A Los Angeles artist bought an 1888 Victorian house in 1979 and turned it purple inside and out; now the estate is on the market, asking $2 million for the four-bedroom property, with restoration estimated to cost at least $1 million
A ‘unicorn’ Los Angeles house has hit the market, asking $2 million, according to a listing on Coldwell Banker Realty. Built in 1888, this purple-drenched Queen Anne Victorian is a rare piece of the city’s history. Known as Esperanza House, the 2,700-square-foot property sits on half an acre. The 138-year-old house on the hill is hard to miss, thanks to its purple hue.
A rare survivor
Pic credit: COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
The unicorn house is a rare survivor, according to the listing agent, Laurie Turner, of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Pasadena. “Los Angeles doesn’t have a lot of 138-year-old houses anymore,” she told Realtor.com. “Los Angeles was a big agricultural zone, and people were coming out west for opportunity and land and things that they didn’t have on the East Coast and in the Midwest.”Turner calls Esperanza House a unicorn. The home was built in 1888. “It was the 1880s and the height of the Industrial Revolution. A world of knowledge and ideas was rapidly unfolding, mixing old and new, foreign and familiar. European design ideas were embraced wholly and without reserve. Transportation technology improved and expanded at a fantastic rate, opening the door to the West to people from all around the globe. Factories utilising recent advances in industrial technology were turning out mass-produced goods at prices affordable to the growing ‘middle class’. This, combined with the great Southern California Land Boom of the 1880s, resulted in a proliferation of elaborate and eclectic architecture throughout Los Angeles, as demonstrated here,” the listing says, describing the house’s unique look.
The house was yellow before becoming purple
Pic credit: COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
When Leonora Pierotti Thomas bought the house in 1979, it was yellow. Turner, who never met Thomas, has heard stories from her cousin, who said that nearly everything about her was purple. “It was yellow when Leonora bought it, and from what I hear from her cousin, everything about [Leonora] was purple. She drove a purple Hummer. The garden hoses were purple. I have a picture that was sent out in memory [of her], and she is with her poodle and she had dyed her poodle’s fur purple,” the agent recalled.She added, “She was an eccentric artist, never married, [who] had the wherewithal to have a home like this, travel the world, entertain. I’ve heard stories. I unfortunately never had the opportunity to meet her, but she just sounds like a kick.”
Inside the purple house
Pic credit: COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
The four-bedroom, three-bathroom house also has a fireplace. The purple does not stop at the front door. It covers the outside walls and the roof, which is newer and has purple trim. Inside, the kitchen island, some of the lights and several walls are purple too. Wooden flooring runs throughout the house. The kitchen and primary suite were added in the past ten years. According to the listing, the kitchen has been updated with a microwave, refrigerator, tankless water heater, dishwasher and electric cooktop.
Pic credit: COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
“I just love it. It’s such a happy place to be and it’s warm and inviting… and although a little dilapidated right now, you can see what it was when Leonora was living there,” Turner told the outlet.
The house needs work
Pic credit: COLDWELL BANKER REALTY
While the house is certainly unique, Turner is not hiding the work it needs. Some of the plaster is peeling off the walls. Turner says everything still functions, including the pool. “I’m calling it a historic restoration project rather than a fixer because fixer sounds like a fix and flip,” the agent said. She also revealed that the contractor she consulted estimated that the restoration work would cost at least $1 million. “I’m really looking [for a buyer] who has the vision and the wherewithal to update the home, bring it back to its glory, live in it, and do right by the neighbours and the neighbourhood.”
