speaking of parks, this is the perfect property for a family with children as we are situated next to Beeman Park. Beeman Park is off the beaten track and is rarely crowded. It’s great for the kids, as it has a play area just for toddlers as well as a Pre-School. It’s great for adults too with a brand new jogging track, tennis courts, baseball fields, basketball, picnic areas and more, and is very nanny and dog friendly. We never mind the occasional sparkle of laughter from the children, or a cheer now and then from parents rooting for their kids’ team.
Lastly, let me give you the lay of the land. We are the last house at the end of the street. We cannot technically call this a cul-de-sac as the street just ends after our property. Remember, our house is very private, fenced in and gated. Because we have little to NO traffic, our property is as serene as anything you might hope to find anywhere in the San Fernando Valley.
Being accessible to the 101 makes us centrally located and we can easily get to most locations; Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank, Pasadena or the westside is only a 10-15 minute journey, and we’re just 10 minutes over Coldwater to the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Care and Upkeep
The house was built on property that was once a plum grove, and in another life was part of Clark Gable’s estate. No, we do not live in a McMansion.
We gutted the kitchen to make it more open and user-friendly. It’s spacious with all new cabinets and stainless steel appliances, a fresh herb-growing windowsill and a walk-in pantry that can store enough food for a minor invasion. We’ve baked grosses of cookies and a 7-bone prime rib and prepped for sit down parties of 20 or more. Opposite the kitchen area is a handy home computer center with hi-speed capability, built-in drawers and file cabinets for bills, and room for dozens of cookbooks.
We changed all the hardware, doors and moldings to make the entire interior more cohesive. We have maintained, however, the architectural touches that make living here more enjoyable than living in a box—the beamed vaulted ceilings, wainscoting, and sloped ceilings in the bedrooms, great windows and period exterior doors. And yes, we had a full security system installed too.
We have been very good to our home and in return our home has been very good to us. Other than adding a new roof a few years ago, this house has held up just great.
Last words
We considered developing our half-acre as there is a wealth of possibilities, but we decided to downsize instead and move to the country; and now we’d like YOU to make 12702 Landale your own. You can’t tell from driving by how expansive the property is. All you basically see is our new fence out front. Please! Make an appointment and do a walk-through to get the full impact of this wonderful property and home. The point is – if you want seclusion and a bit of the country in the middle of the big city – this is it!
