Welcome posts are always the hardest to write, aren’t they? Let’s go with a tried and true format:
Who am I? I’m Meredith. I’m originally from the east coast, but moved to Los Angeles in 2011 with big dreams of working in the entertainment industry. And guess what? They came true! I’ve had a number of roles in the field, usually revolving around film and television production. I’ve worked for Disney, Netflix, Fox Sports, and The Emmys. I’m currently working in a galaxy far, far away.
Life was going great until COVID-19, and things took a real turn in 2021. My dad passed away in August and my mother, who’d been married to him for 51 years, needed a change. The plan was to find a place slightly bigger than my one-bedroom Hollywood apartment so that she could visit California as frequently as she wanted. We started perusing house listings and found this charmer:
What is going on with that house? IT’S CUTE. Right? I fell in love with it virtually, despite the fact that it was in need of a lot of work – the kitchen was atrocious, the laminate floor was peeling, the bathrooms were no more than functional, the fruit trees and garden were in desperate need of pruning, and everything needed to be painted.
But it had bones. And heart. And potential. That courtyard sold me. And the windows! And the light.
Just as quickly as I found it, a *PENDING SALE* flag appeared on the listing. I was bummed but not deterred – I started doing research and realized that it (and every home on the surrounding streets) was an original Cliff May ranch house. I looked up surrounding neighborhoods hoping that another listing might pop up, and voraciously read anything I could on Cliff May and his design ethos in the meantime.
When did I buy the house? Did I buy the house?? We did! My mom and I closed on the house exactly two months after my dad’s passing. The original couple that entered escrow on it pulled out because they didn’t have the bandwidth for the necessary renovations. But guess who has two thumbs and is positively giddy about polishing up this place to her and her mother’s exact specifications?
Where are we starting? First and foremost, we got electricity out to the garage because there was none. Not the most glamorous project but now I’m able to charge my car, so that’s a real win. Next is likely to be a privacy fence in the backyard, because uhhh, check out the lack of privacy below.
Those brick pavers? They’re on the DELETE list, too.
That said, the first big, exciting, game-changing reno we’re going to be tackling is the kitchen.
Why is this house important? A couple reasons!
- If you know Cliff May? I know. If you don’t? I can’t wait to share.
- My mom and I needed a fresh start and more room and this place has given us both of those things. We’ve got enough room to spread out and to have our own separate spaces.
- It feels like my dad lined this up for us. More info on that later.
- The commute to work for me is the same as it was in my old place, despite having moved to another county.
- The house has all of the original features we want, like the windows, the fireplace, the layout. The things we’d feel guilty about demoing were they original are long gone – the kitchen is a mishegas of broken cabinets, the bathrooms were remodeled over the course of several decades, and the flooring is laminate from the 90’s.
How are you going to share updates? Welcome to Mid-Century moDIY. I’m looking forward to updating this blog with longer posts about the renovations, and quicker on-the-fly posts will appear on my Instagram account. YouTube content is on the horizon.
Thank you for visiting! I can’t wait to start sharing more.