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A RUN-DOWN 1933 SPANISH REVIVAL HOME IN PALOS VERDES IS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE WITH HISTORICAL REVERENCE AND CREATIVE VISION.
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WRITTEN BY DIANE E. BARBER PHOTOGRAPHED BY SIRI BERTING
ured by the proximity of family, the South Bay lifestyle and excellent schools, Adam and Stephanie Guggenheim decided to relocate to Palos Verdes from Westwood in 2011 with their young children, Simone and Mark, and their dogs. For Stephanie, it was a return home to the peninsula where she grew up. The Guggenheims loved the 1920s Spanish home that they remodeled and were leaving behind on the Westside, yet they were eager to find another home in the South Bay. With the guidance of Keith Johnson of Pritzkat & Johnson Architects, who had done projects for Stephanie’s family, their search began. “I went to several places with them to assess the potential of the homes, because they were looking at old Spanish-style properties that they wanted to fix up. The house they finally decided on was a mess and needed a lot of work,” Keith says. Adam, who was an art history major with a graphic design background, took the lead on the project while the couple juggled caring for their kids and managing their careers at Neutrogena in Los Angeles. When asked how bad the house was when they purchased it, he exclaims, “It was so bad that some of our relatives thought it was haunted and wouldn’t come in! It was very dark inside from overgrown trees, and there was mold and asbestos everywhere.” A great collaborative team was formed with the architectural vision of Keith Johnson and his partner, Miles Pritzkat, the construction excellence of Mar Vista-based general contractor Wayne Terry and the Guggenheims’ keen eye for detail. “We wanted to keep the history of the home alive on the exterior while bringing it up to date with some contemporary finishes on the interior,” Keith explains.
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