Saturday, September 13, 2008

Rider and Shiloh Strong List Laurel Canyon Cabin

SELLERS: Rider and Shiloh Strong
LOCATION: Wonderland Ave, Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $1,260,000
SIZE: 1,927 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
DESCRIPTION: ...All of the original charm of a 1920s Laurel Canyon home available to you in 2008. The lg rm features 20 foot ceilings allowing light to flow in from the skylights & flr to ceiling windows. The ornate frpl adds to the ambiance of the home. Beautiful hrdwd planked flrs flow throughout the home reminiscent of the charms & details of the 20's era. The mstr bdrm features a frpl & priv. patio...

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to an lovely afternoon communique from our even lovelier tipster East Side Edna, Your Mama was pointed towards a listing in the Laurel Canyon area of Los Angeles that is being offered for sale at $1,260,000.

According to East Side Edna (and confirmed with prop records), the multi-colored boho haven on Wonderland Avenue is currently owned by the politically motivated, exceptionally educated and pornographically named former child actor Rider Strong, best known for his role as the affable bad boy next door on Boy Meets World who went on to appear in other films and boob-toob programs such as Cabin Fever, Kim Possible, and Pepper Dennis. Property records reveal that the 1,926 square foot house is also owned by Rider Strong's less successful older actor brother Shiloh. A quick search of the interweb tells Your Mama that Shiloh was also a child actor and in addition to appearing in 28 episodes of a mid-1990s television program Your Mama has never even heard of called The Mommies, he's more recently popped up on programs such as 24 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Who knew?

Anyhoo, prop records indicate the Strong brothers bought their 1920s era cabin on Wonderland Avenue in October off 2005 for $1,150,000. A quick flick of the well worn beads on our bejeweled abacus tells Your Mama that when taking into account real estate fees, transfer costs and carrying charges, the Mssrs. Strong will not be making much (if any) moolah from the sale of this house even if they are lucky enough to find someone willing to pay the full asking price.

Listing information for the 1,927 square foot 4 bedroom and 2 bathroom house in the hills shows that the living room features a fireplace and a very high 20' ceiling, the dining room has a wonderful wall of paned windows, a the kitchen looks like something from Mama Cass's days in Laurel Canyon. The large master bedroom includes a second fireplace and a private patio. Outdoor spaces include several shaded and private courtyards and decks perfect for napping in a hammock or, for the yogically inclined, contorting one's body into unnatural shapes while listening to the rustle of leaves.

Obviously, Your Mama is all betwixt and beyond bothered by the obscene color scheme throughout this house which proves two things to us. Number one, never paint every room a different color unless you like making your guests feel on edge and number two, it's really best not to smoke grass before visiting the paint store.

Also worrisome to our rather delicate sensibilities are the large amount of brown leather furniture–we note three brown leather sofas when one is plenty for any house of this size–and most troublesome to Your Mama are those startling spiral thingamajigs mounted on the wall in both the living room and master bedroom. What in the name of Jeezis are those things? Could they be some sort of hippy-dippy dream catcher? Or perhaps they're some sort of representation of the infinity of space? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Whatever these things are, they give Your Mama hee-cups of hysteria and we recommend no one repeat this look in their own home.

But of course, paint is easily changed and all that brown leather and those upsetting spiral hoozy-goozies will be trucked out by the Strong boys once the house is sold. Although even Your Mama has a difficult time seeing past all the many decorating crimes here, we also think that if the interiors spaces were completely cleared out, given a fresh coat of white paint and the kitchen overhauled so that it does not look like something from a 1970s vegan commune. this may actually be a very sweet little house in the woods.

Your Mama hasn't a clue where the Mssrs. Strong will be headed, but we sincerely wish them all the best in selling their canyon cabin and we sincerely hope one of them will give us a ring-a-ling when it comes time to decorate their next homes.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

The spiral thingies are candle holders from Pottery Barn.

Anonymous said...

Does this have wheels!!

Anonymous said...

LOL- I too wanted to comment that I believe those are the Pottery Barn spiral votive holders, which were wayyyy too popular on a home decorating forum that I occasionally visit a couple years ago. They even have an abbreviation on there that everyone is familiar with... apparently the brothers Strong are also in on the love for the PBSVH.

lil' gay boy said...

This is why God created nice gay decorators; so nice straight boys don't have to live like this.

StPaulSnowman said...

That may be true LGB, but I think it would be a real challenge, and take a lot of xanax, to get them into this color nightmare in the first place. Perhaps the nice straight neutralizing crew could come in first, paint everything white, and then bring in the decorators.

lil' gay boy said...

Snowman,

As always, a man with a plan.

Anonymous said...

What's up with the photo featuring a glowy/spooky cat on the bed? I can't imagine listing agents think that kind of photo is a good thing!

Anonymous said...

The spirals are do it yourself burn your house down kits. They hold a bunch of votive candles CLOSE to the wall, and draperies.

StPaulSnowman said...

That sounds like a great way to deal with these interiors.........the votives, I mean. The homeowner's settlement would pay for a nice gay decorator's assistant.

pch said...

The candle things and the purple paint make me think this is the handiwork of a girlfriend or a mother. I don't know many guys who would come up with those on their own.

Wonderland is a bit too granola for me, but for Topanga Canyon types who want/need to live in town, it's nice and rustic.

Alessandra said...

I like the stove in the kitchen (which is where proper stoves belong, I realize).

The decor is rather hideous, and the technicolor Easter egg approach to the palette is a bit much. I agree with PCH about Wonderland being a bit granola, but I could see this being a quite comfortable artist's retreat.

Otherwise, it doesn't do much for me. The spiral votive candle rack must go immediately; it's wrong on so many levels.

Anonymous said...

You people are all stuck up and snooty about decoration. I love all of my 38 votive candles and my Paas palette. I wish people like you critical snobs would just stay home!

Anonymous said...

Forget about the PBSVHXYZPDQ nonsense for a minute and check out the fact that there are TWO dressers in the master bedroom. Does that mean that there are no closets?!

Anonymous said...

Or it could mean that the brothers share the master bedroom.

Anonymous said...

Right next to a school... Yeah, right

Anonymous said...

is there a face in the open door????

Erin64 said...

Yes, I see that face too - what is that?

StPaulSnowman said...

I cannot be sure but I think it is the face of Paramahansa Yogananda.....how cool is that?......way California.

Anonymous said...

PCH, the girlfriend/mom decor-8'er idea came to me as well.

Or, they consulted on paint with the hardware store night shift. And what's up with the bitsy DIY mantel in the master? Bless their little hearts. That's kinda cute.

Seriously, I'm with Mama on neutering the color scheme. As is, this one show badly -- bargaining chip for price reduction?

Anonymous said...

The place is haunted. The face in the doorway and the glow-eyed mammal in the master, I mean, Wonderland may as well have happened here... Wonderland, yeah... screw a bargaining chip, there's your chopping block. I love when that place goes up for rent -- HA!