Small lot, big house

I've seen big houses on small lots before, but this one is the biggest on the smallest: Manhattan Beach Confidential reports on a "Colossal Corner Cape Cod" home. How colossal? 4,934 square feet on a ... (wait for it) ... 4,950 square foot lot.

Here's the listing on Redfin. Six bedrooms, five baths, listed for $3.45 million.

Feel free to use this as an opportunity to share your stories and pictures of big houses on small lots.

Photo credit: Redfin

Comments

[Hula Girl]

Don't they have setback requirements in Manhattan Beach?

[Laker]

We are getting to look like NY. Peter, you know how in NY, they build everything up instead of to sides in order to maximize land usage.
The thing is that LA is not that crowded as NY. So look at this as a way to get rich by the builder.
I wonder if you can make some additions to this house?
BTW: The newer the house the smaller build/lot ratio gets. In Simi valley, there are a lot of 2-5 year old new tract houses that look similar. something like 4000 sqft house on 4,500 sqft lots.
btw: Ive seen one that is offered for $799,000 that last sold 2 years ago for $1,300,000....

[manraygun]

Pointlessly oversized house to be sure. But much of square footage appears to be second story. Not as if it covers entire lot.

[Joseph...The Real Estate Guy]

Bad News For Those Waiting For Prices To Fall Deep Overnight! (Maybe Peter? ha)

Most homeowners owe very little or nothing on their homes...the last few years, we saw an overwhelming amount of homeowners, refinance into 10, 15, 20 years. No need to sell there!

Most of them, are going to own their homes free and clear in just a couple of years.

The "BUBBLE" we have seen is because of "REO'S". Lenders need to unload these properties off their books. The Stimulus package is on his way, and that should prop up the market.

[eugene]

I think nowadays, the more house you put in a lot, the smaller yards are going to be, and the lesser water usage will become... so that should be good.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

It'll be like Amstersdam in no time, you know, to get more square footage, the second floor sort of hangs over the street.

[Paul Hiller]

The way your article is written gives the impression that the house takes up almost the entire footprint of the lot. Read the article in MBC. The house is really on three levels, as there is an enormous basement. Ok, ok, it is too damm big for the lot, but it's not as horrible as the numbers first suggest.

[Bots]

I visited my Aunt and Uncle in Manhattan Beach last weekend and I was shocked to see that some sleazebag investor had built one of those monstrosities next door. It looks absolutely ridiculous. This is in a 60 year old tract of very modest, quaint tract homes. My Aunt and Uncle have lived there 40+ years. They recently completed some minor remodeling so they can live out their remaining years in their home with a little extra comfort. Then some $#!@head comes along and screws everything up just for a quick buck. This albatross is built high right up to the property line so that my Aunt & Uncle's house is dark as a dungeon. They had to have 3 skylights put in just so they could have a bit of sunlight during the day. These sleazebag investors should be rounded up and kicked the #$@! out of town.

[adrian]

"The Stimulus package is on his way, and that should prop up the market."

Please help me buy a house when I will get my rebate check, Mr. Joseph, the Real S#@^ Guy!

Thank you for help, in advance

[Capitalist]

Joseph...The Real Estate Guy wrote:
>Most homeowners owe very little or nothing on their homes...

Joseph, what color are the skies on your planet?

[Ann]

Good grief. My dogs wouldn't be able to find a place to piss.

[Lost in Pearblossom]

Folks, we need greater density in the Los Angeles-area. This may be for many an unfortunate circumstance, but it is a reality. There are too many people and not enough housing units.

Our low density is a major contributor to highway congestion and automotive pollution. Maybe with more apartments and more condos or larger houses that can be subdivided, we can have a public transit system that can move people around.

Or we can building until the city reaches Bakersfield.

[Michael Snyder]

Lost in Pearblossom,
Did you get far enough in school to study sociology 101? Unless you went to California schools you would have learned how abhorrent behaviors increase with population density. There is no demonstrable situation I can find where building at a greater density has ever aided in easing any of the woes of society. Indeed the opposite is consistently true. Perhaps you have some empty lots you're trying to unload or are you just burned out on the commute from the high desert?

[ScottQ]

Where are you going to get the water?

[Anthrodiva]

Actually Michael Snyder, as a PhD in anthropology who teaches urban planning and design I can tell you that your information is outdated and Lost in Pearblossom has a good point. There is no human-based evidence that density is causal for social problems.

Here are some articles - for a couple you'll need a subscription or an institutional affiliation, but you can probably track down something similar in Open Format if you are truly interested in the question and not just in slapping people down:

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~jmoore/publications/
DensityInfanticide.html

http://www.springerlink.com/
ontent/x8913h34551l771k/

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0014-7214
(197401)23%3A1%3C51%3AMAMSIP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8

[Blows Against The Empire]

I remember they started doing these in the mid to late 80's in MB. The trend started 1st with teardowns and 2 on a lot condos in the MB area near No. Redondo then on to the tree section. Yes, it was 4000 sq. ft but it was 2 HOUSES !! Now the gluttons are just building one monster.

The price of those houses in MB are unreal...some kind of secret secondary market?

As far as "economic stimulas on the way " and will "pick up the market" goes I guess you could take the $600 check, return cans and bottles to the recycler and buy yourself 1 SHARE of Google.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

Anthrodiva, I don't know what human subjects they tested, but we have fewer social problems in our house when we moved into a bigger house and each of us got our own room, thus lessening the density of our little world.

This conclusion is further confirmed by the Brady Bunch in one of their episodes when Greg finally got his privacy in the attic and everyone was happier at the end.

The settling of the West is yet another proof that people wanted and were happier out in the wide open space of the west.

The pre-Agricultural Revolution humans had the lowest density of living in the last 10,000 years. I don't know if we can prove that they were happier or had few social problems, but I am told the hunter- gatherers were taller, averaging something like 5'9", than the farmers when people first settled down by 4 to 6 inches.

[AnthroDiva Makes A Better RE Agent]

Anthrodiva, I don't know what human subjects they tested...

Posted by: MyLessThanPrimeBeef |

Conclusion from the 1981 article: There, perhaps, may be some positive human aspects of higher urban density than the bulk of scholarship suggest. We just haven't found any social benefits.

Conclusion from the UCSD article: Pop. density made be correlated to monkey infanticides.

Conclusion from the 1971 JSTOR article: Written by a research assistant - no primmary research done, but concludes that he personally doesn't believe population density is all that bad.

[Martin]

That house is 4500 sf - but it's two stories. I reckon that 2500 sf are on the ground floor and 2000 upstairs,

So a ranch that is 2500sf would be just as tight a fit on a 4600 sf lot.

[twohoos]

In this blog, people wonder why it's so big; in MBCon's blog, he/she wonders why it isn't pre-sold. The answer's the same: it's a relic of the boom, contracted a few years ago. As a custom design, it would have had an independent architect, and back then no architect would even talk to you unless your plans exceeded 4000sqft. We and several friends all found the same thing: with multi-year wait lists, architects simply wouldn't consider modest additions/ remodels -- they were only accepting the McMansion jobs.