cyrus deadlock: Penthouse-level Brentwood condominium offered for sale

Looks like it?s going to be a busy year for real estate on the Westside! ?Klein Real Estate is pleased to announced its latest listing: ?a penthouse-level condominium in the very desirable community of Brentwood. ?This two-bedroom/two-bath unit includes about 1400 square feet on a single level along with some beautiful city views. ?Listed for $629,000. ?Open house on Tuesday, 1/29 from 11am until 2pm and on Sunday, 2/3, from 1 to 4pm.

Other features for this well-located home include 9-foot ceilings, central air conditioning and heating, a gas fireplace, large dining area, a slate entry and a tiled balcony.??In the kitchen, you?ll find tile counters and floors, a pantry plus extra storage, a dishwasher, filtered water faucet, a separate entry and an adjacent wet bar room that you could easily re-purpose as an office or a den. ? In the bedrooms, both offer walk-in closets and extra closet space., while both bathrooms have marble floors and skylights. ?For your convenience, the laundry room and trash chute down to the garage are just down the hall.

With just 18 units in the building, HOA fees are low by L.A. standards at just $351 per month, which pays for earthquake insurance, a new roof as of January 2012, copper plumbing throughout, an elevator, intercom system and a planned lobby renovation that will be paid for with existing reserves. ?Both the building and the parking area itself are gated, with two side-by-side parking spaces assigned to this home along with some large storage cabinets in the garage.

brentwoodsign The home is centrally located in Brentwood, within easy walking distance to the shops and eateries on Wilshire Blvd. and San Vicente Blvd. ? It?s also convenient to public transportation, offers close proximity to both Westwood and Santa Monica offers easy freeway access.

If you?re not familiar with Brentwood, the community is located at the base of the?Santa Monica Mountains?and is?bounded by the?San Diego Freeway?on the east,?Wilshire Boulevard?on the south, the?Santa Monica?city limits on the southwest, the border of?Topanga State Park?on the west and?Mulholland Drive?along the ridgeline of the mountains on the north.

The area that is now Brentwood was part of the?Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, a Mexican land-grant ranch sold off in pieces by the?Sep?lveda?family after the?Mexican-American War. Development began following the establishment of the large 600-acre Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors?in the 1880s.

A small community sprang up outside that facility?s west gate, taking on the name?Westgate. Annexed by the City of Los Angeles on June 14, 1916, Westgate?s 49 square miles included large parts of what is now the?Pacific Palisades?and a small portion of today?s?Bel-Air. Westgate Avenue is one of the last reminders of the area?s former namesake. The Sunset Fields Golf Club, known as the Brentwood Country Club since 1941, hosted the running part of the?modern pentathlon?event at the?1932 Summer Olympics.

Originally planted with soybeans and avocados, Brentwood is now one of the prominent districts of the?Westside?and among the wealthiest neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles. It has prosperous commercial districts along each of its major east-west thoroughfares,?Wilshire Boulevard,?San Vicente Boulevard, and?Sunset Boulevard.

Though there is no direct connection, the name Brentwood harks to?Brentwood?of?Essex, England, a town on the outskirts of?London?dating back to?Saxon?times. ?Many local streets reflect this ersatz British heritage, including Barrington, Gorham, and Bristol.

San Vicente Boulevard is considered the ?Main Street? of Brentwood and is divided by a wide median on which stand many large and attractively sculpted?coral trees. This green belt replaced a derelict?Pacific Electric?trolley track, its trees evolving into a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Brentwood boosters have adopted a coral tree silhouette as a de facto community logo. Intersecting Bundy Drive is lined with extremely tall?Washingtonia robusta?palms.

Brentwood received notoriety in 1994 when?Nicole Brown Simpson, ex-wife of?NFL?legend?O.J. Simpson, and her friend?Ronald Goldman?were found stabbed to death outside her Bundy Drive condominium. Simpson was arrested for the murders and later acquitted by a jury in a heavily-publicized trial.

Brentwood?s Barrington Recreation Center has an indoor gymnasium which converts into a small auditorium with a capacity of 250. Outdoors is a lighted baseball diamond, an unlighted baseball diamond, lighted indoor basketball courts, lighted outdoor basketball courts, a children?s play area, a community room, a lighted football field, picnic tables, a lighted soccer field, lighted tennis courts, and lighted volleyball courts.?The 1.5-acre (0.61?ha) Barrington Dog Park is on the grounds of the recreation center.

brentwoodcountrymart Popular pleasure destinations include?The Brentwood Country Mart, a recently remodeled and expanded 1947?farmers? market; the Brentwood Village, a small shopping district near the intersection of Sunset and Barrington; and more recently, Brentwood Green, a ?village commons? created from the playground at?Brentwood Science Magnet Elementary School. There is also a tented farmers? market held each Sunday on a strip of Gretna Green Way between Brentwood Science Magnet and the Brentwood Country Club. The 2.7-mile (4.3?km)-long boundary of the private?Brentwood Country Club?is a popular local jogging route. The internationally renowned?Getty Museum?is located in the hills high above Brentwood, near the 405 Freeway?and the?Sepulveda Pass.