About The LOH & its Keepers

Hello all! I’m Brooke and my fella’s name is Armand.

We’re city folk who met in New York, moved to Los Angeles, and bought a lil’ house that’ll be our lil’ patch of country and farmland in the city.

After years in NYC (he 10, me 11), we needed some nature and a place where we could start a family and continue our careers. So, like many before us, we headed west!

Armand is an actor/writer/dialect coach and ex-rock musician. Aside from NYC, he’s lived in San Francisco, Seattle, Mexico, Indiana, and Colorado. He makes a lot of yummy food, likes a brisk constitutional after a good meal, and has a passion for ugly hats.

I’m an actor/writer/singer-songwriter and ex-ballet dancer who’s also worked as a designer (interior, web, and graphic), photographer, and event planner. Aside from NYC I’ve lived in Ohio, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Seattle, and the Berkshires. I view saving money as a sort of sport and I sleep in positions that most people would find impossible, let alone comfortable.

We’ve been married since June 2008 and have adopted a lil’ Yorkie named Fenway (Go Sox!) and a lil’ mini Schnauzer/Terrier mix named Buddy.

We drove cross country on the way to Los Angeles and we are in awe of this land and the American Southwest.

Originally from Detroit (He) and Connecticut (Me), we’ll be knocking our home down to the bones and remaking it, melding together the various styles that represent us as well as embracing some design elements typically found in our new home state – Global Folk, Craftsman, Southwest, Coastal, and Modern – with a few 19th century British Naval touches tossed in.

The Little Orchard will be an apple tree, and orange tree, and an avocado tree. That’s all! They will, however, be accompanied by fruits, veggies, ducks, and two goats.

We are people who don’t take no for an answer. We are people who bought a house during the most devastating financial crisis and toughest credit crunch of our lifetimes. We bought a house that our families and friends think we were crazy to buy. We think it’ll be amazing.

Come think big with us!

We’ve created this blog because the American Dream of owning a home seems to be much more difficult to bring forth for our generation than it was for our parents.

It seems like one needs a big budget for the most modest version of the American Dream. We hope that by sharing our ideas and learning from your feedback, that we can all help each other out.

Some quick facts on The LOH:
The Space
Bedrooms: 2
Bathrooms: 1
Square feet: 796
Lot square feet: 4900 (0.1 acres)
Yards: 2 (The Upper Yard and The Lower Garden & Orchard)
Location: a tiny culdesac in the El Sereno neighborhood of Northeastern Los Angeles
Year built: 1925
Style: Spanish Revival/Craftsman Transitional

The Endgame
Bedrooms: 5 (a 1 guest room/work studio, 1 bath guest house)
Bathrooms: 3
Square feet: 1900

The Numbers
Our purchase price: $186,500 (a steal for Los Angeles) after an extensive search including 83 foreclosures
Previous owners’ purchase price: $365,000
Approximate cost of reno, expansion, and landscaping: $115,000 – $170,000
Average price of a 5 bed 2 bath home in El Sereno as of 03/21/10: $575,000
Total dollars we’ll spend (purchase & reno): $301,500 – $356,500
Dollars spent as of 01/01/10 (purchase & reno): $54,000
Monthly mortgage payment: $769 (We rented our last apartment for $1795/month.)
Interest rate: 4.65%
Taxes: $2330 per year ($192 per month)

Let’s get going!