BEAUTIFUL STRANGER
WRITTEN BY JAN DENNIS PHOTOGRAPHED BY SIRI BERTING
A HISTORICAL VICTORIAN, PURCHASED FOR $1, MAKES AN AMAZING JOURNEY FROM L.A. TO MANHATTAN BEACH AND GETS THE MAKEOVER OF A LIFETIME.
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TALL ORDER Above: The original height analysis presented to the city of Manhattan Beach. Right: The home on its new lot on Third Street.
egally presiding over Third Street in Manhattan Beach, west of Redondo Avenue, a large Victorian house commands attention on the north side of the road. This is perhaps one of the most prestigious and historically preserved homes in the South Bay. Architect H.M. Bonsfield designed the 4,500-square-foot structure in 1903 for his customer Albert Halfhill, and it was built two years later. What’s especially unique about this Queen Anne/Colonial Revival is that it was originally located at 541 Parkview Avenue, one-half block north of 6th Street and adjacent to MacArthur Park in the city of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Conservancy considered this home to be one of the key elements for a proposed historic preservation district in the city. However, the project never came to fulfillment, leaving a glorious piece of architecture to deteriorate in a progressively unsavory neighborhood. Over the years, the Victorian style lost much of its original detail and appeal. It badly needed a new owner to invest the time and money to bring this majestic home back to life. The Kenndown Development Group, which eventually bought the property, gave Bud and Christine Bell the opportunity to buy the