Beautiful Places to Live

Robbie liked it.

2011-05-20T08:08:00.001-07:00

By: Robbie E
Dana and Paula's place is comfortable and in a great location in Santa Monica. They were very easy to deal with, extremely helpful at all times, and the house was very clean. We were there with three kids and it was spacious enough for us all, and highly recommend the house and the hosts.

Lovely, peaceful home

2010-12-06T12:33:00.001-08:00

My baby daughter and I had a lovely stay in Paula and Dana's home away
from home.
Its comfortable and peaceful in the suburban neighbourhood of Valley
Glen, surrounded by trees and with chickens in the backyard, you
wouldn't even know you were in the bustling city of LA. The area is
quiet and safe and I spent many mornings walking my daughter in the
stroller, breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the serenity!
The home has beautiful furnishings both inside and out and comes
equipped with everything you need in the kitchen, bathroom and
bedroom. It also has a washer and dryer to get the washing done.
I was also very impressed by how well insulated the place was. It
stayed cool in the heat of the day and was warm as the nights got
cooler. No ac required.
Paula and Dana were very helpful and friendly and are so happy when
their guests experience as much warm fuzziness about their home as
they do!
If you're visiting LA but don't want the traffic, pollution, noise and
multitudes of people then this little oasis is the place for you.

Maiden Voyage - Classy Indoor/Outdoor Living in Comfort and Style

2010-11-05T12:19:00.000-07:00

Paula and Dana were fabulous hosts. The place came with everything we needed, from comfy linens and kitchen supplies to beautiful touches like candles, unique wall art, and a lovely fountain. We felt right at home in this lovely, half open-air space, but at the same time we felt surrounded by creativity and luxury because of all the thoughtful decorations. And we loved the chickens! When we let them out they were very social and it was lots of fun to feed them, although if chickens aren't your thing they come closed off in their own little "chicken palace" way on the other side of the yard and you wouldn't even know they were there. Paula was very generous and available anytime we had a question. She left us lots of helpful hints about the neighborhood, the parking was a breeze, and she pointed us to an unbelievable market just down the way with the best deals on fresh produce and meat I've ever seen. I had some meetings in Hollywood and this location is surprisingly convenient- only about 20 minutes or less straight to the center of everything. The area is suburban and very tranquil and we almost forgot we were right in LA! I would be thrilled to stay here again. Do yourself a favor and book this little slice of paradise in Valley Glen!

Hannah

Juliette's Birth

2010-10-17T17:33:00.000-07:00

Words cannot express what an amazing stay we had at Dana and Paula's beautiful garden home. Dana and Paula are warm and welcoming people - they made us feel like family. Our two little girls (and of course my husband and I) just adored them. The house itself is also inviting - I just loved the master bedroom with its cushy mattress and pillows and soft sheets. The grounds are amazing - our girls spent hours playing under the trees with the pinecones, the swing, and best of all - the two sweet chickens. They loved it when the hens left them eggs in the morning! We knew how extra special our hosts were when they offered to allow us to birth our third child in this home. It will forever be a cherished place in our hearts and minds - the place where our third little girl was born. A huge thank you and hug to Dana and Paula for being so amazing!

Thanks again for everything - you are wonderful!

Love

Katherine (and family!)

Praise by a Gourmet with a blog

2010-10-03T15:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks again for everything! The chickens gave me three more eggs and they've all been really delicious. Also the orange juice from the tree is fantastic! I'm making a bunch more right now to bring home with me.

Oh, and here's the blog post:

windattack.com

Cheers!

-Andy

A Surprise Gem Emerges

2008-10-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

When I first saw the Erwin house, I was more impressed by the enthusiastic reactions of my friends than the house itself. It was really beat up. There was junk, people and pitbulls tucked in every corner and the gray brick added to the gloom that hung over the heads of the many occupants who knew that they were going to have to leave soon.

I wanted to buy it in July of 2006, but it took until December for the legal problems to clear, so that I could actually close escrow. Our first mission was to rent two humongous dumpsters and empty the bowels of the house and the garages into it. Later it took two more to finish the job from what was left in the garages.

Once the house was emptied and the workers had spent a couple of months stripping it to its core, a new life began to emerge. Arthur Frick was in charge of the project at the beginning and he talked often about the house sighing with relief.

I'd always thought that gardening meant planting things, but I soon realized that it was cutting back years and years of unattended growth. Like the house, a gem began to emerge in the garden after many months of pruning and thinning.

It was important to add sparkles of color into the design, because the expansive gray begged to to be broken up with whimsy. The multi-colors showed up for the first time with the painting of the birdhouse. I had written into the contract with Arthur that special attention was to be paid to refurbishing the birdhouse. These birdhouses exist on many of the original houses of the area and it seemed that this was a banner just waiting to be unfurled. When we went to add the pots on the wall we chose between all blue or multi-colors. Just like when we picked the trim for the windows, with each decision the house cried out to pull out the whimsical soul that had been buried for so many years.

The final touch was the red rock pathway to the front door and the matching accent strip along the sidewalk out front. We had struggled for a long time with different plans for a prestigious entrance from the street, but soon realized that the driveway was the only way into the property in a car culture. I realized the brick rock path when I finally got rid of a vine and chain link fence that ran along the right side of the driveway. I discovered that there was a beautiful arch formed by the two orange trees that would be a delight to walk under and the 90 degree bend in the pathway trained your eye to gaze to the other end of the garden as you turned to reach the front door.

Our original plans were to tear down walls and demolish custom closets, kitchen and bathrooms, but the more we stripped away, the more charm we saw in the simple beauty of the original tile, floors, cabinets and fireplace.

Like the outside, the inner beauty required the tiniest accents to bring its native charm to full light. The new kitchen floor tile had to frame the counter tile without over powering it. Echoes of the red thin tile accent played out in the design of the splash guard with small stripes at the center of each wall. When we added new hardware to all the freshly painted bedroom cabinets and windows, these awkward build-ins began to shine with the pure beauty of their simple clean design.

As we worked on the house for over six months, we ate and relaxed in the back yard under the huge 100-year pine tree and we soon realized that the joy of the property was being able to live under this blessed creature. The only way to maximize this experience was to create a cooking situation and living space that actually allowed one to be out of doors with the tree a great deal of the time. Three attempts were made to build an out door kitchen before we finally met with success. It was a very complicated endeavor, but well worth redoing until we got it right.

We added a full bath to the back laundry room and turned a storage space into a delightful room when we broke out windows and replaced them with french doors. This emphasized a whole other new garden space that was emerging in the back as we removed layer after layer of overgrown shrubbery and trees from a solid thicket that had consumed this forgotten secret garden.

In the very beginning, my daughter, Melodee, somehow convinced me to let her have six baby chickens. We had no idea what rearing chickens required for food, housing or sheltar, but like raising children, the chickens kind of taught us and at a pace where we just barely kept up. First they were in a box with a heat lamp, then they could run about in the fire pit during the day and soon thereafter we were chasing them all over the yard and through the houses to keep them out of trouble. After much design trial and error, we final arrived at a hut in the back corner of the back, back yard where they reside to this day.

to be continued...