L.A. part 2

Last Saturday, 23 November, we made another trek to LA in search of a great deal at a estate sale and the elusive Eames chair. We began our quest early that morning without breakfast but plenty of coffee. Our first way point was at the home of Michael Jackson's dermatologist, Dr. Klein. Apparently he was bankrupt, his home sold at auction and the estate sale held to pay his creditors. The home was built in 1914, about 11,000sqft and ended up selling for around $4 million and according to one of the workers the new buyer planned to put in another $2 million to fix it up and it really needs it. I guess Michael Jackson actually lived at the house for a period of time and they really played it up with identifying his room/bathroom/patio.

View down the street

Michael Jackson's bathroom

We arrived on the last day of the sale and most everything had been sold but I guess there was a boatload of Michael Jackson stuff. It wasn't cheap either, there was a fedora that he wore in a concert that was going for $5,000 and a picture on the stairs that was listed at $55,000(see picture). Needless to say we didn't purchase anything.

Yes that is really listed at $55,000

The other estate sale we went was a short distance away and this treasure trove featured a lot of rugs which is why we wanted to go. Of course we also wanted to see the house, and what a house it was. It sat on almost an acre in the middle of LA with a pool (of course) and a 4 car garage (of course). the house was smaller than Dr. Klein's at only 8,000sqft built in 1924 but was in almost pristine condition. It sold for over $8 million. The rugs were beautiful but really overpriced. Of course they were saying to make an offer but when they have the tagged prices between $6,000 to $20,000 I don't think they would like my offers. Besides most of the rugs were way too large, we need them around 8'x10'.

The Driveway

"A" really likes steel frame windows and this place had an entire wall of steel framed windows (see photos). We would have liked to get them for our house but unfortunately I am sure they would have been way too expensive.

From there we decided to eat before the final journey to our Eames chair was completed. After lunch we proceeded to Burbank where the chair located and got to see a really neat site. Once we parked I looked over and saw a doe come out of the bushes as I told "A" another doe came out followed by a really nice looking buck. In the end 4 does and 1 buck came out to feed on the apartments landscaping. I asked the owner of the chair and he said they came all the time but usually in the morning. It was quite a site in the middle of LA to see a family of deer.

Our quest ended with the capture of the chair and an uneventful drive back to San Diego.