A Victorian...in the San Fernando Valley?

On our way over to Granada Hills to shoot a MidCentury residence (an upcoming house tour slated for next Friday), we caught a glimpse of a structure that was obviously much, much different from its surrounding neighbors...

Just off of Woodley Ave. in north most reaches of Granada Hills, close to the second biggest public park in Los Angeles (O'Melveny Park, a hidden gem), is your everyday suburban neighborhood filled with postwar, single house dwellings intermixed with newer tract homes. But like Paris Hilton at an Amish gathering, it was obvious one person had something completely different in mind:
According to our House Tour contact, his neighbors began converting their post war 1950's single story home into a Victorian "eyesore" over the years because his wife had always dreamt of living in one as a child. So the husband spent years converting and adding architectural elements, initially all by himself, painting the exterior with colours that seem more San Francisco Haight Ashbury than San Fernando suburbs. It's still not complete from the looks of things, and we were disappointed to discover nobody was home when we rang the doorbell (we did peek inside, and the interior seemed very much a "work in progress too).

Personally, I love it. No, I wouldn't personally want my own home to look like this, but I can respect that this person wanted something different...much different. It's a totally unexpected, individualistic and colourful ode to their own dreams. Growing up just a few miles away, I know the Valley is mostly about "fitting in", and I'm quite proud someone had the gumption to follow their architectural dreams, irregardless of property value worries. Definitely future material for HGTV's "What's With That House".

Comments (20)

Someone wants their gift-card to Sherwin Williams back...

in the north valley (my home for 22 years), where it has become the land of track housing and gated communities---this is truly awesome. even if the owners are a little nutty.

i know exactly where you took that!... I bet you guys are getting a story on an Eichler house and that little bright gem of paint is right down the curvy street...

my parent's live in that area and my friend's parent's live in an Eichler home... I want to own one by them one day =)

I FLIGEN' FLANGEN' LOVE it! Man, that cheered me right up! And I love that a husband did it because it was his wife's childhood dream. See, romance isn't dead!

See, this is why I should preview my comments. It should have been "Flingen, flangen" I know it's a made up word anyway, but still...I just got so excited about the house! *lol*

that delivers a swift kick to the junk for the neighbor's property values. lol.

As an artist I love color but not sure I would be brave enough to do this. But love seeing it on someone else's home. :)

This house shares the same color palette as the Simpsons'. What works for an animated series doesn't always translate in the real world.

OK, I totally appreciate wanting to step outside the box and assert ones' self, particularly in a suburban tract house wasteland. So yay for that. And I love color (duh), but using a lot of color without "getting" color is always a trainwreck.
Love the concept, hate the execution.

what a NIGHTMARE. wow.

Please follow up later and see if you can get a tour when they've made more progress. It's a little jarring but it's also not repulsive to me.

Awesome. Reminds of of houses in some parts of the Caribbean.

I hear ya, splatgirl, but somehow the owner's not "getting" color seems rather lovable here. Or is that just because I know the motivation?

I love it, and I love the way the colors draw the eye to the varying surfaces -- in the last picture, standing-seam roof, wood shingles, slate shingles, clapboard, fieldstone. I also like the notion that it might give the neighbors carte blanche to vary their tract houses a bit (although other posts suggest that they're well-designed and/or well-built tract houses).

I love this! I love them for following their dreams and for being so damn bright. I bet the owners are a hoot and a half.

kitties!, I totally agree with you. It cheered my grumpy ass right up. The clash is what makes it awesome. I'd take a trip into the dreaded Valley to check it out.

I love oddball houses! Our neighbors have a 1920s four square painted bright teal with giant people sculptures covered in little mirrors that flank the walkway. Anyway, they're very lucky to live someplace where the neighbors haven't sued them.

There's a similar house on Grand View in Mar Vista. When they were constructing it, I used to marvel at how neat it was going to be when it was finished, but then they painted it all up like this one. It even has the pumpkin out in front!

This looks like the house from that Elvira movie, after it burnt down and they repainted it exactly like the picture above!

If this guy has a brother half as romantic as he is I want his number!