NEWPORT BEACH : Agents Make This Old House ‘Fantastic’

Dozens of real estate agents from Newport Beach and Costa Mesa shed their fancy suits early Wednesday morning in favor of work clothes and gardening gloves to paint, repair and spruce up a senior citizen’s home as part of the group’s annual home improvement week.

Russell L. Pruett’s house, located on the cliffs overlooking Coast Highway, was enhanced by the creative frenzy. The agents planted flowers, trimmed shrubs, mended porch stairs and painted the outside walls charcoal gray.

“It’s absolutely fantastic,” said Pruett, an 88-year-old widower. “The place is absolutely beautiful. You just can’t believe the change in the property.”

The agents, who started working at 7:30 a.m., spent about 10 hours and $2,000 on landscaping, paint and supplies to give a face lift to the aging colonial-style home.

Pruett bought the two-story house when it was under construction in 1947. He finished building it and has lived there since. Now, its cool gray paint, sharp white trim, and rows and rows of mixed flowers--”pretty ones,” he said--will make the residence stand out on the quiet block.

Members of the Newport-Mesa Assn. of Realtors took on the project as part of national real estate agents’ American Home Week, a time when the agents encourage homeowners to get involved in home improvements as a way to improve their communities.

The group interviewed eight homeowners for the project and eventually chose Pruett’s place.

The agents, who are having an admittedly slow buy-and-sell season, say times of economic downturn are an opportunity for them to spend some time helping out in the communities in which they work.

“We like to give something back to the community,” said event organizer and real estate agent Jim Gillen. “It’s a real pleasure.”