Missing My Mom on Mother’s Day 💐🤱Real Estate Blog

I’m super excited that we closed on the sale of 440 N McCadden!  We listed the house March 27 for 6,495,000 and the house closed this past week Wednesday, May 8, for 6,600,360.  The house was originally designed by noted famed architect Gerard Colcord.  The owners hired Ascher Davis Architects in NYC (now Davis Architecture Studio) to spearhead their remodel in 2015.  The garden was done by previous owners with a noted landscape architect, and the current owners made the landscape spectacular, guided by Joseph Marek.  Per the owner’s architect, the main house is 3310 square feet and the guest house is 1768 square feet.  The sold square footage calculated by dividing the sold price by the architect’s total measurements of the main house + guest house is about 1300/square foot.

I don’t like price per square foot calculations because it assumes that the only contributor to value is size.  Small houses that have significant architecture, meticulous restoration, and timeless upgrades will sell for the highest price per square foot.  Houses that are huge but lacking good flow, sunshine, and upgrades will sell for the lowest price per square foot.  I wholeheartedly believe that the value is in the details rather than the size.

I also believe that sellers influence the final sales price of their home.  The 440 McCadden sellers, Deborah and Tom, are strategic, smart, collaborative, talented, and uber respectful. They knew to buy a Gerard Colcord masterpiece, situated where their quiet tree lined Hancock Park street delicately curves, and then they hired talented people to guide their restoration that started as a gem.   They meticulously maintained the house until they decided to sell.  And then they followed every piece of advice suggested, to the tee, so that it was easy to collaboratively execute a strategic well laid plan.  It was obviously the world’s biggest honor, and extraordinarily fun, for me to shepherd this exquisite house, and its exquisite stewards, to SOLD.

Buying and selling houses is very much nuanced rather than black and white.  I believe that architects and designers are the most worthwhile investment in a home’s value.  Floor plan, timeless design, natural light, and outdoor space are everything.  It also makes sense for buyers to make absolutely sure they purchase a house that’s likely to appreciate.  I’ve been going on many listing appointments on houses that were purchased in the last 2 years; every owner assumes that they can unload their house for a profit.  It’s not guaranteed, and a given, that every house, no matter the package, instantly appreciates in every market.  It is true that very smart people who strategically buy the right house and then geniusly execute the right upgrades see lots of appreciation and increased value, sometimes in a very short time.  It’s very fun to watch from the sidelines and cheer for the genius expert people who flawlessly execute and mastermind those increases in value.

One of my favorite roles in life is being a Mom, to both my kids and in-law kids, so on Mother’s Day I’m inordinately grateful for the joy the Mom role brings!  I’m also thinking of My Mom.  My Mom loved to exercise! Every day, early in the morning, Mom walked a loop from her house at June + Beverly to Third, to Rossmore or Larchmont, back to Beverly, and back to June.  When Mom got home, she jumped in her pool and she did laps.  At night Mom climbed up and down her staircase as a work out (her homemade stairmaster). My Mom loved to clean!  So often when I’d go up Mom’s side door, she’d call out, “Careful!  The tile is wet!  Go around the back!”  At the back door there were multiple racks of hand washables hanging to dry.  Gardening shears were all set up to prune the garden.  There was a plush pool towel on the counter with rows of crystals from the dining room chandelier drying and waiting to be hung up again.  Mom’s ironing board almost had a permanent open spot, right next to the kitchen island but close enough so the landline phone cord could easily reach Mom’s ear, where Mom spent hours talking + ironing every day, spraying (with a loud hissing sound) Niagara starch and then steaming every wrinkle (at every angle) out of each garment, all the while engaged in passionate discussions (peppering in Hungarian words) with her siblings + nieces in NY.  Mom was super mindful of her diet.  She ate the same foods every weekday (steel cut oats for breakfast, fruit + cheese for lunch, and a slice of whole wheat toast with canned salmon, or a bowl of pasta with cheese, for dinner.) It’s interesting that every Friday, Mom baked a delicacy – a buttery homemade chocolate babka, or a chocolate chip sour cream cake, or a fresh apple or blueberry pie, and I distinctly remember chicken skins crackling and popping on the stove as they fried into what we called “Crispies”.  But I remember Mom eating apples and carrots and not Crispies.  Mom loved the ocean, really good books, and culinary masterpieces!  Mom was the most meticulous and beautiful dresser – her makeup was flawless, accessories were right on the mark, and the fit of her designer clothes was tailored and just right.  Mom had super high standards and she needed things done right.  Mom taught me how to write, one essay homework assignment at a time, from the time I was a young girl!   I think of Mom and I smell Vitabath Spring Green + Lemon Verbena Scent + Fresh Baked Apple Pie.  Obviously I miss most how Mom loved me to pieces. There’s no replacement for a Mom who loves you with all her hearts and soul, and that’s what I’ll miss most about Mom forever and forever!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Mother’s Day filled with Gratitude and Love!

Xoxoxoxo,
Sheri