Real Estate Ads We’d Like to See

Santa Monica charmer owned by famed architect Frank Gehry, who is moving to Venice. Sprawling interior has echoes of a Depression Era pink-shingled bungalow, which occupant never fully demolished but instead surrounded with a new structure that’s a chaos of slanted lines and angles playfully reminiscent of post-Sylmar quake Los Angeles. Some of the bungalow walls and ceilings were stripped to their now-exposed lathing or joists, providing a cozy “perpetual remodel” feel. Kitchen floor is an easy-to-mop macadam that was actually the driveway to the bungalow. Beep beep! New structure built of corrugated aluminum sheeting, unpainted plywood and other popular L.A. River encampment materials. Windows throughout are neither square nor round nor of any shape easy to describe, or drape. Property on one side has waist-high chain-link fence, discouraging the notion of curbside appeal, but not intruders. This masterpiece, representing Gehry’s seminal moment of genius, is located on tree-lined street that is quiet now that neighbors have given up protesting about ruined property values. Possible teardown.

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(Editor’s note: In reality, Gehry has not decided whether he will sell the house.)