Strong-Lined 1955 Parkwood La Mirada Palmer & Krisel Home For Sale – La Mirada, CA

Built in 1955 by the Devon Construction Company is this modernist Palmer & Krisel-designed home in Parkwood La Mirada, in La Mirada, California. This midcentury piece of architecture provides three bedrooms and two bathrooms in 1,248 square feet and a two-car garage on a 5,700 square foot lot and carries an asking price of $519,000.

Front of home - bay window was added at a later date

Out front, the home still bears its original olive tree that was planted at the turn of the century by Andrew McNally, when La Mirada was part of McNally’s Windermere Ranch. Krisel himself convinced the developers of Parkwood to salvage the olive trees on McNally's ranch and use them as a selling point in the community, and this one maintains the beauty and character of age in the trunk. Unfortunately the upper branches have been pollarded, which will take some training to get back to normal.

Detail of garage front along with 100-year old olive tree

The two car garage features one of my favorite Krisel rooflines, a reverse angle roof with vertical detailing on the fascia overhang. The garage features a contemporary slit opaque window, it’s original vertical grooved single-panel garage door and offers a nice contrast to the form of the main home. The entry sits at the center of the home, adjacent to a later-added bay window that contrasts with the architectural style of the home.

Inside the home, the living, kitchen and family/dining room all sit at the rear of the home, while the master bedroom sits off the front entry and the secondary bedrooms are off the family/dining room. It’s been a little while since we’ve last seen this model, which has been spotted in Westminster, Henderson, Las Vegas, Tucson and El Paso.

Living room

Clerestories in living room 

The rear-facing living room is anchored by Krisel’s signature stacked-block modernist fireplace along the rear wall of the room, surrounded by walls of glass, while the western wall of the room features its original clerestory windows. The original open-beamed ceilings appear to have had a layer of insulation topped with drywall added to them, however a portion of the original beams are still visible.

Living room with kitchen and family/dining room beyond

Kitchen

The galley kitchen sits between the living and family/dining rooms, and contains cabinetry that appears to have been installed in the mid-1970s and painted white. The countertops have been updated with granite tiles, and a mix of white and black appliances.

There aren’t any relevant photos provided for the bedrooms or bathrooms, however all appear to be intact and in their original configurations. There’s a variety of floor found throughout the home, including wood laminate, veined-white tile and laminate flooring.

Backyard

The south-facing backyard is good-sized, open and grassy, with a singular shade tree at one side of the yard. There’s a small trellis over the exterior doors leading from the dinging/family room, and otherwise the remainder of the yard is a blank slate awaiting a modernist makeover.

This Palmer & Krisel home, like most others features this week, has great bones, great lines, and mainly needs cosmetics to really shine brightly.

Check out the full listing on Redfin.com here: 15114 Manzanares Road

Or Zollow.com here: 15114 Manzanares Road