There are times while writing about real estate when I forget I’m not incredibly wealthy. I look at the listings and I see an ocean-front mansion and nod sagely and think, “Yeah, that’s a good price. I’d pay that.” Then it’s “with what?” In short, writing about real estate is basically playing with other people’s money.
It’s a relatively low-stakes game in Long Beach. If my boundaries were extended to all of LA County, I probably wouldn’t monkey around too much with the high- (though comparatively low-) priced properties in Long Beach. Not when I could paddle around Malibu with a 12-bed, 14-bath ocean-view pad listed at $85 million, to say nothing of hiking up to the stupendous property called, unabashedly, “The One,” in Bel Air with 21 bedrooms and 14.5 baths plus a breathtaking array of other amenities, currently listed at $295 million—down from its initial ask of $500 million.
But we’re talking Long Beach real estate, where the highest-priced property is a $10.6 million property on The Colonnade in Naples, which isn’t flying off the shelf with only a couple of showings in these sluggish omicron times. And there’s today’s listing, the sixth-priciest home currently on the market, listed by Naples/Peninsula specialist Keith Muirhead (who’s listing three of the top six properties, including No. 1 at $3.99 million, and in my head, again using other people’s money, I’m thinking, “Yeah, that’s a good price. I’d pay that.”
The Mediterranean-style, three-story, four-bedroom, five-bath home is just steps from the beach on the ocean side of the Peninsula, which is awfully nice, though you might, if you’re a glass-half-empty sort, fret a bit about rising sea levels and the increasing likelihood of flooding. Do buyers tend to worry about that sort of thing?
“Some do, some don’t,” said Muirhead. “I’d say it’s about 50-50. Though it’s located where the city has put up a berm that protects it.”
Half-empty guy: “Yeah but that takes away the view of the waves from the first floor.”
Half-full guy: “But it’s a glorious view from the second and third stories,” which is really where the action is at this home at 5915 Seaside Walk, just a bit north of the middle of the Peninsula.
The first level, bereft as it is of a view of our city’s vaunted crashing surf, has a formal entry area leading to a family room. Not much to see here: a laundry room and a bath with a shower. Let’s go upstairs: This is the entertainment level, with a formal living room with fireplace and an outdoor balcony. There’s a gourmet kitchen with top-end appliances (Sub-Zero, Viking) and two bedrooms—one of which has two walk-in closets and an en-suite bathroom.
Run up the stairs again to the third level, where the day draws to an end for whoever called dibs on one of the two master suites with their ample closets and bathrooms. I already called the front suite, which has multiple windows looking out to the sea and sunsets, with a waterfront sitting room with a fireplace and an outdoor deck.
And, while parking can be a problem on the Peninsula, it’s a piece of cake at this home, with a pair of two-car garages and room for two more. Parking for six; that’s a rarity in this neighborhood.
The house is currently owned by a couple who live in Arcadia—they’ve just been using the Peninsula place for a beach house. The very rich, F. Scott Fitzgerald famously noted, “They are different from you and me.”
Muirhead says a player for the LA Chargers has been looking at a couple of his listings on the ocean side of the Peninsula. If you find out that he bought one of the other properties, there’s an opening for you to pick up this one. You can pal around with the guy; toss the ol’ pigskin around at the clam bake.
