The Krisel Connection: Bermuda Woods Palmer & Krisel Loaded with Original Character Hits the Market

Friday, July 31, 2015

Bermuda Woods Palmer & Krisel Loaded with Original Character Hits the Market – Reseda, CA

Built in 1955 by Dunas, Greene & Swidler, this Bermuda Woods mid-century modern Palmer & Krisel-designed home still retains much of its original charm and character, surviving the decades with minimal changes. Measuring at just 1,296 square feet, this home fits in three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a two car garage, all on a 7,500 square-foot lot with an asking price of $399,000.

This home has got great original curb appeal, with its peach paint job and original woodwork, including original single-panel garage door. The streetside face of the detached garage still features its original board and batten siding, while the door opening side incorporates vertical siding matching the single-panel door. This was a signature of Krisel’s, as he’d often use multiple textures on home facades to break them up and add visual interest; in this case stucco, board and batten, and vertical siding.

Living Room still modern and relatively unchanged after 60 years

Dining Room just off Living Room

Living Room looking towards hall - check out the signature Krisel soffit

The front door has been replaced with a Victorian-style glass-panel door, but replacing this update to a streamlined, mid-mod door fitting of the home is a simple fix. Walking into the home, the Living Room shows just as crisp and sharp as it did in 1955, with vaulted, open-beamed ceilings, a stacked red-brick modernist fireplace and four panel floor-to-ceiling windows. As intended, these large windows and glass slider allows for daylight to pour into the home, and allows the living areas to blur the line between indoors and out.

The kitchen is almost as it was in 1955, maintaining the straight, squared original cabinetry, with doors on the lowers and sliders on the upppers. The sliding panels on the upper cabinets appear to have been replaced with solid wood panels at some point; originally these sliders most likely would have been peg-board. Another feature Krisel liked to include in kitchens were the washer and dryer, and the hookup and drain pipe in this one can be seen next to the range. The galley kitchen is brightened up by large clerestories, and a large four-pane window at the breakfast nook a the front of the home adds even more natural light.

Original kitchen - the cabinets are in great shape

Breakfast nook at front of home- the glass panel door is original

The bedrooms are all still in their original form, with the master at the front of the home and the secondary bedrooms fronting the backyard. All bedrooms feature open -beamed ceilings, while the master includes clerestories. The bedroom windows have been replaced with mullioned white vinyl models, which read more traditional than mid-century modern with the mullions creating artificial visual barriers that were never intended as part of the design. Replacement is an easy fix.

The master bath retains its original stall shower enclosure and the original medicine cabinet and mirror is still on the wall, still functioning after 60 years. The backyard is open and grassy, with a variety of small trees, a tiled patio and several planter areas. This home is one we love seeing - lots of original goodies still in place, and an uncompromised floor plan just as relevant today as it was in 1955.