Hi Friends!  I hope you all have had a great week! Well for me, it was California beach house dreaming when we got back from a vacation to see John’s family. John grew up in Torrance, and lived in Marina Del Ray before he moved to Houston at the ripe old age of 35.

When we visit his family we stay in Hermosa beach at The Beach House, which is the only hotel located right on the beach in the Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo beach area. Growing up close by, these beaches are where he lived during his teenage years. Because the hotel is located right on the strand we are able to walk all three beaches and if really energized, bike to Marina Del Ray.

We also love the room layout, when the kids were young our entire family of 5 could stay in this one room and the hotel allowed it. Now that they are mid 20’s, it might be a bit tight. We have gone to California at least once a year, since we have been married which is over 30 years ago. Each time our walks restart that beach house- Colorado home -second home talk we always have. Well as you know we opted for the Colorado home-see here –here and here, but I still like California dreaming and wanted to share these beautiful homes on the beach with you.

Hermosa Beach is a beachfront city with about 20,000 residents.  I was surprised to read it was that big, larger than the county I grew up in in Georgia. This is one of the older homes, but like in Houston, many of them have been torn down to make way for larger, fancier places.

They have every architecture represented, and for me it is so fun to see them all!

This one was one of John’s favorites, built on a double lot with all the front windows, their views are amazing!

Although all of the newer homes build corner to corner, many of the older homes, use half of their property for a yard.

In Houston where the climate is wet, we are reserved to using succulents on the inside.  In California, where it doesn’t rain much these plants are used for exterior landscaping. A general definition of succulents is that they are drought resistant plants in which the leaves, stem or roots have become more than usually fleshy by the development of water-storing tissue.

I was amazed at all the different colors and varieties there were!

Look how beautiful these are!  The middle one looks like coral to me.

Here is another beautiful home with an infinity pool–yes the water pools over into the trough below– and a Zen garden, landscaped with low maintenance succulents.

A better view of the water feature.

I see this on Pinterest a lot, typically space saving ways to grow herbs on your patio, but this succulent version in So Cal is stunning!

Ok so back to the dreaming part, we starting googling lots on the strand in Hermosa beach, thinking our best bet on a low price. If their was an old bungalow(tear down) on the property that would be perfect.  We would of course keep it and renovate.

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We found this one built in 1948.  With a 2382 lot and 2547 of interior square footage it is priced at $2905.38 per square ft. or @$7,4000,000……… Not quiet low enough for us!

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This one built in 1913 is 1716 Square ft.  On a 2398 lot it is selling for $4428 per square ft or $7,598,444…

So it looks like the land- whether is has a tear down home on it or not is selling for over 7 million. Wish John had bought back in the 70’s!

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This is one of the ones they are building now-an expensive spec house for sure! With 3600 Sq ft. of home situated on a 2402 lot, it is selling at $3027 per Square ft or @$10,897,000.

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It was fun to see that some of the ones we walked by were for sale! This one is at the edge of Hermosa beach right before you go up the strand to  the more pricey part of the strand-Manhattan Beach.  Definitely prime real estate, it was built in 1915 is on a 4204 lot with a 2868 sq ft. house and is selling for $5753 per square ft. or @$16,499,000.

Here is a another one we walk by which is built on a double lot and is for sale. Constructed in 2011, it is situated on a 5324 sq. ft. lot with 7900 sq ft living space. On the market for over a year it is priced at $3164 per sq ft or @$25,000,000! It’s kinda fun to see the interiors of this one so click the link–they are definitely huge Dodger fans!

So it looks like it is California dreaming only for us!  We will just enjoy looking at all the different architecture…………..

the beautiful flowers……………….

………..and our rooms view from the Beach House! I hope you all enjoyed our little walk together down the strand of Hermosa Beach and that you all have a wonderful week. What do you dream about???

A big thank you to all who voted!! I hope all of you had fun checking out all the blogs that were nominated!! This year, they combined blogs from all over the globe into one category- so there are lots in the running for Best Design Inspiration Blog ! With your help maybe we can make the short list. If you would like to vote, the link is below.  Many thanks!!!!

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If you are interested in hosting an event or carrying the book  please don’t hesitate to reach out! Email Karly@segretofinishes.com for all inquiries! We love to visit new cities!!!