On the market: Spiritual spaces
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People usually express their personal affiliations and national heritage in their homes. And though many of these individual elements are removed when homes are staged for sale, some Southern California sellers hope their spiritual spaces will attract buyers looking to escape the pressure and anxiety of daily life.
Here are eight Southern California offerings with a serene feel and one Northern California retreat on the market.
Built in 1949 and listed at $338,000 on Trulia.com, this single-family Spanish-style home could be converted into a peaceful, creative work space or an office building. Wood-paneled rooms feature 12-foot-high ceilings, and the building has five rooms, a reception area overlooking the garden, a detached storage room, parking for eight and a garden.
Property owner and musician Byron Brizuela, 39, says the building has a spiritual feel and has been his creative mecca for 16 years. “I recorded a lot of my music there and recorded some gold and platinum records,” he says. “I used to rent it from the previous owner but did so well at the place that the owner sold it to me in 2005. Creative people need a creative space. And this place is like that. It is a really inspiring spot.” Listing agent Teri Barton of Keller Williams Realty Pasadena suggests the space would be a good buy for an advertising company, a start-up, a health-and-holistic center or any company looking for a creative space on a main street.
4424 Whitsett Ave., Unit 214, Studio City
Don’t mind sharing your enlightened moment? This 2009 town home has two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,455 square feet and includes access to a meditation garden. The unit is listed at $519,000 on Trulia.com. Want Zen with a discount? Check out the smaller unit in the same building listed for $20,000 less.
4424 Whitsett Ave., Unit 103, Studio City Listed at $499,000, which is $10,000 less than the original listing price on June 20 at Trulia.com, this 2009 town home features two bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,383 square feet and includes access to a meditation garden.
8939 Ralph St., Rosemead Recently upgraded and back on the market at a reduced price of $548,000 ($11,000 less than the original October list price), this three-bedroom, one-bathroom home was built in 1938 and features about 1,300 square feet and a Zen garden with a pond. If the pond isn’t providing enough respite from the worldly clamors (or those noisy kids), there’s a detached one-bedroom, one-bathroom guest unit on the property with a kitchen and a living room in 450 square feet. Listing agent John Lewis, broker owner of John Lewis Realty in La Mirada, says the home has a peaceful element to it. “And the one-bed in the back would make a nice rental,” he said.
2345 Roscomare Road, Unit 208, Los AngelesListed at $629,000 on the Combined LA/Westside Multiple Listing Service Inc., this condominium comes with its own meditation garden and canyon views. Built in 1971, the corner unit has two bedrooms and 1 3/4 bathrooms in 1,120 square feet. It is walking distance to the Bel-Air market and close to UCLA and Westwood.
2939 Gaviota Place, Carlsbad Listed at $775,000 on NeighborCity.com and built in 1977, this four-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home in South La Costa is located at the end of a cul-de-sac and comes with a pool and patio in about 3,238 square feet. The home has two additional rooms. One is currently used as a retreat and sits off the master suite. The other now serves as a meditation room.
Listed at $899,000 ($50,000 less than the original listing price Sept. 10, 2009) on Trulia.com, this single-family canyon retreat was built by architect John Galbraith in 1960 and features a Zen courtyard and three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 2,117 square feet. According to Trulia, the home last sold Sept. 5, 2007, for $960,000.
The Echo Creek Conference Center Retreat in South Lake Tahoe’s forested area of the Sierra Mountains has been reduced from $5.5 million to around $3.5 million on FindTheDivine.com, which lists spiritual retreats for sale nationwide. The property’s 16 acres include a half-mile stretch of Echo Creek and a 3,750-square-foot log lodge that sleeps 20 people. The master plan for the property envisions a conference-center retreat and recreational group facility. The approved plan includes a 27,000-square-foot main lodge and a second lodge of 13,000 square feet. The two buildings would house up to 160 people in 80 guestrooms.
-- Michelle Hofmann