They’d Rather Remodel Than Move : Culver City: Once mostly covered by studio back lots, city has retained small-town atmosphere because of its stability, low crime rate.

When Dan Patacchia moved to Culver City in 1948, MGM’s back lots still covered much of the city. “There were elephants, horses, covered wagons--even a lake for the Tarzan movies,” Patacchia recalled.

Despite the show business glitz, Patacchia said, “It was a quiet town. Most people would go to the parks and have picnics, or go to the beaches, or take a drive just for fun.”

Although the back lots have disappeared in the years since Patacchia paid $13,000 for his two-bedroom Culver City home, the 73-year-old former mayor said, “It still has the small-town atmosphere. Every day, I see so many people I know on a first-name basis.”

One reason Culver City has kept its small-town character may be its relatively stable size--while Los Angeles County added more than 1 million people last year, Culver City has gained only 9,000 residents in the last 30 years.

Located on Los Angeles’ Westside between Baldwin Hills and the Mar Vista-Palms area, Culver City’s population is now just over 41,000, many of them longtime residents such as Patacchia.

The owner of Culver Park Realty for 40 years, Patacchia notes that with home prices skyrocketing, “People are renovating rather than reselling. They like Culver City, and they want to stay. Two houses across from me have added second stories.”

Leonard and Valerie Loo are nearing completion on a $110,000 second-story addition to their 1950s Culver City home.

When they purchased the 1,000-square-foot home in July, 1988, the couple, both in their 30s, were commuting up to 18 hours a week from Montebello to jobs on the Westside.

“For me, the attraction is my 3 1/2-mile drive to work and the privacy,” Loo said. “Nobody knows about Culver City, and the people that do are going, ‘Shhh!’ ”

The Loos began construction last June on the addition, which adds 700 square feet, including a master bedroom, bathroom and a spa.

Although weary of the chaos and debris of remodeling, Loo said, “The house is a lot more comfortable than it was. Also, the neighborhood’s extremely friendly. People came over and introduced themselves, and helped us move in.”

Friendly neighbors were a big factor in Anne Finestone’s attraction to her $415,000 three-bedroom, two-bath Culver City home.

Finestone, 32, aeronautics administrator, was unfamiliar with Culver City, as was husband Charles Dolan, 30, a computer scientist.

“I looked in other areas at $375,000 to 390,000 houses, a lot of them in really shabby condition,” Finestone said. “I decided I didn’t want to do a fixer, no matter what. Then I drove by and saw this house, came in here, and it was all over.

“The thing I like best of all is the feeling of neighborhood, that people know who you are.

“One of the first things I checked into was the crime rate. I’m always coming home late from class or meetings, so it’s important to me.”

The crime statistics for Culver City are so favorable that Don Reitzfeld, the Fred Sands realtor who sold Finestone and Dolan their house, gives prospective buyers a copy of the figures.

While surrounding Los Angeles suffered an explosion in crime, Culver City enjoyed a 34% drop in crime during the 1980s. “Police and fire protection is tops,” Reitzfeld said. “It’s a nice place to be and it’s still underrated--you can get a lot more for your money here.”

According to Reitzfeld, the city’s bargains are to be found in the eastern part of town, near the old Helms bakery building and McManus Park, where a two-bedroom fixer home recently listed for $275,000. Large condominium complexes such as Tara Hill are still affordable--three-bedroom condos start as low as $180,000.

In Reitzfeld’s own Lindberg Park area, one-story homes start in the mid-$300,000s. In Culver City’s most prestigious area, hilly Culver Crest, homes start at $400,000 and go up to $1 million.

Reitzfeld, 34, who has been selling real estate in the area for 10 years, bought his third Culver City property in June, 1988, for $240,000. One week later he tore the 1,000-square-foot house down “almost to the ground” and spent $120,000 transforming it into a two story, 2,300-square-foot Cape Cod-style home with five bedrooms and three baths.

Remodeling was not Reitzfeld’s first choice.

“I had been looking for over a year for a house around $400,000 in a desirable location, and nothing ever came up,” he said.

Of the eight-month construction period, Reitzfeld recalled, “It wasn’t fun. I was practically living there, because I was the general contractor and had to wait around for contractors not to show up. I’m glad I did it, I’m glad it’s over and I’ll never do it again.”

Reitzfeld, his wife, Laura, and sons Wesley, 4, and Dustin, 6, recently celebrated their one-year anniversary in the finished house. The family participates in a child-care co-op in nearby Lindberg Park and helped organize a neighborhood get-acquainted party. Dustin attends Farragut Elementary, one of Culver City’s three highly regarded primary schools.

In 1985, Reitzfeld sold Jeff Sacharow and Sara Wasserstein their Culver City home. Now, they are expecting a baby--and a remodel.

The couple had filed plans in December, 1988, for a second-story addition to their 1,000-square-foot house near Coombs Park, but when the contractor’s bid came in $70,000 higher than expected, the couple shelved the idea.

Then, in September, 1989, Wasserstein discovered she was pregnant and due in May. The fall was spent looking for a larger Culver City house in move-in condition. Finding nothing, in mid-January Sacharow and Wasserstein began planning a more modest remodel of their 1948 house.

“Remodeling is the more affordable thing to do to get the space you want,” Wasserstein said. “The scaled-back plan is just to add a master bedroom and bath at the back of the house and redo the kitchen to some extent. Our frustration is that we didn’t start earlier. Now we want to wait until the baby is a few months old.”

Sacharow and Wasserstein purchased the home for $153,500 after three years of living in a rented Culver City duplex.

“At that point, we’d grown real accustomed to this area,” Sacharow said. “We walk around the neighborhood a lot, often at night. We basically feel safe here.”

Wasserstein, 30, said, “If we found a good three-bedroom here, we’d still buy it. But we’ve come to the conclusion that we want to stay in Culver City.”

Beverly and Efrem Violin are another Culver City couple who won’t be leaving town. “This is our first home, and it will probably be our only home,” Beverly Violin said. “I can’t imagine moving. It’s the people that keep me here--the friendships we’ve made.”

The couple bought their 1950s tract house for $29,000 in 1965, and have been active in a number of community groups.

“One advantage we have in Culver City is the opportunity to participate in local government,” she said. “Efrem almost never misses a City Council meeting.”

City officials are extremely accessible--Mayor Jozelle Smith has calls to City Hall referred to her home number.

Over breakfast at the Roll ‘N Rye, a recently remodeled 27-year-old Culver City landmark, Smith outlined the city’s improvement plans, including four new restaurants near the Corporate Pointe business development and townhouses to be built on the site of the Studio Drive-In.

Currently, city offices are in temporary buildings while a new City Hall and fire station are built, and on the horizon is an overhaul of Culver City’s downtown, which includes restoration of the Culver Theater and the triangular Culver Hotel, built in 1924.

The town’s block-long Main Street is also slated for a face lift. On the northwest corner of Main Street, the two-story building that served as developer Harry Culver’s real estate office still stands. In 1913, Culver purchased the barley and bean fields that were part of Agustin Machado’s original Spanish land grant, Rancho La Ballona, and vowed to build his “dream city.”

Los Angeles attempted to annex Culver City in 1914, but all 59 residents voted against it; the city was incorporated in 1917. Culver City’s movie history dates to 1915, when filmmaker Thomas Ince built Triangle Studios.

“We’ve stayed with our motto, ‘The Heart of Screenland,’ ” Mayor Smith said, “because a lot of the film people are still here.”

Smith, who recently added a second story to her own Culver Crest home, notes that Culver City’s remodeling boom has sparked new legislation to control “mansionizing” by setting limits on height and lot coverage.

Next door to one immense remodel, Smith says, “The neighbor has to have her kitchen light on all the time--it’s blocked out the sun.”

But to Beverly Violin, the remodelers are bringing new life to Culver City.

“The young couples who are moving in make it very exciting,” she said. “These people are revitalizing and adding a new dimension to the city--and it’s a good sign.”

AT A GLANCE Population

1989 estimate: 41,121

1980-89 change: 7.8%

Median age: 35.9 years

Annual income

Per capita: 18,475

Median household: 39,466

Household distribution

Less than $15,000: 14.9%

$15,000 - $30,000: 20.7%

$30,000 - $50,000: 29.1%

$50,000 - $75,000: 21.7%

$75,000 +: 13.4%