Patterico's Pontifications

7/27/2008

Another L.A. Times Real Estate Article/Advertisement

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 2:55 pm



Yesterday I joked about an article on the front page of the L.A. Times California section that read like an advertisement for downtown condos. Little did I know that the paper actually does run weekly articles about specific homes that are nothing more than advertisements. The feature is called “Home of the Week” and is written by a staff writer for the paper. Here is the latest installment:

THIS LA JOLLA estate, perched atop a bluff above Torrey Pines State Reserve, appears to be practically bobbing on the ocean.

Razor, designed by San Diego-based Wallace Cunningham, is a quiet sanctuary with museum-like architecture and unobstructed views of the Pacific. The modern home was constructed of concrete, steel and structural glass so plentiful that it feels as though the house is one with the outdoors.

. . . .

This house is not, however, all about the engineering. It’s about the livable art and the outdoors, visible from every room.

“It was designed to capture the magnificence of the site, to allow the owners to live as part of nature,” Cunningham said. “The house itself is subservient to the sea and the bluffs. When you sit there, they’re perfectly framed in every view.”

. . . .

“From the lower level of the guesthouse, it feels like you can reach out and touch the valley and the sea,” Cunningham said. “From the top level, you can touch the sky.”

Asking price: $39 million

Size: The property has four bedrooms and six bathrooms in 11,000 square feet. The lot size is about half an acre.

Features: A series of architectural, poured-in-place courtyard walls took four months each to construct. They protect the gathering place from the elements and create a sculpture with curves and shapes that resemble those of marble. The house has a living room; a dining room; adjacent chef’s and family kitchens; a media room; a 4,000-bottle wine cellar that may be used for storage; a computer room; an indoor gym and spa; an infinity pool; a terrace; radiant heat; and a seven-car garage. The property has beach access.

Location: La Jolla

Listing agent: Robert Hurwitz, Hurwitz-James Co., Beverly Hills, (310) 477-8865.

diane.wedner@latimes.com

The story is at the top of the paper’s main web page right now:

Serious question: are the listing agents paying for these advertisement/articles?

9 Responses to “Another L.A. Times Real Estate Article/Advertisement”

  1. I don’t know about California newspapers but at one time (and maybe even today) advertising departments of some Texas newspapers approached businesses with offers of positive info-articles as incentives to get them to place full or reduced-rate ads. I used to get those calls regarding law firms I practiced in and that may be what’s happening with these real estate properties/agents, but I don’t know it for a fact.

    DRJ (de3993)

  2. Well, selling the news pages to parties of particular interest is not a new concept at the LAT, is it?

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  3. An 11,000 square foot home on an “about half an acre” (which reads suspiciously like .4 acres) lot? Hope they like their neighbors really well, as they’ll be seeing lots of them.

    pigilito (5d4652)

  4. Actually, the house is beautiful but for $39M I think it should have a few more bedrooms.

    DRJ (de3993)

  5. pigilito…
    As the article noted, both the main-house, and the guest-house are tri-level. This would (all things being equal) give a “foot print” for the house of 3667 sq ft. on a 17,424 sq ft lot – a ratio of 1:3.7 – covered foot-print to open lot.

    For $39M, I think the problem of neighbors (and others) being imposed upon has been considered.
    Now, if you want to anchor off-shore, and mount a big ‘scope on your boat, you might be able to watch what should be considered private behavior.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  6. that’s just a damn small lot for the price, doesn’t sound like there’s room for planting orchards, vegetable gardens, livestock or multiple rv parking. oh, and classified ad revenue has influenced real estate section content since the first newspaper was published long, long ago.

    assistant devil's advocate (04b107)

  7. Nothing new. Houston Chron does the same thing. Houston hasn’t got $39M beachfront property, though. Until I stopped caring, I used to get disgusted that the Homes section was written to an audience in which very, very few of us could claim membership. Where are the houses I can afford..?

    (OpEd sec: CA is a beautiful state, truly a national treasure. Just too dam bad it’s got, well, Californians living there..)

    Chris (c9c2a3)

  8. ada…
    Have you priced a 0.4 acre lot in Manhattan lately?
    Or, how about in South Beach? I love the Key Lime orchards there.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  9. Hasn’t this kind of thing been going on routinely for the last 50 years across the country?

    I’m not saying it’s right. I’m saying it’s typical.

    Sometimes I wonder how many of the things newspapers are (rightly) criticized for today have never been questioned before. Is this generation the first to apply to them the standards they use to judge everyone else?

    Amphipolis (fdbc48)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.0769 secs.