So over the top
TO some sentimentalists, the benchmark in the “can you top this?” category of outrageous amenities may always be Jayne Mansfield’s swimming pool: a heart-shaped affair with the words “I love Jaynie” spelled out in mosaic tiles on the bottom. Certainly, it was a talking point of its time.
But, with apologies to Ms. Mansfield’s heirs, heart-shaped pools have become a dime a dozen; think of all those cheesy honeymoon resorts in the Poconos. In fact, there was just a 4,360-square-foot house in Palos Verdes Estates listed at $2.85 million with what is described as a heart-shaped pool -- although from its photo, it appears more kidney-shaped than heart-like.
Listing a property with out-of-the-ordinary features is a double-edged sword, realty agents say. Unusual amenities that draw attention to a listing also can narrow the field of potential buyers. A house built in the shape of a guitar may be a conversation piece, but who really wants to sleep in the frets?
More often than not, unusual amenities come about because someone created a home to suit his or her own living needs without necessarily giving thought to selling down the road -- such as the two-story river-rock bathroom in the Topanga home of Rita George that she designed and had built by hand. It’s part of her all-rock-and-boulder house, constructed by local stone artisans. To enter the tub and shower, she climbs three rock steps. A cupola ceiling and arched etched-glass windows -- made by another local craftsman -- complete the stone-castle look.
“This house is part of me,” said George, who has no intention of selling. Not ever. “They’ll have to drag me out of here when I’m 105. I love this house.”
But there is a Malibu compound for sale now with multiple one-of-a-kind features. Its owner is Douglas Busch, a photographer who specializes in large-format black-and-whites. His portfolio was bought by the Getty and his work appears in numerous other museums. He designed and built the complex at the top of Trancas Canyon Road three years ago.
The 10-acre property, which has a 4,500-square-foot main house, provides plenty that’s out of the ordinary. To start, in the master bedroom, the portion of the roof over the bed fully retracts by remote control, opening the room to the elements. Several inches of water cover another flat roof of the multilevel house, and a pump keeps things moving in a babbling-brook kind of way. Steppingstones lead to lounge chairs. There’s a separate sitting-sleeping deck surrounded by water with an outdoor fireplace. “To take the chill off,” Busch said.
And that’s just the roof.
Busch’s detached studio -- all 4,000 square feet of it -- is completely surrounded by water. Water flows under it from the pond that it sits in and the front door is reached by steppingstones. The glass garage-style door that fronts it opens completely, exposing the studio to the elements.
“I keep it open most of the time,” he said.
Busch said that some of the home’s more unusual features reflect his own passions.
Take, for example, his feelings about running water. He likes it in the gentle Zen-waterfall way, soothing and quiet -- hence the rooftop water elements and the studio-in-the-pond. But he finds water disturbing in the bathtub-roaring-and-splashes way.
“I don’t like noisy water,” he said, “and I don’t like drains.”
So his master tub fills and drains quietly from the bottom. Water runs in -- and out -- via jets and openings along the bottom perimeter.
His lack of affection for drains carries over into the other bathrooms. The shower in the studio’s bathroom is the whole room. With planks of sauna wood for flooring, the drains are invisible beneath.
There is also a 110,000-gallon swimming pool -- Busch claims it is the third-largest private pool in Los Angeles -- plus what by comparison may now sound like fairly mundane amenities: a pool cabana with sauna and a complete outdoor kitchen.
The spectacular ocean-view property is listed for $9.75 million.
Sotheby’s International Realty agent Shirley Sherman, who co-listed the property with Amy Alcini of the same Malibu office, predicts the buyer will be an artist, just like Busch.
The market for properties such as this one is small, Sherman said. Busch’s home will sell to someone who appreciates its “five-star workmanship,” she said -- and who probably doesn’t have small children.
Malibu, she noted, has a lot of homes with unique features built to meet the desires of their current owners.
There’s one for sale in the Serra Retreat area with a full recording studio and a dance and workout room. With 9,200 square feet, it is listed at about $12 million and is just waiting for the right celebrity owner.
Originality, of course, is not unique to Malibu. There’s the granddaddy of homes with outrageous amenities sitting in Bel-Air -- the five-bedroom house that Wilt Chamberlain built in 1971 and lived in until his death in 1999. Chamberlain installed a gold-lined hot tub, retractable mirrored ceiling above the master bed and a wraparound swimming pool that extended into the living room. The subsequent owners have removed many of the original features and the house is back on the market now, listed at $9,995,000.
Two Hollywood TV writers purchased the 8,000-square-foot house from Chamberlain’s estate in 2002 for nearly $3 million, and extensively remodeled it -- although the retractable ceiling in the bedroom remains.
The house has attracted much attention over the years but wasn’t an easy sell. When Chamberlain’s estate was trying to unload it, it was initially listed at $7.45 million and later reduced to $4.38 million.
What is whimsy to one owner may find its way to the trash heap when a house is sold. Renee Johnson can’t imagine that happening to the $60,000 customized treehouse that sits in her family’s La Crescenta frontyard. It’s actually two treehouses that are connected by a cantilever bridge. One side houses a library and game room, the other has bunk beds and a working kitchen with hot and cold running water. There is Internet and cable.
The Johnsons installed it four years ago for their two children, working off a basic $35,000 package from Daniels Woodland, a maker of unique treehouses. And then they embellished.
“Everyone who comes here says it makes them feel like a kid again,” Renee said. Does she think it will help or hinder the eventual sale of her house?
“It will absolutely be the selling point,” she said.
How far is over-the-top when it comes to the rich and famous? Although William Randolph Hearst may have set the bar, surely Bill Gates has passed it. His Seattle lakefront home has a 92-foot-long grand staircase. And if you find the 84 steps from the entrance to the ground floor daunting, there’s always the elevator.
His 1,000-square-foot dining room seats 24, and the 2,500-square-foot exercise facility includes a trampoline room with a 20-foot ceiling. The 3,900-square-foot pool building has a 17-by60-foot swimming pool with an underwater music system and a fossil motif painted on the bottom. Swimmers dive under a glass wall and emerge outdoors by a terrace.
But not all outrageous amenities come from the depths of wealth or the heights of creativity. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of working with the hand you are dealt -- take for example the Tree House in Monte Nido. It’s not a retreat for kids, but rather a house that is built around two large trees. A sycamore grows in the bathroom, and an oak is in the middle of the owner’s home office.
There are also huge boulders incorporated into the home’s design. Think of it like this, said Coldwell Banker agent Tracy Bunetta. “Nature was here first and man made the best of it.”
