Advanced, Eco-Friendly Venice Home Is a Record-Setter

Well-known Los Angeles architect and environmentalist David Randall Hertz FAIA has sold Venice home he designed for himself and his family. The $14.6m sale price is the highest recorded home sale in Venice. In addition to being a classic compound of four structures connected by three bridges within a tropical oasis, the home is made famous as a setting in the Showtime series “Californication.” Los Angeles Times first reported the sale.

Hertz designed the residence in 1995, and created an addition in 2006. Its design is inspired by Hertz’s travels surfing through Southeast Asia. It is also indigenous to Venice and the California tradition of home design represented by Rudolph Schindler, particularly in its use of indoor/outdoor spaces and natural environmental features. Hertz has referenced the style of the residence as “Bali Modern meets Venice Craftsman meets Schindler.”

A native Angeleno, Hertz will remain living in Venice where he also keeps the offices of his design firm, The Studio of Environmental Architecture.

The 5,000 sf home is set on a 7,500 sf lot. It is a compound of buildings set around a lap pool, with 7 bedrooms, media room, pool house. All of the residence’s exterior is built out and put to use with features including: outdoor kitchen, fire-pit, roof deck, outdoor shower, basketball area.

Hertz is a thought-leader in environmentally conscious design. The home pioneered several sustainable and energy-saving features and materials: concrete floors and counters; recycled and certified sustainable wood; photo-voltaic solar energy system that was installed in 1995; natural ventilation that requires no air-conditioning; zero VOC paint; reclaimed materials. The home was awarded the Sustainable Living Award by the Eco Home network.

Other environmental features are listed on the home’s webpage. Assisting the sale were Justin Alexander of Halton Pardee + Partners with Tami Pardee of Halton Pardee + Partners, plus Tim Mullin of Partners Trust and Katie Pardee, also of Halton Pardee + Partners.

Los Angeles Times on Green Development

The latest L.A. Times "Hot Property" looks at new energy-efficient and eco-friendly community design:

At Brookfield Residential’s expanding Playa Vista development, new additions to the community adhere to the same eco-conscious principles as the existing homes’, said Alison Girard, the company’s director of marketing.

The new homes are LEED-certified; the fitness center was built with large windows, which allows the building to be cooled without air-conditioning. Girard estimates that a LEED-Platinum certified home can add up to $30,000 to the value of a property.

Helen Park, who recently purchased a 2,500-square-foot house in Playa Vista, said she was drawn to its sustainable attributes. Although the cost was “a little higher” than expected, it was an investment she and her husband were willing to make.

“I’m in the tech business, so I always look for progressive and new innovation,” said Park, the CEO of tech talent firm UXTalent. “I like the solar panels so we can conserve energy and avoid waste, and that the dog parks have dirt instead of grass, to cut down on watering.”

Farm Charm for Urban Homesteads

The Los Angeles Times Home & Design section published this story including our friends at Brookfield Residential:

At Ontario Ranch, a planned community that will eventually include 47,000 homes, homebuilders have incorporated modern farm décor into many of the single-family dwellings, town homes and condominiums. The community of New Haven, for example, features reclaimed wood walls, optional barn-style closet doors, and upcycled farm tools (tractor gears used as mirror frames in the community’s clubhouse, for example), in a blend of rustic and chic. “The farm motif honors the area’s legacy, but we made sure that it accompanies the most up-to-date amenities,” says Mercedes Meserve, vice president of marketing for Brookfield Residential, which is building several neighborhoods in the area.

Preservation Development

It has taken four decades for Sea Summit at Marblehead to get going. During that time, this precious coastal property underwent rigorous approvals and seemingly endless community input (and lots of opposition!) The recession also slowed things down: The  previous developer, SunCal, was backed by Lehman Brothers, one of the mega banks not to survive the financial meltdown.

But like a gem compressed over time, the final result is stunning. New developer Taylor Morrison Homes has begun integrating resort-style residences behind a nature preserve of canyon and bluff habitat. These more than 100 acres -- including 4 miles of hiking trails -- are overseen by the Center for Natural Lands Management. And the project enjoys widespread support.

Recent media attention has included an A-1 cover story in the Los Angeles Times and ABC7's Eyewitness News.

A Year of Urbanology

Jack Skelley and JSPR thank colleagues, clients and cohorts for another inspiring year. May 2015 be even more awesome! This super-speed video grabs just some of the highlights of the year. 

Urbanology Updates: Life in the Food Lane

Los Angeles Times photographer Christina House photo of Jack Skelley and Shaheen Sadeghi at the future home of Make in Downtown Anaheim.

Life in the Food Lane: Along with his clients, JSPR President Jack Skelley recently made the cover of Business. LA Times reporter Andrew Khouri examined the revitalization of Downtown Anaheim – including its popular Packing House food hall, a wine- and beer-making development, new condos The Domain by Brookfield Residential, a central park for farmers markets and events, and artisanal shops along Center Street curated by retail wizards LAB Holding. The area is getting attention from urban-planning and food geeks alike. It is one of several nationwide “foodie districts” where gourmet (or just hungry) residents are revitalizing downtowns. Photo below is from Wall Street Journal reporter Katie McLaughlin’s story on same.