Look at the sales history. They have had it on/off market for a few years. The views are to the front and it doesn't look like they maximized them. Overall it felt dark and claustrophobic. Nothing that price won't fix, but seller aren't really serious about selling!

They could remove at least 1/3 of all the interior furnishings and it would show better. I agree about the dark/claustrophobic.

Well, if you consider staging to be emptying the house and bringing in generic furniture, I prefer the house the way it is. But, imo, some brutal accessory editing would make it look much more attractive.

$4,000,000 for 2300 square feet! Location, location, location.

It's not my particular taste but I don't find it over-furnished in the least. I can't tell if it's dark, sometimes light houses photograph dark. The only think I would remove are the dolls hovering over the bed.

It's dark, very taste specific and close to PCH.

Compare it to this place right next door:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Beach/21-N-Encino-92651/home/3267685

It's bigger, brighter and less money.

But if I was in that market(one could only wish), this is the one I'd be looking at:

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Laguna-Beach/29-S-La-Senda-Dr-92651/home/3267562

no, to me it looks like the execution is truthfull to their idea, and I love the very nice use of inside/outside space

they built in in 2009, clearly for themselves

then i think something bad started to happen in the family..or so it seems..maybe going back and forth whether they're able to stay there or not, health issues, etc..I'm guessing obviously..but that's what it looks like

i really didn't want to make the point about staging, obviously didn't come across as such..I just had to say something in the body of the post.

but if comes to that-I don't want them to edit brutallly..doesn't seem dark or claustrofobic..to me looks like I really want to go to the Open House..

it's not that I love every single detail. it's not even my preffered style or something. but I love their consideration of details. I love the different corners, and how different things reveral themselves, and how it seems that you can't grasp it at once

but then of course I'm not looking at it as a furure buyer(for their 4 mil starting price lol). I'm just looking at it, and thinking "I'd love to visit"

czarinalex I look at the properies in Laguna Beach a lot, just for the sake of it))) I love Laguna, it's very walkable and artistic, and if we could afford it we'd live there.

but it's nice to take a short drive there too:)

there are some very charming homes-smaller usually, but so after my heart, I'm not posting them..don't know why I decided to post this one. Strange day. On the other hand-I'd be posting here all the time, and bore others with my "finds of the day"

I don't like Encino one at all (not that I wouldn't take it if they give it to me you know..lol)

The La Senda I like. yet still less

I agree with you-this one here is very taste specific.

Somebody here, on the Building forum(I think) put together list of bullet points..an architect..sorta general advice for the pros

one of them was(citing from memory)

"the more design specific idea is the more its attractiveness can be"

I agree with him on that

(close to PCH is good..to me..but I'm an exclusion in that matter)

Wow! I think they had the same painter for their kitchen cabinets as the original homeowner for my house did. I like lots of things about that house, but I would hate to pay that much in that location and have no sit down view from the main room and the bedroom. The pictures are misleading because they are taken by someone standing.

(ah..and I don't want bigger..their square footage is like my maximum..one more bedroom would be nice though, that's true. but I generally tend to like smaller houses)

Fun2BHere, I think I'll go there and check it out..:)

(especially as my DH doesn't want to go to Bel Air with me to look at that mcm property

he wants to get this storybook home..the one for gnomes, you know? I'm, like "are you serious? we'll bump our heads on those stalaktites(or stalagmites?) all the time!"

people are so unpredictable..

This house, to me, is SO southern California, and I really really like :)

Aprilneverends, no central air conditioning in that house and most of the airflow is through unscreened windows and doors. That can be problematic for security and keeping birds from flying inside. Also, there's only a two-car garage. As you know, with no attic or basement, storage for seasonal items is pretty limited if you don't have any extra garage space.

"but I would hate to pay that much in that location "

LOL!! That's pretty much average pricing for Laguna Beach. You can pay as much as $1 mill for not much more than a garage. And with NO view!

btw, every property within Laguna Beach proper is close to the PCH.......just saying :-))

yes, that's true..in Laguna they often don't have air conditioning(which was very unfortunate during the last heat wave I must say. but that rarely happens. I find Laguna mostly to be a bit chilly)) -with some nice days. I'd be worried about keeping warm there..hm)

we never had more than a two car garage in my life. well most of my life we didn't have any garage at all. two car garage is, like, wow-2 CAR GARAGE! it's still a new thing to me.

(I'm simply used to less)

also frankly my DH has a magical ability to clutter any space. more space---more opportunity to clutter. While I myself think we don't need two thirds of what's in our garage right now (which is 2 car garage)

I hope you don't take my idle interest too seriously..)) if I had to spare 4 million dollars for houses it wouldn't be for one house..I'd buy couple smaller ones, and one of these wouldn't be in the US for sure. I need a pied-a-terre at home..unfortunately they have very expensive market there now..the places I'd look into, location-vise, would cost like I'm in Silikon Valley or something.

gardengal, also true..I closed the tabs on my laptop unfortunately where I had couple smallish homes in Laguna which I liked a lot, and they were tiiiny tiny...and they were like one million and 600 K..I looked at them lovingly for several days..

Oh, it's lovely.

I have no seasonal items to store, unless you consider winter coats that I store in the attic and only take out if I am forced to go to NY in the winter.

I do like the first house best. I fell in love with Laguna Beach when I first drove through in 1968 with my grandparents, and I've often thought I would like to live there, but I spent 15 years at the beach when I lived in Venice, and I really like Venice better. Unfortunately, Venice is now also very expensive and has caught up with or surpassed Santa Monica for price in the nicer neighborhoods.

I'll get my beach fix in Fiji this winter, providing there is not a cyclone. The Pacific in California is really colder than I like, although I still do have a collection of wetsuits. I got rid of my surfboards when we left Venice, but my brother still has skimboards, which I think were made popular in Laguna. I never mastered skimboarding, however. I wouldn't mind living in Malibu, as I'm not really an O.C. person.

Lars, I think Laguna has more in common with other beach communities throughout SoCal than it does with the Irvine-ish aspects of much of Orange County. You are right, though, that the water is cold off of all SoCal beaches when compared to the waters in Florida and the Caribbean.

Sushipup, there are also snow skis, snow boards, surf boards, wet suits, wave runners, etc. that need a place to live.

Owns small house with no basement and no storage and it is not fun. I'd rather have the ocean view if I've got to have no storage. :) It is almost 3 times higher square footage than our house, so I'd be able to find room for the Xmas decorations.

Driving the Mustang on the PCH sounds good to me.

Fun2BHere, I spent a month in Huntington Beach before I moved to Culver City, and I really did not like HB either, but Laguna is much better than HB. Each beach town has its own character, and Venice is very different from La Jolla, for example, even though the real estate is equally expensive. For O.C., I'm drawn to San Juan Capistrano, although it does remind me a lot of Carmel, and not in a good way. Santa Cruz reminds me of Venice, however, and I tried to get a job in SC once, when I first moved to San Francisco. I would have loved living in Santa Cruz, and I think I would still like it. It's sort of like "Berkeley on the Beach". I stayed in Berkeley for a month before I moved to San Francisco. Venice in the 1990s reminded me of San Francisco in the 1970s.

Another beach town I like is Pismo Beach, but I've not spent a lot of time there. I also like Mendocino, and I love Big Sur, but I could never live there.

there are also snow skis, snow boards, surf boards, wet suits, wave runners, etc. that need a place to live.

Obviously not everyone has all/any of those things. We never did when we lived in California. Just because you live by the beach does not mean that you surf. Now that we are in PA, we even know people who don't have snow blowers or even lawn mowers.

I really like the house in the original post. It fully embraces Spanish colonial architecture and design. There are a few things I don't like, but they appear to be easily fixable. The kitchen walls look lemon yellow on my monitor (note that my monitor is notoriously untrustworthy with yellows), but the problem seems to be the undercabinet and accent lighting. Where there is only ambient light, the walls seem to be a pleasant neutral. Love the outdoor spaces.

April... I also love Laguna. We have spent a lot of time at Crescent Beach and the beach in front of the Montage. Love walking around the Montage grounds. The houses which front Crescent Beach are my favorites. I'd take any one of them!

We have a condo two towns south of Laguna.

My relatives were visiting recently, all my life stay stayed with us when visiting, but now as they have a new young little daughter they wanted their own schedule and all..per my advice, stayed in Laguna

the water was mostly surprisingly warm(unusually hot summer) yet not the calmest place to be with a kid..still they went to beach every day for several hours.

they've been to California before so didn't want to travel much..we showed them just a bit around. To my surprise, they got impressed with the Old Mission in San Juan Capistrano the most. I love it, for the gardens are incredibly beautiful, but was worried would be too boring for a little kid. underestimated the enchanting power of the fish in these water lilies fontains..:) they can also be fed which I never knew before..

(I never swim here-I'm spoiled after years on Meditterannean. It's all cold to me. Then I stopped liking just swimming..and being on the beach..I love to snorkel though, so if I'd be near the sea-it would be something with corals..:) and fish and all

French Polynesia takes first place from all the places I've been to, so far (Red Sea, Carribbean, Hawaii..) but our last short family trip was to Kauai and the snorkling was really good too-not French Polynesia but really pleasant. We didn't have much time..didn't do much..we drove around of course..Waimea Canyon was striking in its beauty..the North Coast..and I loved art in galleries in Hanapepe, Too expensive so we didn't bring anything with us. I'm still thinking about couple paintings I saw there, and it's been several months..

(don't ask me how it all relates to the topic.. doesn't..maybe hasn't to..but nice memories

probably time to go somewhere again)

czarinalex we take all our guests to the Montage first thing, invariably so)) it is beautiful..

and in October(I think?) they have plein air artists there, from around the country. Well it's a week so each day they have different spots to paint, but their first day is often the Montage.

Fun2BHere... Our condo is in San Clemente. We're snowbirds, so we'll be in San Clemente come November.

Czarinalex, you must love getting away from the ice and snow. I always wondered, though, about snowbirds. Do you have a caretaker for your properties when you aren't in residence?

Our condo in CA is rented in the summer. Our realtor handles any problems(haven't been any). We don't rent our east coast house. Our kids(in their 20's) are living with us here.

Czarinalex, it sounds like you have the best of both locations without too many worries. Congratulations on your good planning!

My oldest daughter got married at the Flower Garedens. My twins went to SDSU and continue to live down there. My sister lives in Santa Cruz. And I raised seven children in an 1800sq ft home, without an attic or basement in Silicon valley. And the two car garage was converted to a large bedroom. I had so many holiday decorations, I found storage for all of them. I think that coming from a place where housing was so much smaller, my California home seemed like a mansion. The fact that I had a washer and dryer was pure unadulterated luxury.

very interesting. czarinalex you gave me some food for thought..thank you!

(only I'd stay here in the summer..that's kinda reversing things..probably harder to rent out in winter, here? or shouldn't make much difference?)

(place I've never been to yet-Santa Cruz..)

Santa Cruz is truly like Berkeley-by-the- Sea lol. Very very laid back, hippieish and liberal. And a great place to raise kids (hi Cian and Clare, my niece and nephew).

I like it. It has personality and a view.

I absolutely adore the first house. I'm pretty sure I am meant to live there.

I don't know how I missed this post- that house is adorable. All the spaces look well thought our and cozy. The charm quotient is through the roof. It's lovely to see a house that looks so personal.

Some of the pictures in the second house are terribly overprocessed to the point that I even wondered if some of the furniture was real or was just inserted into the picture. I suspect that the light is very processed, as well.

Just look at the second picture. It practically looks computer generated!

The first house needs some editing, but I think it's gorgeous.

I could be very happy there, but in that market the value's probably in the land, not in a modest 3-2.5 house. Just guessing, but it's very possibly been languishing on the market because the sellers are asking too much for the house in a market that only wants the land.

..I've been to the open house. reporting back..

the house surpassed my expectation. It's a labor of love..meticuously thought out and executed. Every detail, every space. It reads as twice as big just because great use of space, It's not dark at all. The details are mind blowing, whether it's my preferred style or not-everything is considered to the highest degree, the materials and craftsmanship are just something one can rarely see unless in historic building around here..

I'm afraid to think on how much it could cost to build

The relationship between inside and outside is admirable. It's small; but it's been built so smart you have levels and corners and walk arounds..and the whole feel is of some enchanting garden..

It's modest; but it's totally different level of modesty..:)

It was special and I'm happy we made it. It was hard to leave..

The code is very strict where we live..they actually built a model of the house so the city will approve the exclusions for the permits. Was built pretty recently..so you have a practically new home in a very established community

The strong French motive didn't come out of thin air..very srong ties to France in that family. I think they've been very nostalgic when building. They were very much into idea and stayed true to it without making it into something non-authentic..thin line,and cudos for not crossing it.

The house is not actually languishing on market so muchbecause of overpricing..is more in line with my initial thoughts..losses, declining health, being on and off with the decision. Thus listing and delisting, listing and delisting. Now it looks like they've decided.

(I thought in this direction since smth similar happened to our current place several years before it was listed again and we bought it.)

It's a very expensive community..beaches in CA can not be private but theirs technically is since the community's gated, so one gets to the beach only when one is already through the gates of the community. The beach is very close. The view is fabulous. To me.

The whole community is super charming, with houses smaller, same, much larger, all different styles..I think they're in line with their other neighbors..:) price-wise..They seem to have a smart realtor who knows what she does..

The minuses. They're important, as they obviously drove that sale too. It's not the house for somebody with mobility problems, vision problems..you have to take the stairs since garage is on the first level(unless you don't drive-frankly Laguna Beach is the only place around here one could afford not to drive, most of the time), and the stairs look great thus are more dangerous..)) (slighly elegantly curved when one goes down). The street itself is a tad steeper too(truth to be told, such is Laguna, some streets are steeper than others)...lots of people wouldn't pay any attention to that at all, yet I did.

In short, as long as you're healthy. As many other houses out there are..

And as long as you have these 4 mil dollars to start playing lol

The lady of the house and architect and builder of hers get my huge respect. For great use of the space, light, and materials...sticking to their guns..and creating house as enveloping and special as this one got to be.

I hope they find their buyer, and the house finds its next keeper.

Now, i feel I should leave my signature like some reporter or something..:)

Tell me if you think I'm a bit TMI..I'll edit the post.

Thank you for the review :)

April, I enjoyed reading this review.

GREAT B&B. I would love to spend a weekend there..soaking up all its character!! If I understand the views it isn't on the beach..but across from it..I have always thought that would be a torturous place to live..so close but NOT.

My sister was a real estate agent in Laguna for more than 25 years. When visiting her, which I did frequently, I would often accompany her on the Wednesday agent preview tours for new listings. Saw a lot of great homes in that area, some of them extraordinarily pricey! I remember viewing several in that same community and each had a distinct personality - no cookie cutter development that!!

Now that she's moved up north with me, I miss those visits!! I love the Laguna Beach/Dana Point/San Juan Capistrano/San Clemente area. Very different from the rest of SoCal as I know it........much more small town-like. And all those great beaches and views!!

Thanks for the review, April! Looking at the listing again... it is a charming house. I'd enjoy vacationing there for a month. That view would never get old!

Thank you so much for reporting back, April. You described exactly what I imagined.

PS Except I was hoping you were wrong about the reasons the house was on and off the market ...