$450,000 Homes in California – The New York Times

Palm Desert | $449,000A midcentury-modern ranch house with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, on a 0.2-acre lot

Just over two hours east of Los Angeles, Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley popular with fans of midcentury-modern aesthetics. In addition to its plentiful midcentury homes, the area (along with nearby Palm Springs) is home to a number of antiques stores specializing in 1950s and 1960s furnishings.

This home, built in 1957, was remodeled in 2015. To retain a midcentury look and feel, the sellers worked with Moderne Builders, whose president and principal designer, Avian Rogers, specializes in midcentury renovations. The house comes furnished in a period-appropriate style.

The Shops on El Paseo, an outdoor dining and shopping area, is a five-minute drive from the property, and downtown Palm Springs is about half an hour away.

Size: 1,152 square feet

Price per square foot: $390

Indoors: Like many desert houses of the mid-20th century, this home has a glass-walled entrance shielded from the street by a privacy wall in this case, one rendered in lime-green and white stucco.

The main living area is open plan. To the left of the entrance is the kitchen, with teak cabinets and Caesarstone counters.

A block wall runs along the right side of the house, topped with triangular windows that let light into the dining space. Floors in this room, and throughout the house, are concrete.

The living room is open to the kitchen and dining area, with sliding-glass doors that open to the patio for an indoor-outdoor feel.

A hallway leads from the living room to the two bedrooms and bathrooms. Nearest to the living spaces is a guest room, with access to a side patio, and a guest bathroom with a walk-in shower tiled in shades of blue.

At the end of the hallway is the master suite, which also has access to the outdoor spaces. The en suite bathroom is tiled in bright green and orange.

Outdoor space: The living room opens to a covered patio, large enough to hold a dining table and chairs. Surrounding the oval-shaped pool and hot tub is concrete paving with plenty of room for lounge chairs. To the left of the pool, the sellers installed an artificial grass bocce court. The attached garage holds two cars.

Taxes: $5,747 (estimated)

Contact: Laurie Ridgeway, HomeSmart Professionals, 760-272-6142; palmspringsathome.com

Tulare is a small city in the middle of the San Joaquin Valley, roughly 200 miles from San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles, making it a transport hub for the agriculture-based economy of central California. In February, the city plays host to the World Ag Expo, one of the worlds largest agricultural expositions. The area is also near Californias national parks: Sequoia National Park is an hours drive, while Yosemite is about three hours away.

Tulare has its own small downtown, complete with a historical museum, while the larger shopping and dining districts of Visalia are a 20-minute drive away.

Size: 2,548 square feet

Price per square foot: $176

Indoors: This house is on a cul-de-sac, with a wide driveway that leads to the front door. Built in the 1950s, the home originally had a flat roof, but the facade and roofline were reimagined by a previous owner.

The front door opens to a tiled foyer. To the right is the kitchen, which has custom cabinets and stainless steel appliances, and is open to the dining room.

To the left of the dining room is a formal living room, brightened by a wall of windows, with glass doors that open to the swimming pool. The seller, a designer, chose the custom light fixtures and the stone fireplace that runs the length of one wall.

The windows continue around the corner to a family room with exposed beams and a built-in entertainment center.

The family room and the kitchen connect to a hallway that runs along the right side of the house. At one end is a guest bedroom with a window overlooking the pool and space for a queen-size bed. Toward the front of the house are two additional bedrooms; one has an en suite bathroom, while the other has access to a hallway bathroom with a combination tub and shower. Along the hallway are a built-in desk and laundry facilities.

The master suite is to the immediate left of the front door. It has clerestory windows and a private entrance to the side yard; the en suite bathroom has a double vanity and a marble walk-in shower.

Outdoor space: The formal living room opens to a covered outdoor patio equipped with a ceiling fan. Concrete paving surrounds the swimming pool, and a grass yard extends along the side of the house. A two-car garage is attached.

Surrounded by similar early-20th-century-era bungalows in the citys South Side Historic District, this home is within easy walking distance of commercial districts and outdoor space. The state capitol building is about 15 minutes away on foot, while Southside Park, with its man-made lake and regular farmers markets, is a five-minute walk. A number of museums and cultural landmarks, including the Crocker Art Museum, the Leland Stanford Mansion and the Old Sacramento Waterfront District, are a 20-minute walk or a five-minute drive.

Size: 924 square feet

Price per square foot: $486

Indoors: A red picket fence shields the front yard from the sidewalk. A wooden stoop, also accented in red, leads to the front door, which opens directly into a living area, with a sitting room on one side and a dining space on the other.

Directly off the sitting area is one of the homes three bedrooms, which can also be entered through a rear hallway.

The dining area is partially open to the kitchen, which has granite countertops and gets plenty of natural light, thanks to a large window facing a garden on the side of the house.

Beyond the kitchen is a hallway connecting the bedrooms and the bathroom. At the far end are two bedrooms, equal in size, set across from each other. One has a side-facing window, while the other has one side-facing window and another window that looks out to the backyard. Each has its own closet.

The bathroom was refreshed by the sellers, who added a new vanity and a light fixture, but retained was the original claw-foot tub.

The third bedroom, next to the bathroom, is currently used as a home office. It has a door to the deck and backyard, as well as a closet concealed by shutter-style doors.

The basement has a small laundry area and unfinished space the sellers have used as an art studio.

Outdoor space: The backyard has a sizable deck with a built-in barbecue and space for outdoor furniture. A path lined with decorative rocks and bamboo leads to space on the side of the house that could be used as a dog run.

Taxes: $5,208 (estimated)

Contact: Christina Ellermeyer, Coldwell Banker, 916-548-2053; ellermeyergroup.com

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$450,000 Homes in California - The New York Times