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Inside One of Santa Monica's Oldest Homes

100209oldestwooden01.jpgBuilt in 1875 and the oldest wooden structure in all of Santa Monica, this Gothic Revival structure was originally conceived as a house of worship and built for a whopping $683.98. It's been updated throughout the years and now features a much more modern, storage rich interior...a slide show below.

 
 

The Santa Monica Conservancy notes: As home to this group, the old church building continued in its role as a place for like-minded residents to come together. In 1971 the building passed into private hands. It is now a private residence.

Viewed today, the building presents a pleasing simplicity accented by the appealing repetition of triangular forms over the windows and doors. Stained glass panels are visible from the street and its original function as a house of worship shines through.

The 2 bedroom, 2.5 bath home was updated with a NYC loft space in mind, using extensive built-in woodwork for shelving and creating a sleeping level, the home's interior is now described as a "de stijl like". It's always fascinating to see how older spaces are reimagined for modern lifestyles and designs, as not everyone who loves vintage era structures necessarily wants to live with antiques for furnishings. We do like the wraparound bookcase and loft space as an idea, but we're not quite sure how it works in relation to the home itself, as the large loft built-in seems almost separate from the rest of the home's interior.

What do you think? Does the space work updated or is there too much of a disconnect between the building's church pedigree and the modern interior?

Tags

Look!, loft, architecture, Santa Monica, bookcase, historical, de stijl

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Comments (11)

OK, I want to live here. I've just written a check for $683.98. To whom do I make it out, and where do I send it?
:-)

posted by mirandabee on October 2nd 2009 at 1:21pm
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I love me some bookshelves but these overwhelm the space. It looks more like an office than a home. A nice, homey office. But an office just the same. And the loft railing looks provisional.

posted by purlgreyhound on October 2nd 2009 at 1:34pm
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great library but a cold looking living space.

posted by Laucus116 on October 2nd 2009 at 1:39pm
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If I just looked at photos of (much of) the interior I would assume it was a library, not a home. But it's nice, nonetheless. I wouldn't refuse to live there!

posted by mei-ling on October 2nd 2009 at 2:20pm
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Agree with all the library comments. i thought the same. It's too bad more wasn't done to bring the essence of the structure to the interior design.

posted by MBK1 on October 2nd 2009 at 2:26pm
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i really like it. i'm glad they didn't try to get all "gothic-cute" for the interiors. but how is this interior in any way "de stijl like"?

posted by davidsl on October 2nd 2009 at 2:49pm
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Between all of the bookshelves, conversation areas, and pool table I thought this place was a swanky community center.

posted by MrsMittens on October 2nd 2009 at 4:02pm
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The basic style/design is rather nice but unfortunately if they had built it with a bit more intimacy in mind, it might have worked out much better as I can see where it almost has a community center like feel to the space and part of that are the walls that do not go all the way to the ceiling and thus provides something barn like in the space's feel (read, big and cavernous).

posted by ciddyguy on October 2nd 2009 at 6:23pm
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love the modern interior but wish there were more defined spaces. I need walls for my bedrooms!

posted by Bridget212323 on October 2nd 2009 at 6:25pm
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Amazing.

posted by chicity1126 on October 3rd 2009 at 12:55pm
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I agree with the other comments... my first thoughts were community center or library but totally not a home.

posted by sassylashes on October 5th 2009 at 3:14pm
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