Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 19, 2011

15

HOMES AND PROPERTY

 Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 19, 2011 

One Of A Kind: Featuring unique homes and gardens and the people whoe create them Story and Photos By Chris Bertrand 


Steve Purves: Finessing the Art of the Craftsman 

Rehab Realtor - 
Developer Steve 
Purves makes a point 
of bringing all his 
talent and experience 
to the table in every 
venture. After 
decades in furniture 
manufacturing in 
Burbank and Los 
Angeles, creating contemporary brass and 
glass to wrought iron as well as custom wood 
furniture products, he branched out into 
designing custom mosaic work in large scale 
resorts and spas like the Bellagio, Disney, 
Hilton and the Paris Hotel. 

These days, you’ll find Purves selling 
residential as well as commercial real estate 
across So Cal, from La Canada, where he 
grew up, to the horse country of Shadow Hills, 
where he had a mini horse ranch to Indian 
Wells for desert living, even to Mexico.

“Living in most of the communities from La 
Canada through Monrovia allows me to give 
my personal thermometer reading on each 
community, with insights from someone 
who’s actually lived there,” he chuckles.

His current home community is Monrovia, 
a town where he’s taken on a number of 
Craftsman rehab projects. “I’ve always been 
drawn to the clean lines of the Craftsman 
home style. Maybe it’s my design background. 
The quality, the craftsmanship, the detailing 
of Craftsman homes particularly interest me. 
I love bringing back distressed older homes, 
both large and small, into prime condition, 
then adding my own design flair. I draw from 
all my professional experience to deliver the 
best combination of current amenities while 
preserving the vintage quality.”

He’s not afraid to take on any part of the 
project, including instances where several 
home projects required figuring out how to 
mimic the construction style of a century ago. 
For instance, the grand Arroyo stone pillars 
in front of two of his Monrovia projects were 
created to look original, 

Often, the back yards become cool resort-like 
outdoor living spaces where Purves lets his 
design creativity combine Craftsman styling 
with 21st century relaxation and entertaining 
features. Take his project on Ivy… Purves 
created his favorite outdoor fireplace of all his 
projects with Arroyo stone. A dual opening 
allows the enjoyment of the firelight and 
warmth from the Craftsman detailed dining 
gazebo with oh so modern barbecue and 
outdoor kitchen, as well as the pool, detailed 
in tones of Craftsman copper color set in 
glass tiles.

An important advantage to help maintain 
these vintage homes, Purves points out, is 
applying for Mills Act status, which he’s 
done for several of his projects. The Mills 
Act Property Tax Abatement Program is 
administered and implemented by local 
governments, with ten year renewable 
contracts between the owner and local 
government, to aid in the restoration and 
maintenance of their historic properties 
through receiving property tax relief. More 
information is available through the California 
Office of Historic Preservation (http://ohp.
parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=21412)

The Monrovia Historical Preservation Group 
(http://www.mohpg.org/landmarking/) 
concurs, with this statement on its website, 
“The Monrovia Historical Preservation 
Group encourages all owners of vintage 
structures to consider applying for historic 
landmark designation. The process is very 
straightforward, and there is a financial 
incentive that …can provide a financial 
incentive (the amount varies, depending on 
when you purchased your home) to help with 
maintenance and upkeep.”

Purves just finished a 1920’s Craftsman 
rehab, putting it on the market this week. 
Two key features are the prime location 
in North Monrovia, in the 
desirable, “North of Foothill” 
neighborhood, at a rarely 
available price point for 
a historic home with new 
“fixin’s.” That rare price 
point? $398,800.

The charming, two bedroom, 
single level home was stripped 
down to the studs in the kitchen 
and bath, then rebuilt with 
modern amenities. The kitchen 
is sleek yet comfortable in its 
Craftsman surroundings with 
cherry finish cabinetry, slab 
granite counters, an inset sink, 
stainless finish appliances and 
views to the newly landscaped 
back yard.

Purves kept the vintage quality 
features like the original 
hardwood floors (newly 
refinished in a stunning 
ebony!) and windows intact. 
Color is critically important 
to Purves’ projects. This time 
he chose a color palette inside 
and out that is sumptuous Craftsman… with 
greens, taupes and touches of dark red to 
really make the combination pop.

New electrical includes recessed lighting, 
ceiling fans and Craftsman style, stained 
glass dining room fixture and more. The 
new bath includes a jetted tub and pedestal 
sink. Updated designer touches include 
glass mosaic tile detailing the center of the 
fireplace, in the kitchen backsplash and as a 
detail band in the bath. 

Outside, Purves preserved two gorgeous 
mature trees framing the front door, giving 
them careful trim and maintenance. He then 
fired up that dramatic flair with a granite 
cobblestone walk and a new front porch with 
period appropriate detail work.

Just listed this week, 112 N. Alta Vista in 
Monrovia will be open on Sunday, February 
20, from 1-4 p.m. For more information, 
contact Steve Purves, of Dilbeck Real 
Living, at 626-437-0670 or visit his website 
for additional listings across the Southland 
in other areas, styles and price points, 
such as a sleek contemporary, 1585 Sierra 
Madre Villa in Pasadena at $1,398,000 at 
www.4SaleBySteve.com.

See Steve’s ad on page 18

Know of an interesting home, garden 
or person who helps create them? Send 
the contact information to C.Bertrand@
MtnViewsNews.com 


WHEN LESS COSTS 
MORE

“Timing the market” in real estate doesn’t work the way it does with stocks. Homes are 
bought and sold more out of necessity than to make an easy buck. However, some indicators 
give a clue when it’s a good time to buy. Like now!

Despite the fact that rates are low and prices may still drop, now is the time to move if you 
have good credit and funds for down payment. It would be a mistake to “wait and see” if 
rates or prices fall any more. Why?

Rates are low now because of federal bailouts, but continued low rates can fuel inflation. 
Fear of inflation causes “the Fed” to raise those rates. Waiting for a lower price on a home 
while interest rates rise could make the home more expensive.

Example: purchasing a home now for $177,000 at 5% could make the total cost around 
$370,000 by the end of the loan term. But what if you wait for prices to fall more, and next 
year you get that home for $160,000. You saved $17,000 - right? Wrong!

If rates rise 2% during that time, you could pay over $400,000 over the life of the loan - 
$30,000 more than if you bought now! If the math is still fuzzy to you, call me and I’ll be 
glad to crunch the numbers with you. You’ll be glad you did.


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