Source: Money.CNN
NEW YORK-- Bipolar is what comes to mind when diagnosing the post-homebuyer tax credit market. There are two separate forces pulling it in opposite directions, and experts aren't yet sure which path the market will take.
On one hand, sales and prices are rising, indicating recovery. On the other hand, so are interest rates and repossessions, which most certainly do not. And then there are the millions of foreclosures that need to be sold but haven't yet been listed -- so-called shadow inventory -- that could derail a real recovery if they hit the market in floods.
The prognosis? Negative short term but turning positive by the end of 2010.
"In the short run, I see a mini-collapse," said Richard DeKaser, an independent housing market analyst and founder of Woodley Park Research who correctly predicted a downturn back in 2005 when he was chief economist for National City Corp.
How to buy a foreclosure
One of market's biggest hurdles is getting beyond the lapse of the $8,000 homebuyer tax credit. Thanks to the incentive, buyers scrambled to beat the April 30 deadline, pushing new home sales up nearly 30% in March.
But that just borrowed buyers from later months. And now we face the hangover effect.
"In the months immediately following the expiration of the tax credit, we expect measurably lower sales," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Industry insiders believe the hangover is worthwhile, however, because the credit helped stabilize housing when it most needed help. Home prices have been steadier in recent months, recently experiencing their first year-over-year rise in more than three years.
Still, there are some strong negatives dragging on the market.
1. Interest rates have been intermittently creeping up. Although nobody expects 6% until at least 2011, the days of 4.5% mortgages are behind us.
2. Bank repossessions are on track to surpass a million homes in 2010. But at least foreclosure filings fell in April, the first time since RealtyTrac began reporting.
3. More than a quarter of borrowers are "underwater," meaning they owe more than their homes are worth.
4. "Strategic defaults" -- where underwater homeowners walkway even when they can still afford to pay -- accounted for 31% of all foreclosures in March, according to a recent study.
0:00 /3:10Detroit to demolish neighborhoods
But there is one factor that has experts really scared: homes that are ready to be sold but haven't been put on the market. Right now, there could be more than 4.5 million homes in "shadow inventory," according to a recent report by Barclays Capital.
This so-called shadow inventory is a recent phenomenon. In the past, inventory was either tight or it wasn't. But now, with home prices so low and so many foreclosures on the market, both homeowners and banks have been waiting to put properties on the market.
"These sidelined sellers closely watch the market for signs of a possible turnaround and rush in if there's a hint of good news," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors.
But as more sellers put their homes up for sale, supplies increase, which will depress prices again. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.
That vicious cycle could cause prices to bounce up and down for years. "I see a saw tooth bottom," Humphries said. "Prices go up; inventory rises, which sends prices down again. That plays out for three to five years of no appreciation. ... Without price appreciation, it leaves more homeowners in negative equity. That's toxic. Any setback, like a job loss, they go into foreclosure."
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Source: Realtytimes
Green building and remodeling broke into mainstream culture in the past decade, leading to a changing home landscape across the nation.
Green building and remodeling broke into mainstream culture in the past decade, leading to a changing home landscape across the nation.
As this landscape changes, trends are changing as well. So, just what are the trends to be on the lookout for in green housing?
Earth Advantage Institute, a free standing nonprofit organization acting as the Northwest's premier green building program, has identified 10 trends that you'll see in 2010.
The first of these is the smart grid and connecting home. This terminology means, simply, that energy usage now has some accountability. "The development of custom and web-based display panels that show real-time home energy use, and even real-time energy use broken out by individual appliance, will go a long way towards helping change homeowners' energy behavior and drive energy conservation," says Earth Advantage.
Next on the list is energy labeling. This is a great way for builders and homebuyers alike to compare green versus standard. This great tool helps everyone involved know how to get to most "bang for their buck."
Have you heard of BIM software? It's another great green trend on the rise in 2010. And while you may not be seeing its use on small scales, for those larger residential and commercial projects it could be just the ticket to savings. The process includes making and managing building data, through the use of 3D, real-time modeling software. Increased productivity and efficiency are just two of the effects.
Number four on their list is the "buy-in to green by financial community." This means that lenders are wising up about the facts on green homeowners. According to Earth Advantage, "Lenders and insurers are realizing that green home owners are more responsible, place higher value on maintenance, and are less likely to default due to lower operating costs of homes and office buildings."
Another great green trend that comes not a moment too soon is the end of McMansions, and the rightsizing of homes. Homeowners have found over the last few years, that bigger is not always better. Beside the increased cost of construction, energy costs can be extremely high for large square footage homes.
USA Today reported just last year that new homes, after doubling in size since 1960, are shrinking. Reporter Wendy Koch wrote, "Last year [2008], for the first time in at least 10 years, the average square footage of single-family homes under construction fell dramatically, from 2,629 in the second quarter to 2,343 in the fourth quarter, Census data show."
The spread of eco-districts. In definitive terms, eco-districts are "an integrated and resilient district or neighborhood that is resource efficient; captures, manages, and reuses a majority of energy, water, and waste on site; is home to a range of transportation options; provides a rich diversity of habitat and open space; and enhances community engagement and well-being." (Portland Sustainability Institute) Be on the lookout for more of these great areas in your neighborhood and town.
Water conservation is on the minds of many as summer heats up. And because of this, there have been great strides made, to increase the efficiency of the big water users in our homes. Appliances that are Energy Star rated can use a fraction of the water of older models. Low flush toilets and high efficiency showerheads add to the water savings. The showerheads alone can save 750 gallons of water each month.
Carbon calculation is number eight on the Earth Advantage list. They report, "With buildings contributing roughly half the carbon emissions in the environment, the progressive elements in the building industry are looking at ways to document, measure, and reduce greenhouse gas creation in building materials and processes." Did you know you can calculate and counter-balance your own carbon footprint. Visit such sites as The Nature Conservatory to find out how.
Net zero buildings are another trend. This means a building produces less energy than it uses. This is done through the use of geothermal, wind, and solar forms of energy, which are produced at the building's location.
And finally, sustainable building education. The more builders that know about, and are committed to, green building, the more the trend will spread and have greater effect. NAHB chairman, Bob Jones, reports, "Our members are leading the way in sustainable design and construction and helping to drive the market toward greener, more efficient home building."
For example, more than 5,200 builders, remodelers and other industry professionals – including Jones – have achieved the Certified Green Professional educational designation. It is NAHB's fastest growing professional designation, and demand for advanced education and professional credentials is strong.
Over the weekend, after Friday's report on sales of newly constructed homes, I found myself in a bit of a "debate" with California-based real estate analyst Mark Hanson, for whom I have great respect.Hanson suggested I was a little too bullish on the news. Now don't get me wrong, not a day goes by in my work that someone (read A LOT of folks) doesn't criticize me for being too bullish, and someone else doesn't criticize me for being too bearish on whatever happens to be the news du jour.
But Hanson got me to thinking about how we judge today's housing market in general.
Friday's report from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce has sales of new homes up nearly 27 percent in March from the previous month. After Thursday's report from the Realtors that existing home sales rose nearly 7% month to month, the news wires were buzzing that housing was finally bouncing off the bottom. I was a bit skeptical in my reporting, only because there is so much government stimulus in the market right now, holding off foreclosures and spiking sales with the home buyer tax credit.
But no question, big jumps up are better than what we've been seeing for the last three years.
"What, you had to do your one bullish story for the quarter for the bosses?" Hanson wrote to me.
I argued that I am neither bullish nor bearish, but do my best to report the numbers with all the influences weighing on said numbers. But then he made a very valid point:
"You can't compare YoY sales and call them great when conditions YoY are 180 degrees different. It is not a fair apples and apples. Also you can't look at seasonally adjusted numbers."
Even the folks at S&P/Case-Shiller admitted that last week (see post 4/22). The numbers are so skewed because of the unique and historic nature of this housing crash, and the government's response to it, that it's very hard to do the usual annual comparisons in order to get any sense of recovery.
More from Hanson on new home sales:
"You are right, there were more sales this March than last March. 38k vs 31k last year during the worst despair ever, and all the gains this year came from one region, the South. But after spending as much as we have, knowing the stimulus is gone, rates won't go lower, and Foreclosures are hitting at a good clip, it sure would have been nice to see that number at 50k or 60k. Below is March sales for the past 30 years. It's up, but a "recovery"? Need more evidence."
MIAMI - Home prices in February posted their first annual increase since the end of 2006, lifted by temporary tax credits for homebuyers.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday squeezed out a 0.6 percent gain. But that was half the increase analysts had expected. On a more cautionary note, 11 of the 20 cities tracked by the index showed declines from February last year.
The data underscored the fragile nature of the housing recovery. Nationally, home prices are up more than 3 percent from the bottom in May 2009, but still are 30 percent below the May 2006 peak.
And there is a "risk that home prices could decline further before experiencing any sustained gains," cautioned David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee. "It is too early to say that the housing market is recovering."
Prices are getting a boost from temporary tax credits that expire at the end of April. First-time buyers can claim up to $8,000 and homeowners who buy and relocate can get up to $6,500. So buyers have more purchasing power.
That's helped propel prices in San Francisco up 12 percent, the best in the index. Likewise, in Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington prices climbed more than 5 percent.
But there are still pockets of weakness around the country. Las Vegas saw the largest annual price drop at almost 15 percent. And, in six markets — Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; New York, Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Tampa, Fla. — the index fell to the lowest level since peaking in 2006 or 2007.
In Las Vegas — a market hit hard by overbuilding and foreclosures — appraisals are coming in consistently low, dragging down prices, said Brad Snyder, a local agent with ZIP Realty. Investors and first-time buyers are competing for homes in the lower price range.
"If the house is priced at $150,000, it's going to get a lot of action," Snyder said.
The Case-Shiller index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index. The index registered 144.03 in February.
A rebound in prices is considered necessary to boost consumer optimism and help revive the economy. A home is the largest and most important financial asset for most Americans. So, as values climb, homeowners feel wealthier and more comfortable spending.
For homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, rising prices rebuild equity.
Americans' confidence in the economy rose in April to the highest level since September 2008, just as the financial crisis escalated, a private research group reported Tuesday.
The upbeat reading, combined with bullish earnings reports this week from companies ranging from Whirlpool Corp. to UPS Inc., offers more hope the economic recovery is gathering steam.
But unlike U.S. businesses, which whittled down inventories during the recession, the housing market is suffering from a backlog of foreclosures. As banks unload these properties en masse, it could overwhelm demand and push prices down again.
"The bottom line is that we're still fighting an uphill battle against a shadow inventory of foreclosures," said Daniel Alpert, managing director of Westwood Capital LLC.
Still, it's "highly unlikely" that price declines will approach the slide suffered in late 2008 and early 2009, wrote Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for MFR Inc.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday squeezed out a 0.6 percent gain. But that was half the increase analysts had expected. On a more cautionary note, 11 of the 20 cities tracked by the index showed declines from February last year.
The data underscored the fragile nature of the housing recovery. Nationally, home prices are up more than 3 percent from the bottom in May 2009, but still are 30 percent below the May 2006 peak.
And there is a "risk that home prices could decline further before experiencing any sustained gains," cautioned David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee. "It is too early to say that the housing market is recovering."
Prices are getting a boost from temporary tax credits that expire at the end of April. First-time buyers can claim up to $8,000 and homeowners who buy and relocate can get up to $6,500. So buyers have more purchasing power.
That's helped propel prices in San Francisco up 12 percent, the best in the index. Likewise, in Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington prices climbed more than 5 percent.
But there are still pockets of weakness around the country. Las Vegas saw the largest annual price drop at almost 15 percent. And, in six markets — Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; New York, Portland, Ore.; Seattle; and Tampa, Fla. — the index fell to the lowest level since peaking in 2006 or 2007.
In Las Vegas — a market hit hard by overbuilding and foreclosures — appraisals are coming in consistently low, dragging down prices, said Brad Snyder, a local agent with ZIP Realty. Investors and first-time buyers are competing for homes in the lower price range.
"If the house is priced at $150,000, it's going to get a lot of action," Snyder said.
The Case-Shiller index measures home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 percent since the beginning of the index. The index registered 144.03 in February.
A rebound in prices is considered necessary to boost consumer optimism and help revive the economy. A home is the largest and most important financial asset for most Americans. So, as values climb, homeowners feel wealthier and more comfortable spending.
For homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their properties are worth, rising prices rebuild equity.
Americans' confidence in the economy rose in April to the highest level since September 2008, just as the financial crisis escalated, a private research group reported Tuesday.
The upbeat reading, combined with bullish earnings reports this week from companies ranging from Whirlpool Corp. to UPS Inc., offers more hope the economic recovery is gathering steam.
But unlike U.S. businesses, which whittled down inventories during the recession, the housing market is suffering from a backlog of foreclosures. As banks unload these properties en masse, it could overwhelm demand and push prices down again.
"The bottom line is that we're still fighting an uphill battle against a shadow inventory of foreclosures," said Daniel Alpert, managing director of Westwood Capital LLC.
Still, it's "highly unlikely" that price declines will approach the slide suffered in late 2008 and early 2009, wrote Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist for MFR Inc.
You can buy a lot with $250,000. You could get a superfast car—the Wiesmann GT MF 5 sports coupe that goes to 0-60 in 3.9 seconds. Or you could drink up 64,935 grande vanilla lattes. But if you want to know what a quarter of a million dollars gets you in real estate across the nation, we’ve got a sample of what’s for sale right here.
SELLER: Soledad and Robert "Bob" HurstLOCATION: New York, NY
PRICE: $29,000,000
SIZE: 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Even though it's a glorious and sunny morning here on the left coast, Your Mama is in a New York state of mind and thought it might be fun to peer in the windows of one of New York's top co-ops on Fifth Avenue where former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs and former president and current Chairman of the Board of the Whitney Museum of American Art Robert Hurst and his wife Soledad recently hoisted their 12-room doo-plex digs onto the market with a sobering asking price of $29,000,000.
Having first been discussed on The Real Deal and subsequently on Curbed NY, Your Mama is well aware that we're a little late to the rodeo on this bit or real estate bidness. Unfortunately we had other fish to fry first. We also know–or at least expect–some of the children will get all pissy and hissy about how Mister Hurst isn't really a celebrity and blah blah blah. Certainly we realize Mister and Missus Hurst are not celebrities in the way that people like that Miley Cyrus gurl is, but in the high stakes world of high finance Mister Hurst is indeed a star. Besides, the man has reached a rare pinnacle of New York real estate, he owns a massive crib at 950 Fifth Avenue, a building deserving of discussion in its own right. Mister Hurst and his twenty-nine million dollar doo-plex is just the vehicle.
In case any of you people who stick to only to Star and Us Magazine care: In addition to his previous duties at the Whitney and his current and no doubt lucrative gig as a partner at some private equity place called Crestview Partners, Mister Hurst is a member of the Board of Overseers of the Wharton School (his alma mater), serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Jewish Museum, sits on the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Institute and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was also, according to his snapshot bio on the Aspen Institute's website, the founding CEO of the 9/11 United Services Group, the "coordinating arm" for numerous social services agencies, including the Red Cross, that sprung into action in the aftermath of the ugly bizness of the September 11th attacks. So he's bizzy in the way rich bidnessmen in New York are bizzy, settin' on boards here and there, workin' the charity circuits and counting his coin in the rarefied rooms of his dee-luxe doo-plex.
Since New York City co-operative buildings were not until recently required to file deeds and paperwork when apartments changed hands, it can sometimes be difficult to suss and sort out the dates of transfers and the amounts tendered, particularly in cream of the crop buildings where mortgages are often not even allowed. However, based on our rooting around on the interweb we are pretty damn sure that Mister Hurst snatched up his 13- into 12-room doo-plex on the 8th and 9th floors in 1997. A previous report suggests Mister Hurst forked out around $8,500,000 for the privilege of living his luxe life up in 950 Fifth Avenue.
Some Manhattan property watchers and purveyors label 950 Fifth Avenue as one of the "B" buildings on Fifth Avenue while other real estate fiends and freaks think it's totally "A" list. Your Mama does not know whether 950 is an "A" or "B" building but we do know that the super slim 14-story limestone edifice contains just 9 very large, hideously expensive and mostly doo-plex apartments meaning there just aren't very many cribs to go around for the folks who might want to shack up there.
The Italian-Renaissance-palazzo style building was designed by preeminent architect James E.R. Carpenter and erected in 1926. Although it has a Fifth Avenue address, the relatively modest main entrance is on East 76th Street beneath a spare almost spartan steel canopy. The building's lower floors retain much of Mister Carpenter's original architectural detailing and a recent restoration of the facade gave it a new luster. Even still, the insensitive enlargement of the windows that face Central Park on the upper floors robbed the building of some of its elegance gives the building a wonky and dizzying imbalance.
According to online sources and listing information, 950 Fifth Avenue's amenities include round the clock doormen, a concierge (this is the dude–and it's always a dude–who takes deliveries for residents among other things), basement storage areas and, natch, an elevator with an attendant. People with enough disposable cheddar to spend upwards of twenty million dollars for an apartment at 950 Fifth apparently can't be bothered to push a damn button by themselves, at least not when they can pay someone to stand there in a cramped elevator car all day long and do nuthin' but push buttons and make small talk with the residents. Because the building is so small and the amenities typical for a white glove type of building, the monthly maintenance charges are high enough to make Your Mama need a nerve pill. It's been reported that the monthly maintenance for the penthouse is around $13,000 and, according to listing information, Mister Hurst's double floor nest carries astonishing, sit down and take a breath monthly charges of $17,532.
It is rumored that bachelors–a designation often used for both unmarried men and homosexes–are often rejected at the better co-operative buildings, even if they are billionaires. One never knows who or what sort of cat that billionaire bachelor might drag home, marry and/or move into the building. In the past, the board at 950 Fifth has shown no fear of bachelors and the building was once–and perhaps still is–considered friendly to a single gentleman as long as his financials are in order.
Let's have a look at Mister and Missus Hurst's two-floor spread at 950 before having a wee look-see at a few of the other past and present residents of the popsicle thin pre-war building. A private elevator landing opens into a charity event sized gallery with a nearby walk in closet, mahogany paneled wet bar, prudently placed powder pooper and a trio of arched windows that reach almost to the ceiling and dip almost all the way down to the floor. The ocher and biscuit colored checkerboard floors are marble and the walls limestone. To the right of the entrance gallery, the 500+ square foot living room has herringbone patterned hardwood floors, a wood burning fireplace–1 of 3 in the doo-plex–and one of those previously mentioned enlarged windows. The enlarged window certainly gives a more panoramic view of Central Park than the original trio of windows probably did, but there's just something so post-war looking about the extra-wide window and, truthfully, it makes Your Mama edgy.
Opposite the living room lies the dining room with its pale paneling and fireplace flanked by arched niches perfect for displaying Fabregé eggs. A swinging door swings open to a butler's pantry that in turn leads to the fully updated eat in kitchen dressed in rich and seriously glossy polished mahogany cabinetry. The counter tops are marble and the appliances, natch, top-of-the-line. Just off the breakfast area that is flooded with eastern morning light is a second half-pooper and laundry room. A small staff room, discreetly concealed behind the glistening cabinetry, has a private and luxuriously windowed pooper. If one did not know that room was there, any number of naughty and nefarious things could go on in there without anyone being the wiser.
A curving, limestone staircase winds up to a too-narrow landing. To the right lies the master suite with fireplace, unobstructed view through another of those enlarged windows of Central Park, generous terliting facilities with two gigantic windows, and a large dressing room. To the left of the landing a long, long, long dead straight hall is lined with walk-in closets and a pooper on one side and on the other two bedrooms (one with an en-suite terlit), a small gym and a library with with wet bar. Now kids, Your Mama would never in a million years take up valuable floor space with a bunch of ugly contraptions meant to torture a body into toned and taut submission, but we're all for people having home fitness centers iffin their vanity requires. However, we're wrinkling our nose and pursing our lips at having to indelicately squeeze past the iron pumping accoutrement in order to get to the damn library. That is not acceptable in Your Mama's book, not for twenty-nine million damn dollars.
Your Mama–a space planning problem solver from way back–recommends a radical re-organization of the second floor that involves moving the master bedroom to the back of the apartment where it would get the eastern morning light, which is always nice in the morning, and moving that library up to the where the existing master bedroom is currently located. The library, a semi-informal space is where, we presume, a resident of a large apartment like this spends a great deal of casual time at home, cross stitching cute pillows to give as gifts, watching reality television and reading gossip glossies. It only makes sense–at least to Your Mama–for the more frequently used room to take advantage of the $29,000,000 view. After all you cain't see Central Park when yer sleeping so the view is largely lost on the master bedroom. If we figure out a floor plan that we think works better we'll post it. Feel free to send Your Mama your about rearranging rooms too.
Anyhoo, Mister Hurst's other real estate holdings including (but may not be limited to) a significant spread in quietly swank Sagaponack, NY–that's the Hamptons, sugar cubes–that stretches over 33 acres surrounded on two sides by Sagaponack Pond and includes a 11,595 square foot shingled mansion with 7 bedrooms, 9 poopers and 4 fireplaces, according to property records. A few years ago the filthy rich financier dropped approximately $27,000,000 for a trio of properties in Aspen, CA that, at the time of the purchase, included an approximately 13,000 square foot mansion. He quickly, reportedly, flipped a couple of the three parcels raking in a few million for his real estate troubles. If we've said it once we've said it a thousand times chickens, one of the many way rich people get even richer is to buy well located and pricey properties and flip them to even wealthier people at a substantial profit. Maybe this isn't so realistic in these post Wall Street meltdown days, but once upon a time it was a sure and quick way to make enough to put a down payment on a new Gulfstream G650.
Other filthy rich residents of 950 Fifth Avenue include billionaire Mort Zuckerman–the current Editor in Chief of U.S. News and World Report and a regular on the wacky politico yak and shout fest that is The McLaughlin Report. Mister Zuckerman reportedly resides in the approximately 6,500 square foot triplex penthouse he bought in 1986 for $8,500,000 and for which he's rumored to pay around $13,000 in monthly maintenance charges.
In 2004, hedge hog James Dinan shelled out $20,200,000 for the doo-plex of disgraced Tyco tycoon Dennis Koszlowski. Mister Kozlowski, who did some time in the pokey for nefarious financial wheeling and dealing, had previously bought the apartment from Blackstone Group CEO and unimaginably rich Stephen Schwarzman. Mister Schwarzman and his wife Christine famously decamped for a vast 37-room, $30,000,000 Peter Marino designed triplex penthouse at the supremely snooty 740 Park Avenue. The triplex had formerly been owned by high on the hog financier Saul Steinberg and, long before that, by John D. Rockefeller.
The most recent sale at 950 Fifth Avenue, according to Street Easy, was in January of 2008 when prop records show Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz laid out $25,492,500 for a doo-plex owned by big bizness baron and co-chairman of the Loews Corporation Jonathan Tisch. Mister Tisch, who was once married to Saul Steinberg's daughter, moved on to pay a blood curdling $48,000,000 for a 14-room co-op–complete with both silver and china closets–at the frighteningly expensive 2 East 67th Street.
Your Mama wonders to which of the top co-op buildings Mister Hurst will head once (and if) he sells his doo-plex at 950 Fifth Avenue. Perhaps he's got his eye on the (approximately) 6,700 square foot doo-plex at 740 Park Avenue that's languishing on the market at $26,000,000 and being sold by the estate of oil heiress June Speight? What about the sprawling simplex at 2 E. 67th Street, currently owned by Greek pharmaceutical executive Dr. Athanase Lavidas and listed at a knee buckling $38,000,000? There's always the 4,750 square foot high floor doo-lex at the very posh 834 Fifth Avenue, currently listed at $29,500,000 by bigwig Broadway producer–and former resident of 950 Fifth Avenue–Hal Prince.
Or maybe, as was suggested by Mister Hurst's wife Soledad in an article from long ago in the Wall Street Journal, maybe they've already made their primary home on their ranch in Aspen.
source: Brown Harris Stevens
BUYER: Jackson BrowneLOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $2,660,000
SIZE: 4,075 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A few weeks ago Your Mama received a covert communique from the always entertaining and well connected Lurleen Letsusknow who funneled our scattered and boozy brain to information about the recent purchase of an historic home by the inestimable musician and dedicated environmental activist Jackson Browne. According to Miss Lestusknow–and confirmed with property records and by Lucy Spillerguts–Mister Brown paid $2,600,000 for a stunning and fully restored single story Spanish Colonial Revival residence in the Beverly Grove area of Los Angeles.
Mister Jackson, a bonified artist and musician, made a career singing and writing songs about his inner turmoils and issues of social justice and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004. He has long lived in and around southern California. Born in Germany, he actually grew up just north of downtown L.A. in Highland Park, which was little more than a dusty outpost back in his toddler days. The still touring Mister Jackson, who once dated the fabulous and now dead Nico of The Velvet Underground, has long had a thing for pretty women. He married two models and then became famously entangled with fellow eco-activist Daryl Hannah.
Nowadays Mister Jackson makes a home with Dianna Cohen, a ladee artist who does interesting and intricate things with plastic shopping bags, an everyday and typically ignored object that carries and embodies much that is, for better or worse, culturally important in our hyper consumerist society. Cohen's re-purposing of plastic shopping bags brings a laser like attention to certain eco-issues but also forces a re-evaluation and re-imagining of how we see, perceive and utilize objects that are typically tossed aside (and left to fill up garbage dumps from now until the end of time). No doubt the children have not tuned in to Your Mama's little online endeavor for a damn art lesson, particularly about work Your Mama is quite certain many will poo-poo and claim ain't nothing more than–literally, figuratively metaphorically–garbage. So let's get on back to the real estate matter at hand, shall we?
The Spanish Colonial Revival casa was designed and built in 1929 by its original owner and architect Octavius W. Morgan and placed on Los Angeles' Historic Cultural Monument list in 1989. The accomplished but little discussed Mister Morgan was a principle in the celebrated architectural firm Morgan, Walls & Clements, the folks responsible for significant design aspects of several of Los Angeles' most notable moving picture palaces including The Mayan (now a sizzling salsa club), the Wiltern, and the extraordinary El Capitan (now owned by Disney).
According to property records and listing information, Mister Jackson's newly purchased and recently restored digs measures 4,075 square feet and includes 4 bedrooms and 3.5 poopers including a master bedroom with 2 closets plus a dressing room with built in vanity, a vintage pooper with the original yellow and black accented tile work and French doors that open to a private patio that features and outdoor fireplace and is connected to the home's central courtyard, which is pretty much the back yard except it's not in the back.
The front of the house displays some classic details such as a deeply inset front door, casement windows and wrought iron window grill work. The landscaping would appear to be fresh and new, but also appears to be of the variety that requires a significant amount of water to keep looking fresh and new. Your Mama expects the environmentally concerned and eco-friendly Mister Jackson will replace it with something less thirsty and more drought tolerant.
The interior spaces display a sensitive and successful merger between the home's original details and the modern conveniences folks buying a $2,600,000 residence require. The large living room features dark stained oak floors, a vaulted ceiling with deep brown colored exposed beams and trusses, large casement windows that stretch down to the floor and French doors that open the aforementioned central courtyard. A library has shelving recessed into the walls, large casement windows, an original stained glass window with a multi-colored pattern of circles, and an interesting ceiling treatment that we suspect is original to the house.
The kitchen retains a vintage vibe with its rolled linoleum floors, trio of hanging lights over the work island and turqwaze tile work. There is flat-fronted, winter white cabinetry topped by charcoal colored soap stone counter tops and stainless steel appliances including a double fridge/freezer. A large butler's pantry that connects the kitchen to the formal dining room has mahogany counter tops. A petite family room adjacent to the kitchen makes for an intimate spot to curl up with a book, a stack of tabs or spend the evening watching the terrifying and yet mesmerizing spectacle that is RuPaul's Drag Race. (You better start your engines, hunties!)
Anyhoo, the central courtyard–and who among us does not crave, covet and love a central courtyard that ensures the sort of privacy one requires and desires when nood sunbathing?–has a swimming pool and spa encircled by a stone terrace, and a long promenade runs the length of the courtyard and has a second outdoor fireplace. An outdoor living room not located in the central courtyard features a third outdoor fireplace. Another of the homes notable features would be the 7-car garage that means neither Mister Jackson, Miz Cohen nor any of their house guests suffer arcane parking restrictions enforced by the city and all the Missus Kravitz's in the neighborhood.
Records reveal that Mister Jackson, who formerly lived on a triple wide double lot just one block from the beach on posh Palisades Avenue in Santa Monica, still owns his childhood in Highland Park, a 100+ acre spread in the rugged, rustic and stunningly beautiful Hollister Ranch community just outside of Santa Barbara that he bought in the late 1970s, and a rural property in Aptos, CA. If Your Mama is being honest, and we always are, we don't know which of those properties–if any of them–Mister Browne and Miz Cohen currently live but we do know from our research on the internets that wherever it is they live their home is almost completely off the grid, powered by wind and solar energy and has its own water well.
source: Teles Properties / Ernie Carswell
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