Turning the Ugliest Brown Box into an Ocean View Contemporary

We've purchased the ugliest brown box in The Village on Stratford Ct in Del Mar, California, which is one of the very best streets in town. We bought this particular property because of it's location, potential, it's spectacular ocean views and because it was desperately in need of an Extreme Remodel! We're just now getting started on demolition, on the heels of our most recent 1921 French Tudor ground-up restoration just up the street.

But, we've got some "issues." (and there's always "issues" when you're remodeling). The brown box we bought is a duplex - which is a great thing. We've started the long condominium-izing process, which requires engineers, attorneys, money and lots of paperwork. And, we just found out that our 1971 brown box has no gas... everything was electric! WHAT?!? This means more money and paperwork, and that we need to go through the painful 5-month gas hook-up process with San Diego Gas and Electric (a monopoly), who doesn't really care how long it takes to get you connected. Then, there's the rules and regulations that you find in small, affluent, beach communities that often make you think... really? Can this really be a rule? I tell myself, that there must be a good reason...

With that said, there's a fun side to this... we get to totally transform the outside of the ugliest brown box, as well as the ugliest, dated interior I've ever seen (unless you count my dad's old trailer) with our Extreme Remodel plans and ideas that we've been working on for months. If you need to know one thing about extreme remodeling... it's that you need an excellent banker and bank standing behind you, which we do - Dipak and Fremont Bank. Remodeling the extreme way always costs more than you plan, no matter how much experience you have. We've built and remodeled 26 homes, and every remodel has unique "issues" that can't be anticipated.

Stay tuned, I can't wait to show you what we've got up our sleeves to transform these homes into the most beautiful, knock your socks off, Ocean View Contemporary's.