I love when readers send me photos of their houses, so I was excited to see Heather’s Transitional Craftsman in Pasadena, California.
The house was built in 1913 in the Historic Highlands neighborhood and has been featured on their annual tour.
Take a look!
This is the original river rock fireplace in the living room:
Heather says, “Our house is considered a Transitional Craftsman because it really can’t quite make up its mind as to what it is. The second owner preferred Victorian homes and would salvage things out of them as they were being torn down locally for ‘being out of style.'”
For example, there are 3 Victorian fireplaces that he added to the house.
She adds, “The pressed tin ceilings and 3 of the 4 fireplaces are more of Victorian style. The owner before us spent a lot of time restoring the Craftsman qualities.”
When it was built, it was a small, 1,100 square-foot bungalow with only 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. A couple of additions were added over the years, and the dining room was one of them.
“Some fun little quirks are a meat smoking building in the back, which is used for storage now,” Heather tells me, “and the plaster in what was the original bathroom is pressed to look like tile.”
The house has about 3,300 square feet. Heather says it’s too big for them, so they’re moving to something smaller.
When they told friends that they’re selling this house and downsizing, “our peers, late 30s, early 40s with little(r) children think we are nuts. ‘Don’t you want/need/use all that space?’ they ask.”
But when they tell older people their plans, “they nearly send out a marching band congratulating us. When they hear what it will mean to us financially (debt free!), they tell us it’s a smart move and one they wish they’d made years ago.”
The pool was added in the 1970s.
Update: Asking price was $1.1 million. Heather says that the house sold after only 3 days on the market. They had multiple offers and accepted one that was about $100,000 over asking price.
Are you hooked on houses? More to tour:
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This Mountain Retreat Is Like a Tree House with Amazing Fall Views
Erin Napier Tells the Story of Her Craftsman Cottage in Laurel
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Congrats to Heather on the quick sale of her home. It was is a lovely, lovely place…love the river rock fireplace! My girls were looking over my shoulder, and they love the pool. 🙂
Beautiful!! things i love about it…the vanity, the gazebo/porch, and the pool. It is so hot here. Can I just go jump in??
Selling the house in 3 days? Amazing in this real estate economy.
Thanks for sharing another lovely home.
Kelly
Congratulations indeed! Beautiful home…we are considering the same, but because our children are now grown. I have serious sink envy…love that kitchen sink!!
SO, SO PRETTY!!! The decorating is so wonderfully done, too. Thank you for sharing!
What a gorgeous home, thanks for sharing it with us Heather 🙂
SO, SO PRETTY!!! The decorating is so wonderful, as well. My favorite is the bathroom with the green tile! Thank you for sharing! 😉
wow!!! Insanely beautiful home! Glad they had a quick sale – and I feel downsizing in 30’s/40’s is a really smart thing if it means more financial freedom, and living within one’s means.
I actually love the mixing of Victorian elements with Craftsman style – it just gives it such a unique feel!
Great house!
Thanks Julia! What a fun thing to see first thing with my morning coffee. We could not be happier with speed and outcome of our sale. It definitely did not feel like a “buyer’s market.”
I will make note that we will be “debt free” except for a (much smaller) mortgage. We have an accepted offer on a Mid-Century Modern home just around the corner.
Thank you again, Julia!
OOOO, Please, Please share your mid-mod when you get settled. Pasadena is mecca for architecture junkies, my head spins anytime I am near. Although I must say, polluting a traditional craftsman is a crime and would drive me crazy. Good luck in your new home, kudos for downsizing.
I’d love to see it, too! Thanks again for sharing your beautiful home with us, Heather. 🙂
I want a house like that …sham we don’t have them in the UK : (
I love it! And big congrats to Heather on the quick sale! Even more importantly, though, I applaud her for doing the debt-free-thing. We are staying in our tiny house to accomplish the same goal for our family. We didn’t know (at the time) that our starter home would be our one and only, but the peace of mind of being debt free (someday) is well worth it.
OK, sorry to go off on that little tangent. 😉 Thanks for sharing this great house, Julia!
What a wonderful home… I just love it. I’m not surprised at the quick sale, nor getting more then the asking price. I actually thought it would be listed higher. Maybe another marker at another time.
I’m always surprised at how much larger Craftsman homes are inside then they appear outside. They seem so “livable”.
You are so wise to think of your financial future. Blessings in your new home!
This is an absolutely lovely, liveable home for a family, and I’m delighted that it sold over asking price. I, too, would love to see a blog post on the new house when Heather and her family are settled.
What a gorgeous home. It has such great character and perfect for a family.
i liked her decorating as well. Love the chairs in living room. And her bed is awesome. I don’t like stone fireplaces but her decor took me away from that. Nice drapes too. Glad it sold quickly and would love to see the new house!
we did the same thing on a much smaller scale – our job situation forced our decision – and now we are much happier and so much less stressed in our smaller, less expensive home – every renovation or decoration project does not need to be perfect, the tiny mortgage frees up money for doing things together we could not afford before, and i am not so freaky about the my house/ my identity thing – and i am in my 30’s too!
A beautiful, unique house! I love it and the new owners are lucky people.
What a wonderful home! The pressed tin did give me pause . . . but it sort of adds a quirky feel to it.
We have several of the ‘transitional Craftman’ type houses in our neighborhood. The one that I’m most familiar with is next door to my parent’s house. Very A&C on the outside, but lots of more Victorian-ish details inside – especially fireplace surrounds very like the ones in the featured house. And pressed tin ceilings in the kitchen! I didn’t realize until now this article that there was a name for that style!
I love Craftmen houses and have a little bungalow myself (much smaller than this one – 900 sf). It was supposed to my husband and I’s “starter” house and we just never moved on – LOL. Being debt free is wonderful, being mortgage free is even better.
Interesting spin on a craftsman. Very beautiful home…but I prefer more original looking arts and crafts furniture and color schemes in these types of houses. So overall, a little to modern/transitional for me, but still lovely.
Nicest and most “craftsman” kitchen I have ever seen in a craftsman. Great house.
not too crazy about the exterior color of the house or the kitchen, but the rest of this house is absolutely gorgeous! i love the color scheme!