Echo Park Lake

Most of us long to live in the way that feels most authentic and harmonious with our surroundings. That desire drives the choices we make when we decide on the kind of home we buy and how we go about decorating, but our larger surroundings, such as the neighborhood we live in, matter just as much in creating a happy life, and should influence our decision of where to buy a home.

According to Dan Buettner, who spent the past 15 years reporting for the  National Geographic on the happiest and healthiest people on the planet, one’s environment is paramount in making sure that you’ll likely to be happy for the long term.We’ve rounded up some of Dan’s suggestions to share with you as we step into spring (always the busy home-buying season), as they might come in useful as you tour Open Houses and envision your life in a new place.

Buettner suggests that, in terms of choosing a place to live, people who live near water—whether it’s a lake or river or an ocean—are about 10 percent more likely to be happy than people who don’t. Buettner also says that people who live in medium-sized cities are more likely to be happy than the anonymity of a big city or perhaps the too in-your-face, limited-possibility environment of a tiny town. You’re more likely to be happy if your house has a sidewalk, and if you live in a bikeable place.

Where do these suggestions take you in Los Angeles? For those that love bodies of water, the coastal areas like Venice Beach and Santa Monica are the obvious answers, but we also love Silver Lake with its beautiful Reservoir, Echo Park with its stunning lake and quiant paddle boats, and Atwater Village and Highland Park with their proximity to LA River and Arroyo Seco streams. All these neighborhoods have plenty of sidewalks and are bike-friendly, and have scenic views – by the way, there are also studies which claim that merely observing a fine view is health-enhancing, so tack that on to the benefits of living in LA.

Once you are happy with your location, Buettner offers some advice on what one can do to add a bit more joy to your immediate surroundings. “One facet of happiness is sum of positive emotions. So I like the idea of a “pride shrine”—a place in your house that you pass a lot where you put pictures that trigger pleasant memories. Or diplomas or awards that remind you of accomplishments.” Research also points at flowers and plants as sources of daily happiness, so get those in your home ASAP, along with six to seven hours of socializing a day. — That’s right! According to Buettner’s research, the happiest people communicate with other people that many hours per diem. (This must be one reason that we love working as real estate agents!)

If you are curious about a particular Los Angeles neighborhood or find yourself in need of advice regarding buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to get in touch – we would love to hear from you. Contact us and we’d be glad to discuss your real estate goals. And, according to Buettner’s research, if you give us a call, you’re pretty much guaranteed to become happier – by putting in some time towards those six to seven hours of socializing!

The jacarandas are abloom and the last week of February is nearly upon us. Let’s make the most of what remains of the shortest month of the year, here are some ideas for things to do and see this weekend:

GRAND OPENING OF COLLINE IN ECHO PARK
February 24th and 25th, 10A-5P

Colline

We are delighted to unveil and celebrate Colline, an intimate community of nine new single-family residences right in the heart of the hip and hilly neighborhood of Echo Park. Discreetly situated along the gentle rise and descent of a street-to-street lot, Colline takes its name from the French word for “hill” and enjoys a prime location in one of Echo Park’s best pockets. Our team’s excitement about these beautiful homes is aptly expressed in Tracy Do’s words, “Colline brings a new level of affordable luxury to the neighborhood, and the views from the rooftop decks and terraces are among the best that I have ever seen.” Come take a look! 1511 Lake Shore Ave., Los Angeles, 90026, we’ll be Open Sat. and Sun. from 10A-5P. Learn more at www.collineechopark.com

MILK BAR X REFORMATION POP-UP
Saturday, Feb. 24. 11A -7P

Feast on delectable desserts while perusing the latest collection from sustainable apparel company Reformation. Chef Christina Tosi is bringing her renown NYC-based Milk Bar out West, so be sure to stop by and taste the famous cookies, truffles and the new Crack Pie Latte, debuting for the first time this weekend. 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Reformation, 8000 Melrose Ave., L.A. Cost: $3-$10

WALT’S, A NEW ARCADE BAR IN EAGLE ROCK

Take all your change and dollar bills and head over to Walt’s in Eagle Rock’s – the retro-styled new pinball and arcade neighborhood bar is now open. Located inside the wonderful Art Deco style Connors Plumbing building, which now sports an additional sign with multi-colored letters spelling “PINBALL!”, this throwback establishment takes you back to 20th century in the most pleasing of ways. Find Walt’s at 4680 Eagle Rock Boulevard, open from 11am to 2am daily.

DISSOLVING SIGHTS: AN EXHIBITION OF PROJECTION ART IN CHINATOWN
Saturday, February 24th, 6-10pm at Automata

Miwa Matreyek | This World Made Itself

A show that brings together several artists that work in the medium of projection and shadow while engaging themes of place, resistance and dreams – a poetic premise that promises to enchant. The exhibition, organized by Janie Geiser, Bora Kyung Min Lee, Miwa Matreyek, Laurie O’Brien, Mat Rappaport and Susan Simpson is generously hosted by Automata, a non-profit dedicated to the creation, incubation, and presentation of experimental puppet theater, experimental film, and other contemporary art practices and v1b3, an artist-led project that explores the impact of media in the built environment through curated site-specific interventions, presentations and published documentation. More information here.

TEA MIXOLOGY WORKSHOP IN DESCANSO GARDENS
Saturday, Feb. 24. 1-3 p.m. $35 members, $45 non-members.

It seems that coffee gets a lot of attention these days, but if you are a dedicated tea lover, this event is tailor-made just for you. This Saturday, a noted herbalist, author and educator Emily Han will lead a workshop that explores the fine art of tea-infused beverages. You’ll learn about flavor profiles and infusion techniques, craft and taste mocktails and will also create your own tea syrup – which you’ll get to to take home. Advance registration required. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Cañada Flintridge, 818.949.4200. www.descansogardens.org

LUCQUES’ 15TH ANNUAL CASSOULET NIGHT IN WEST HOLLYWOOD
Sunday, Feb. 25

Cassoulet | Serious Eats | photo by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

It’s been rather chilly these last few days, the sort of weather that makes a bowl of heartly Cassoulet a welcome treat.  We are in luck, because the 15th annual Cassoulet Night at Lucques is this Sunday! The evening will feature a three-course menu that features a salad of young greens with local walnuts and orange blossom honey, and a gâteau Basque with prune ice cream and almonds, and of course be the Cassoulet de Maison, prepared with duck and pork confit, garlic sausage and white beans. Come for dinner or get a single serving to-go. Call 323-655-6277 to reserve your space or place an order. Visit www.lucques.com for more information.

AN EXHIBITION BY THE 45TH GROUP OF MAK CENTER ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTS-IN-RESIDENCE.
Sunday, Feb. 25, 3–6 PM, through Sunday, March 4, 2018, Mackey Apartments

One can always rely on MAK center to provide interesting and smart programming, and this show is no exception. Head over to the Mackey apartments to see HOME, HOOD, HILL, an exhibition of work by Paris-based artist Baptist Penetticobra, Vienna-based artist Flora Hauser, and Mexico City-based architectural collective WASA (Guillermo Acosta, Alejandra Avalos and Alan Rios) that have been in residency at Mackey Apartments. WASA, in particular, addresses a topic close to home (pun intended) for us as real estate professionals, by “reflecting on new ways of understanding and creating private space: specifically, home.” Visit MAK Center for more information: www.makcenter.org/programming/home-hood-hill-final-projects-group-xlv/

Get to know Tracy Do and read all about her Real Estate journey in this fantastic interview published in today’s VoyageLA:

Tracy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.

I graduated from USC with a degree in Art History. While I do love art, I’m also a very practical person and had taken business classes along the way. It wasn’t long before I was working in real estate. My first job was “behind the scenes,” at a law firm that specialized in the representation of Homeowners Associations. I learned a lot and came to realize that I wanted to do residential sales. I got my real estate license and started at a residential brokerage on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. By that time, I was married with a one-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Balancing my work and my family life, I set out to build a business based on the principals of hard work, creativity and the highest standards of professionalism.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?

The biggest challenge I have faced happened at end of 2007, when the real estate market veered into its downturn. This without a doubt was the defining moment of my career. I had every reason to throw in the towel, but I realized two things. First, I could not do that to my clients who needed me. Second, I didn’t want to quit. I love this work, and even if it was going to be a lot more difficult, I knew the market would rebound in time. Well, it took a while. One of my listings was on the market for an entire year. One thing about me is that I do not quit — ever. I eventually sold that house and many others as well. Along the way I learned so much, it was like a graduate-level education. My negotiating skills got a great workout, and I learned a lot about people which helped me develop a stronger sense of what customer service really means. To this day, my clients from that era really appreciate that we were able to weather that storm together and arrive at this much better place.

So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Tracy Do story. Tell us more about the business.

I am the leader of a team of realtors providing services throughout some of LA’s best neighborhoods including the Eastside, Northeast LA and parts of the Valley. What I am most proud of is that our team was built from the ground up. I have trained agents on my team to adhere to my core value of providing excellent service that is built around the unique needs of each client. What sets our team apart is our ability to work with so many different types of clients to the highest possible standards of our profession. This includes seasoned homeowners, first-time home buyers, investors, design build firms and developers of new homes. The fact that we are hired by so many institutional builders is to me a tremendous validation and tells me that we’re doing this job well.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?

There’s an old saying, “you make your own luck.”

Southern California is famous for its extraordinary architecture, its built history particularly resonant with exceptional examples of Mid-Century Modern residences. It was a fruitful era for many architects with varying focus, some determined to experiment, others concerned with down-to-earth pragmatism. Among them, one prolific builder undoubtedly stands out as someone that combined both tendencies – an architect by the name of Cliff May, also known as the father of California Ranch House, the post-WWII dream home.

Cliff May

A descendant of a family that lived in California for several generations, Cliff May grew up on a sprawling San Diego ranch; intertwined with nature, his upbringing left him with a deep and real love of California living. In one of his interviews, May recalled the home where he grew up in, a U-shaped Adobe style home built around 1860’s, and credited its influence on the way he set out to design homes for his contemporaries: “ The early Californians had the right idea. They built for the seclusion and comfort of their families, for the enjoyment of relaxation in their homes. We want to perpetuate these ideas of home building.”

Cliff May’s path to architecture was far from standard: he first set out to study business, but left school when the stock market crashed in 1929. An aspiring saxophone player, he organized a Cliff May Orchestra and began playing shows around San Diego, while also trying his hand at building furniture. A realtor friend liked the Monterey style pieces and offered to exhibit May’s furnishings at a home that he was trying to sell. The house sold quickly, and Cliff moved the furniture to another one of his friend’s listings. When the second house sold as well, the friend suggested, why doesn’t Cliff build a house himself? Cliff agreed, and thus began an illustrious career.

Cliff May design | 1939

It is worth noting that building a house in 1930’s California was rather different that it is now, and those that are going through the process to build a new home will marvel at the way that  Cliff May went about preparing for construction. Here’s how he described it in a 1982 interview with Marlene Laskey:

“We went out to get the building permit, and I remember Oscar Knecht was the chief building inspector of San Diego. I came in with my drawing, not the first one, but one of the later ones, and there were only two pages to look over. There wasn’t big building in San Diego in the thirties. He looked it over, and he said, “This looks pretty good. Do you know how to build it?” I said, “I can build it.”

The first house that May built sold easily, despite the Depression. Cliff continued his success and went on to construct 50 other homes in San Diego in the next few years.  In 1935, he decided to move to Los Angeles, which became his second home. Though he was never licensed as an architect, Mr. May went on to pioneer an architectural style that is coveted to this day, and designed more than a thousand custom and tract homes over the decades of his formidable practice.

Cliff May Model Home Brochure | 1952

Cliff May was passionate about designing for the way that people wanted to live – he built homes that brought pleasure to their inhabitants, providing an equal measure of wide open space to commune with family and friends, a feeling of nature at arms reach, and an ample space for privacy and quiet times. A keen innovator, May was quick to adapt the latest home technologies and incorporate them in his designs. As the Mid-Century Style gained popularity, May embraced the large expanse of glass and sliding doors, developing the iconic look of the California Ranch Style home that know and love today – and which is encapsulated in our current listing, 3032 Shipway Ave in Long Beach.

3032 Shipway Ave | Long Beach

The home is a part of the coveted Rancho Estates tract in prime Long Beach, a stone’s throw from El Dorado Park and Nature Center and within easy reach of beach and Alamitos Bay. The beautiful residence is thoughtfully refurbished with respect to the original design, and is a great example of Cliff May aesthetic, a spacious, gracious home with a seamless connection to the outdoors. We are delighted to represent this home, and are especially pleased to work with our new team member, Elias Tebache, in bringing it to the market. Elias, who joined Tracy Do Team in November 2017, brings his architecture training and expertise to the table – having guided both buyers and sellers of homes designed by noted architects including Case Study Architect Kemper Nomland, A. Quincy Jones, Claude Oakland and Armand Le Tourneau through numerous successful transactions.

3032 Shipway Ave | Long Beach

If you are looking for a beautiful Mid-Century Modern home amidst idyllic setting – and just a short drive to the ocean – to call your very own, this is the one. Get in touch if you would like to make a viewing appointment, and, if you need to consult about a purchase or a sale of an architecturally significant home, we are just a phone call (or an email) away, and would love to hear from you.