A Breezy ’60s Duplex in Long Beach Asks $1.05M
Not long after graduating from USC in 1960, architect Clifton Jones Jr. was eager to put his education to work on his family’s property in Long Beach, California.
One of 42 such homes in Long Beach’s Cerritos Circle garden apartment complex, the duplex occupies a 7,306-square-foot lot.
Held by the Jones Family since the 1940s, the property had been used for decades as pasture and training facilities for their thoroughbred racehorses (the paddock was even converted into a victory garden during WWII).
A new door is paired with frosted glass to preserve privacy while allowing light to pass through.
The rock garden landscaping continues from the carport into the front courtyard.
In 1964, Jones turned roughly a third of his family’s land into residential use with the creation of Cerritos Circle, a development featuring 42 buildings with one- and two-story apartments that embody the teachings of his USC professors, who included eminent midcentury architects such as Conrad Buff, Calvin Straub, Don Hensman, and Ed Killingsworth.
The recently renovated home features period-appropriate lighting fixtures that help tie the building to its midcentury roots. The wall sconce seen to the left is an original fixture.
Following the then-revolutionary trend of post-and-beam construction, Jones created "garden homes" with walls of glass that opened up the interior spaces and pulled the outdoors in.
The open-plan layout allows light and cross breezes to flow freely through the home.
One such garden duplex by Jones has hit the market after being recently renovated. The sensitively updated home comprises two mirror-image units, each roughly 1,200 square feet in size.
Floor-to-ceiling windows pull the outdoors in.
Lofty ceilings, an abundance of glazing, and an open-plan layout make the home feel much larger than its 2,414-square-foot footprint suggests.
The wood-slatted drop ceiling was removed in the dining area and the ceilings and beams were painted white to create a greater sense of spaciousness.
Each unit features two bedrooms and two baths, a spacious open-plan living and dining area, updated kitchens, a private front courtyard, a fenced back yard, and attached garages with laundry. Recent updates include new roofing, newly renovated kitchens and baths, new appliances and flooring, electrical panels, landscaping, fencing, garage doors, and more.
In the living room, the original carpet was ripped up and replaced with hardwood flooring.
Both units will delivered vacant and ready to occupy.
The duplex layout is designed to allow two families to live side by side and gives the homeowner the option to live in one half of the house while renting out the other.
A peek inside the recently remodeled kitchen that's located off to the side from the entrance.
Before the renovation, the original kitchen had felt dark and dated with wooden cabinetry and quarry tile flooring.
A look inside one of the two bedrooms in one of the units.
The bedrooms feature plenty of built-in storage.
The bathroom has also been recently updated.
Both units have access to separated fenced-in backyards.
4121 / 4123 Del Mar Ave. Long Beach, CA is now being listed by Unique California Property for $1,049,000. See the full listing here.
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