I just got back from a (too short) vacation in southern California, and I’m fully charged. Cuddling with alpacas in the Ojai Valley, attending a wedding in Anaheim, watching people in Malibu and kite surfers in Long Beach — how much better can it get? Oh, wait–there’s one thing that’s even better after you’ve just survived several nights in a third-world-style power outage and a 90 degree bedroom: the weather. Low 80s, sunny, breezy, cool at night. Ooooh.

In any case, this week’s featured listing is a 1923 bungalow in close-in Silver Spring (and if it weren’t for the vegetation around it, the little bungalow would fit quite well into the LA area where few brick colonials can be found and mid-century modern, Spanish and arts-and-crafts-style houses dominate). It’s cute and charming, oozes warmth, sits on a pretty block, and even has a great fenced-in backyard. The listing claims that i’s a Sears “Hamilton.” We’re not entirely sure, however. The dormer isn’t quite right, and nor is the one on the same-model house next door which presumably was built at the same time.

Some of the windows have been replaced (with sensible substitutes) and the back of the house has been expanded to accommodate an extra bedroom. The stair case to the basement — now partly finished and with an extra bathroom — were moved into the house.  1923 actually was the first year the Sears mail-order catalog featured the Hamilton (page scan courtesy of Rachel Shoemaker–thanks!).

It’s listed for $475,000 by Peggy Speaker of L & F. As always, if you are interested in buying or seeing the house, just give me a buzz!

(And for those of you who were wondering what inspired those funny-looking Dr. Seuss animals–it must be the bizarre but cuddly Ojai alpacas!)