LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $997,000
SIZE: 1,821 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms
YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Like some of the other cast members on the televised musical dramedy Glee—Chord Overstreet, Chris Colfer and Naya Rivera to name just three—professional hoofer Harry Shum Jr. has stuck his twinkle toes in the L.A. real estate waters with, according to the unfathomably well-informed Yolanda Yakketyyak, the $997,000 purchase of a 1930s residence in the Hollywood Hills.
Property market naysayers and Chicken Littles who still think the real estate sky is falling should take note that Mister Shum Jr., who plays a high school student on t.v. but in real life is more than 30 years old, appears to have shelled out almost $60,000 more than the published asking price, a situation that suggests the trilingual and Costa Rican-born dancer faced some stiff competition for the humble if hardly cheap house in the in the Hollywood Knolls 'hood.
Property records suggest the house was sold by writer/producer Michael Alaimo (The Closer, Major Crimes) and listing details for the property show the modest and well-maintained house was originally built in the 1930s and has a total of three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in 1,821 square feet.
A full flight of steps leads from the street to a brick-paved, rocking chair accommodating veranda that generously runs the full width of the upper level. The veranda sheltered front door opens directly into the living room where there are milk chocolate-toned hardwood floors, a painted wood ceiling, and a wood-burning fireplace surmounted by a flat screen tee-vee—natch—and flanked by built in book cases. Windows on one wall overlook the street and French doors on the opposite wall open to a second, smaller veranda (and exterior staircase) that overlooks a red bricked courtyard-style outdoor dining area.
The wood floors extend into the adjacent formal dining room, as well as all three bedrooms on the upper floor, but (unfortunately) switch to perfectly ordinary terra cotta colored ceramic tiles in the updated (if stylistically ho-hum) eat-in kitchen. The are raised panel cabinetry with some carved detailing (that make Your Mama squeamish), tile counter tops almost the exact color of the floor tiles, a center work island with butcher block counter top, and a fairly predictable suite of higher grade stainless steel appliances. A charming and redeeming Dutch door in the dining area leads out to a tiny deck and a second exterior staircase for convenient (if booty-busting) backyard access.
Two guest/family bedrooms face the street and share a dated but spacious and well-maintained hall bathroom with white tile floors, a built-in mirrored vanity, and a separate tub and shower set up. The master suite—if it can be called that since it's really quite small—is privately situated at the rear of the residence but has only the barest smidgen of a closet and a ludicrously compact private bathroom.
It appears to Your Mama that one must brave the elements—if there are elements to brave in usually sunny SoCal—to get from the main, upper level living space(s) to either of the two flexi-use rooms on the lower level. One of the rooms is about the size of a small bedroom and the larger has an attached half bathroom and is just large enough for Mister Shum Jr. to convert to a miniscule at-home dance studio.
The flat part of the backyard wraps around three sides of the lower level and includes a brick dining terrace, a bit of lawn, and a red brick built-in barbecue station. For a house in the hills, the backyard is substantial but—as we say this with some authority since Your Mama is personally acquainted with that particular neck of the Hollywood Hills—is undoubtedly enveloped in car noise and exhaust from the very busy and often traffic chocked Barham Boulevard. Word to the wise, Mister Shum Jr., keep your windows closed or all your things will be covered in a fine black soot from car exhaust. Don't believe Your Mama? Leave your windows open and then you will.
listing photos: Sotheby's International Realty
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