Historic home goes from neglected to showcase

Interior designer and home renovator Clark Collins knew the French Normandy revival situated on a corner lot on Laguna Beach’s El Camino Del Mar street was going to be a labor of love.

Occupied by renters since the 1980s, the home had suffered from lack of care to the point that the fireplace was falling apart.

“Everything was untouched,” said Collins, who buys old cottages and restores, renovates and resells them. “It was ready for an update.”

The home, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms, was built in 1940 by Ropp & Mackey for H.P. Walden, a Pasadena lawyer, and his wife. Roy Ropp, co-founder of the development company, also was the founder of the Pageant of the Masters. From 1936 to 1941, he designed sets and produced programs for the annual festival in Laguna Beach.

The prominent development firm had designed many of the city’s iconic structures, including the Heisler Building, Laguna Presbyterian Church and the Laguna Beach County Water District building.

Collins’ lot was originally owned by Harry M. Ticknor, president of the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena.

The two-story residence, which has more than 2,000 square feet of living space, is listed on Laguna Beach’s historic inventory, and Collins, who serves as an adviser on the city’s Heritage Committee’s specializing in historic preservation, found himself immersed in the project.

“I love Laguna, and I love the history,” said Collins, who lives down the street from the home with his partner and their two sons. “Historic homes exude such a sense of history, and I find them to be very homey and comfortable to live in.”

The home, virtually ignored by previous owners, “needed everything,” Collins explained. “Plumbing, wiring, heating, cooling, a new roof.”

He replaced the heating and air conditioning unit as well as the electrical and plumbing systems and roof.

But Collins really had his work cut out for him, because he knew that without expandsing the space, the home wouldn’t be suitable for entertaining or for a couple with children.

Inside, he saved the original white oak floors, staining and finishing them in a dark walnut. He fixed the original, double-hung windows and hardware. He converted the entryway’s hall closet into a powder room, furnished with a marble countertop and artwork by local Laguna artists.

The bedroom in the front of the home was replaced with a den-inspired family room, complete with a wet bar that features refrigerators, a soapstone sink, mahogany cabinets and glass shelves for beverages.

The wet bar was added to the house using space from the far end of the garage.

To expand the kitchen and dining room, he widened an existing hallway and refinished the original bay window and cabinets. He added a historic flourish behind the kitchen table, a framed antique flag depicting 31 stars. California became the 31st state in 1850.

And in keeping with the home’s French feel, he installed a cooking range by Lacanche, a French-made stove crafted for professional chefs.

The master bedroom downstairs needed paint and a mix of leather and wood textures, but the bathroom, Collins said, needed to be expanded, so he took space from a small hallway.

Marble was used on the floor and countertops. With an additional nod to the time period, he installed push-button light switches throughout the house.

Upstairs, he fashioned the second bedroom’s bathroom with subway tiles and a Carrara marble counter. For a polished finish, he chose a chrome piping for the sink and shower.

Across the hall, Collins added light to the third bedroom by installing a window on a partial wall. Since the room may be considered as a guest room, he thought to add built-in dresser drawers for extra storage.

The adjacent bathroom featured a shower bench made out of marble.

And out on the terrace, future homeowners will be able to peer out at the ocean and the hills surrounding Laguna Beach.

During construction, Collins shopped for furnishings in Pasadena, Costa Mesa and his neighborhood. An antique English butcher block that Collins pulled from a neighbor’s garage is the focal point of the kitchen.

An iron chandelier from the late comedian Phyllis Diller’s home dangles above the living room, where a fireplace screen from the George Gershwin and Rosemary Clooney house before it was torn down shields the limestone fireplace.

Plein air portraits of the Laguna Beach coastline enhance the walls.

But above all, the home had to accommodate the needs of a modern family, and as far as Collins is concerned, it now does.

“This one had incredible bones,” he said. “I was trying to keep it true to its period but now, it’s much more user-friendly.”

The home, at 405 El Camino del Mar, is for sale at $3,495,000. For more information, call (949) 554-5751 or email [email protected]

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