A stately labor of love in Altadena
They ordered architecture books, pored over design magazines and snapped photos of kitchens they liked, slowly piecing together bits of inspiration for their custom-built house.
Three years of painstaking planning later, the Georgian Colonial estate was complete.
“It didn’t happen overnight,” said co-owner Jamie Brown. “It’s so much work. But you get exactly what you envisioned.”
Brown, a public relations specialist, and her husband Matthew, an attorney, bought the Altadena property in 1999, tore down the existing house and began building the custom home in 2005. They crafted a warm, open space while keeping an eye on symmetry, a Georgian Colonial trademark.
The two-story foyer, high ceilings, oak hardwood floors and white marble kitchen countertops give the downstairs space a stately feel. French doors leading to a brick patio and landscaped backyard cast plenty of natural light into the home’s spacious interior. Nickel chandeliers in the foyer, living and dining room are among the many details that give the home a subtle flair.
“We picked out everything,” Jamie Brown said, including the polished nickel fixtures and the CaesarStone countertops in the kitchen. The kitchen is roomy, with a built-in desk, eating bar and large walk-in pantry, a 72-inch refrigerator freezer, range with six burners, microwave, wine cooler and 30-inch warming drawer.
Each of the four second-floor bedrooms has a walk-in closet, and two — including the master suite — have brick balconies. The master suite has a reading area with built-in bookcases, and the master bathroom features a spa tub and three-head shower.
Quiet, palm tree-lined Midlothian Drive is a short jog from Eaton Canyon Park and a mile from Altadena Golf Course.
To submit a candidate for Home of the Week, send high-resolution color photos on a CD, caption information, the name of the photographer and a description of the house to Lauren Beale, Business, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Send questions to homeoftheweek@latimes.com.
