Avalon Beautiful has chosen, 358 Descanso Ave. as the new, “House of the Month.” The owners are Rich and Cindy Daffurn.
Rich spent his young life on Catalina Island with his family who owned a home at 313 Descanso. He dove for coins at the beach and he loved bacon waffles at Sally’s Waffle Shop. The family was thrilled when the house was up for sale and purchased it in 2002.
The family loves the home and has spent a lot of time working on it. Lots of contents were in the home, and some are still there. Some date back 100 years. The home was purchased from the Hansen family, who bought the home in 1953. Vicki Durst, granddaughter of Carl and Heloise Hansen (who were from Denmark), was a local yoga and dive instructor from the late ‘80s until 2000.
The house has been a “work in progress.” Dave Thompson remodeled the kitchen and bathroom. All the carpet was replaced with flooring. Dave is now painting the outside of the home. All the electrical has been replaced.
They found a metal sign that reads, “Heloise Place.” There was a mermaid that was placed over the door and it was redone by Rich, who drew the art and created the new replacement in Sonoma, their home town.
In 2004, the New York Times came knocking on the door, and wrote a great article called, “Homes that work.” They were thrilled of the publishing!
Three rooms upstairs were once rented to the Chicago Cubs back in the day! They would enter the door in front, and head upstairs. The top was closed off to them.
In 2007, the home was occupied by 3 firefighters during the big fire.
Congrats to the Daffurn’s whose home is surrounded by beautiful succulents, and a prize Bottle Bush that is often visited by bees and hummingbirds.
A $50 gift certificate was presented by Chet’s Hardware.
Whose home will be next? Step it up, let’s make Avalon, beautiful!
For more about Avalon Beautiful, visit them at avalonbeautiful.com