Tag Archives: Santa Monica Real Estate

Things To Know About SantaMonica

Santa Monica has always had a history of being the place for the rich and powerful. In the past, the likes of Will Rogers, Greta Garbo, Harold Lloyd, Mae West, Louis B. Mayer, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, and William Randolph Hearst lived and mingled with rich visitors in the area. These days, you’re just as likely to see residents such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Ted Danson and Mary Steenbergen, Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Tom Selleck dining in restaurants and shopping in many of the stores.

Santa Monica is home to many major landmarks which attract sightseers to the community. There’s the Parkhurst Building, which was constructed by a former mayor of the city, Charles Parkhurst, and was designated a historical landmark in 1978. There’s the Miramar Hotel, which still exists today as a luxury hotel, which used to also be the home to stars such as Greta Garbo, its first resident after it was built. There’s the Miles Playhouse, built in 1929 and still used today to put on theater productions. And finally, the Looff Hippodrome, built in 1916 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987, built in a fantasy style with what looks like a merry-go-round on top of the building, and reminds people of what they imagined the Old West would have looked like if every community had a lot of money. And you can’t visit Santa Monica without going to Santa Monica Pier, which is loaded with amusement park attractions, shops, and restaurants.

Of course, Santa Monica is really known for its beach, aptly named Santa Monica Beach, which of course access the Pacific Ocean. With an average of 340 sunny days a year and a very temperate climate, it’s the perfect getaway for swimming, surfing, fishing and beach volleyball. There’s usually an ocean breeze which adds to the comfort, and the beach is kept very clean.

Finally, there’s some of the most spectacular houses in the world in Santa Monica. Many of them are older homes that have been refurbished and updated. There’s the Niemeyer-Strick home, built in 1964 by Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian architect who won the 1988 Pritzker Prize for design, but was originally not allowed to have his name on the permits because he supported communism at the time. There’s the Zuni House, built in 1923 in the style of Mayan architecture. And you have the Marion Davies Estate, which was built by William Randolph Hearst right on the ocean front for movie star Marion Davies.

Though Santa Monica is home to the rich and famous, the city also keeps a record of what they call “affordable units”, which can be obtained from any redevelopment agencies in the area. Consumers can find rental properties or regular residential properties all over the city, but most of it isn’t cheap. You will find multi-million dollar homes in Santa Monica, mainly close to the beach, and the prices will range from upwards of $8 million down to $290,000 for homes in the area. Leasing will average around $2,500 if people wish to go that route.

Santa Monica Homes, a Great Place to Live

Santa Monica is one of the best known suburbs of Los Angeles, home to many world famous celebrities and wonderful homes. It’s home to the famous designer Frank Gehry’s house, which is an amalgamation of house and warehouse. Basically, Gehry took an existing small house and built into it and around it, interesting and fascinating patterns that, eventually, make the house look more like a fancily designed warehouse than the traditional stylish home that most designers would live in. Light wood, corrugated metal and chain link; definitely not traditional by any means, and yet even with such harsh aesthetics it’s a popular home for visitors to stop by and take a look.

Of course, when we want to get back to what we expect of the rich and famous, we don’t have to look any further than the house actress Julianna Margulies is trying to sell. Presently being rented by another top actress, Kyra Sedgwick, this house is on the market for $4.2 million. Built in 1927, it’s 3,235 square feet, three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living room with a beamed ceiling and wood-burning fireplace. It has an open chef’s kitchen, a den, an office-library, a swimming pool, and the detached guesthouse has one bedroom and one bathroom. It also has a three car garage.

Then we have the Britney Spears home that’s still up for sale. At $7.9 million, it’s considered as somewhat of a bargain because it’s a spacious 7,453 square feet. It’s a wonderful six-bedroom Italian renaissance inspired house in a gated community. It also has six baths, a gated motor court, a wet bar, maid’s quarters, a library and looks down into the living room, a smoking room/den, a formal dining room, a grand entrance foyer, dramatic high ceilings and carved millwork, the standard pool and a chef’s kitchen.

Of course, not only the famous own lavish homes in Santa Monica. One wonderfully large home right on the beach, a 5-room European villa style home sitting on a double lot, is up for sale right now at $16 million. It’s a 2-story courtyard style house with a retractable roof, a master bedroom suite with his and hers bathrooms, large living and dining rooms with a professional screening room and a bar on the lower level. It’s a house that was originally built in 1927 (there seems to be a pattern here), but obviously has had many modern touches added to it.

But Santa Monica is known for the stars that live there, and the houses they live in. Stars include Jamie Lee Curtis, Ted Danson, Jane Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Judge Reinhold, Jeff Bridges, Mel Brooks and Tom Selleck. Even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lived in Santa Monica at one time before he married Maria Shriver, and still owns commercial properly there.