Above the Crowd

House-hunting a year ago, Susan Durchfort was sure the little home with the white picket fence and a blooming flower garden at the top of Mar Vista Hill was out of her price range.

She and her husband, David, an attorney, were renting a few blocks away and had long had their hearts set on staying in the immediate area. But they never imagined being on Mar Vista Hill.

However, reassured by their real estate agent that the three-bedroom house on desirable Grandview Boulevard was within their budget--albeit at the very upper limits--the couple decided to take a closer look.

Indeed, the house proved affordable. It was also what they wanted. Built in 1947, the 1,100-square-foot house with a spacious yard still retained the original floor plan and had not undergone any remodeling. With plans to expand the house in a few years, they paid $270,000 in a probate sale. “We were very, very lucky,” said David Durchfort.

Elevated above the rest of Los Angeles by a long, narrow hilltop, the Westside neighborhood of Mar Vista Hill is composed of 723 homes and 222 apartments. Part of the larger area of Mar Vista, it is located to the northwest of Culver City and southeast of the Santa Monica Airport. It is bordered by National Boulevard on the north, Charnock Avenue on the south, Inglewood Boulevard on the east and Centinela Avenue on the west.

For the Durchforts, the choice of a location was even more important than the house itself. “There are lovely places to walk,” said Susan, who works in the entertainment industry. “People are out all the time. And there is a wonderful ocean breeze.”

Added David: “We canned the air-conditioner because we never really need it. You just open the window and get everything you need.”

Long ago having shed any likeness to the tract it was in the late 1940s, the community has become an enclave of homes rich in architectural differences. Here, views are frequent and sometimes spectacular, houses sometimes go to three levels and cul-de-sacs everywhere heighten a sense of safety and containment.

And while there are few, if any, vacant lots left, a feeling of open space still exists because of the presence of the three baseball diamonds occupied by the North Venice Little League and the seven acres of Ocean View Community Gardens.

Home prices on Mar Vista Hill range widely. At the low end, a three-bedroom one-bath fixer-upper with a pool recently sold for $215,000, said Judy Sheller, an agent with Re/Max Westside Properties. At the high end is a $545,000 Mediterranean-style house that was built new in 1991. It has four bedrooms and four baths in almost 4,000 square feet with a view from the second story.

The typical home on the Hill has three bedrooms and two baths in 1,400 square feet and is priced between $300,000 and $320,000, she said.

Randy and Sharon Kornfield were just testing the realty waters when they put their Mar Vista-area home on the market about a year ago. It sold “right from under us” after being listed for three days, Sharon Kornfield said.

But the couple didn’t move far. They bought a house on the Hill that gave them and their two young children what they needed: five bedrooms and four bathrooms on one level. They paid $430,000 for the house, which was in move-in condition.

Randy Kornfield, a screenwriter, grew up on a cul-de-sac and likes living on one again. In addition, a landlocked vacant lot in the back that belongs to a neighbor is another plus. “There is nobody behind us. Nobody blocking our view of the sunsets. Nobody on either side looking down on our backyard. It’s unique,” he said.

They also like sharing in the old-fashioned, friendly spirit of the neighborhood. “We have a big Fourth of July potluck,” said Sharon Kornfield, a homemaker. “The neighbors have a tennis court--they have a tennis tournament all day. Then around 5 p.m., everybody brings their tables and food out to the front. It’s low-key, but it is great.”

Mar Vista Hill parents of school-age children have established a tradition of activism that is notable for its continuation into the upper-grade levels. “We have a very strong parent core,” said Joan Mason, an 11-year resident whose daughter and son are both graduates of Venice High School.

Mason, who continues to serve on the high school-based management board, said her son, now at UCLA, studied Japanese in the foreign language magnet program. Integrated into the regular school, the program also offers Mandarin Chinese, Russian, German and Italian. In addition, she notes, Venice High School students won the National Science Bowl last year.

Mason said she and her husband, Richard, a speech pathologist, bought their 1,200-square-foot house for $219,000 in 1985. Then they lived in a trailer in the backyard for seven months while it underwent a $200,000 make-over and expansion.

Today, Mason says the view from the second floor of their 3,000-square-foot Cape Cod-style is “absolutely gorgeous. You get up on the deck and you lay in the hammock and you don’t want to leave.”

Shane Bekian, who owns a manufacturing company, and his wife, Cathy, are 30-year owners on Mar Vista Hill. After arriving from Missouri in 1964, Cathy Bekian said it was “pure luck” that led the couple to the small house for rent on the hilltop. They later bought a three-bedroom house just two doors down the street for $34,000. They were also one of the first families on the block to add a second story.

When they returned from a vacation in 1980, the Bekians discovered that their home had been burglarized. The neighbors had seen some boys skateboarding away from the house and mistakenly thought that the thieves were related to the Bekian family.

“I said this is ridiculous. People have to know each other,” said Bekian, who is retired from her work with the Girl Scouts. She decided to organize her neighbors. The Bekians and five other families founded the Hilltop Neighbors Assn.

Disinterested in parking problems or legislating the look of people’s houses, the association concerned itself with safety issues and implemented a Neighborhood Watch program.

Since that time 60 residents have been trained by the fire department in disaster preparedness. And the last time Bekian saw a police report, Mar Vista Hill was crime-free.

Now in her 16th year as president of the association, Bekian has offered to give up her post. But since no one else has expressed an interest in the job, she expects to keep going.

After all, she reflects, “in this community people still need to feel connected with their neighbors. You have to make that happen.”