Madison Heights Pasadena Craftsman Asking $1,075,000

Every house has a story. If the walls at 621 Alpine Street could talk, prospective buyers of this three bedroom Pasadena Craftsman house would know that a film was produced here, a Ph.D. was earned here and a baby boy was born here. You might say this home has "good karma."

This Thursday when the sellers take offers they will find out how much over the $1,075,000 asking price they may get. This past Sunday, over 400 people came to the one-and-only Open House.

"The best part of this property is the Madison Heights neighborhood that comes with it," said Buck Brasington who has lived across the street for thirty years.

Friendly passers by care enough to say hello. Dogs and babies are popular strollers. To the children raised in Madison Heights, neighbors are more like surrogate aunts and uncles, or grandmas and grandpas than people from whom you request an egg or a cup of sugar.

Buck and his wife are a good case in point. He and his wife collect carrousel animals. Every Christmas they transform their home into a haven for the neighborhood children.

The Dream Front Porch

The front porch is like an additional room of the house. It is a cornerstone of the neighborhood where one's newspaper and morning coffee can be savored while passersby walk their dog.

Down the street are two extraordinary artists. And a famous judge just moved from one house on Madison to another only a few doors down.

The owners of the house in mention are moving only because they were able to buy a larger home for their growing family -- around the corner.

The new house they are purchasing never went on the open market. They succeeded in buying it with the help of a lawyer and two friends who gave them the heads-up that it might become available this year.

"Once you discover Madison Heights you don't want to leave," said one of the neighbors. It was rumored that one family would offer $1.8 million just to get into the neighborhood.

Located in the heart of Madison Heights on Alpine Street, this historic home, which is a bit less expensive, has all the charm and architectural detail of a true Craftsman.

Over the years, previous owners invested in upgrading key amenities such as the large kitchen that was once the kitchen and a bedroom. The old downstairs master bedroom with french doors out to the front porch is now a media room and home office. Both the upstairs and main floor bathroom are spacious. The master bath upstairs has a view of the San Gabriel Mountains that on a clear day has you dreaming of hiking to the top.

Living Room & Fireplace

This warm and inviting Craftsman built in 1909 offers both character and convenience. In 1912, the two-story house was published as a Fresh Air Home and featured on the Pasadena Heritage Weekend Home Tour.

A fifteen minute stroll around the corner, past the house that was filmed in Steve Martin's Father of The Bride takes you to Peet's Coffee & Tea. Wild Oats Gourmet Grocers is right next door to Peet's and Noah's Bagels.

621 Alpine Street, Pasadena Home Features

• Wide sweeping covered front porch provides outdoor living space
• Approximately 2700 Square Feet
• Spacious formal living room with tiled fireplace
• Formal dining room with wainscoting, built in cabinets and French doors
• Spacious kitchen with breakfast area and high-end appliances
• Media room wired with surround sound and home entertainment system
• Upstairs home office with built in bookcases
• Three bedrooms including Master bedroom suite with sitting room
• Large master bathroom with view of the San Gabriel Mountains
• Generous closet space located throughout the house
• Ultra private backyard with brick patio and tiled fountain
• One car garage with newly installed cabinets and attached carport
• Beautifully landscaped front and back yards
• House has been bolted to its foundation
• Central air and home security system

Master Suite

If you're looking for a property that defines "rugged elegance," this is it! It is luxuriously unpretentious. Both the architecture and the previous inhabitants give it soul.

Backyard

Interested buyers, please contact Dick Davis at Cornerstone Realty (626) 585.9944

Luxury home values climbed dramatically in Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2004, according to the Prestige Home Index(TM) by First Republic Bank, one of California's leading providers of full-service banking, investment management, and trust services.

The Index, which has tracked luxury homes since 1985, found that Los Angeles values jumped 17.9 percent compared to the first quarter of 2003 and 7.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2003. Average luxury home values in Los Angeles climbed to $1.66 million, surpassing the previous record set in 1990.

"Luxury home values in California rose sharply in the first quarter of 2004 due to strong demand, limited inventory, an improving economy and concern that interest rates, which are still low by historic standards, will continue to rise," said Katherine August-deWilde, Chief Operating Officer of First Republic Bank. "All three urban California markets -- San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego -- are very strong."

About The Prestige Home Index

The First Republic Prestige Home Index(TM) is the first statistical model of its kind customized to measure changes in homes valued at more than $1 million in key California urban markets. Some common features of luxury homes in the Index are properties that are 3,000 to 6,000 square feet, have three to six bedrooms, and three to six bathrooms. San Francisco Bay Area properties include a cross-section of luxury homes in Alamo, Atherton, Belvedere, Danville, Healdsburg, Hillsborough, Lafayette, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Mill Valley, Moraga, Orinda, Palo Alto, Piedmont, Portola Valley, Ross, St. Helena, San Francisco, Saratoga, Sonoma, Tiburon and Woodside. Properties in Los Angeles represent a cross-section of luxury homes in Arcadia, Beverly Hills, Calabasas, La Canada Flintridge, Encino, Los Angeles, Malibu, Marina del Rey, North Hollywood, Pacific Palisades, Pasadena, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, Studio City and the West Los Angeles enclaves of Bel Air, Brentwood and Westwood. San Diego properties represent a cross-section of luxury homes in Carlsbad, Coronado, Del Mar, Encinitas, La Jolla, La Mesa, Poway, Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego and Solana Beach. In producing the Index, Case Shiller Weiss draws upon its economic database and years of experience in tracking single-family home values; collects and cross-checks data from multiple sources; achieves a weighted balance of validation elements such as repeat sales, comparable sales, and physical home characteristics; and combines this with First Republic's extensive local market knowledge.