28 DIGS.NET | 8.26.2022
S W E E T D I G S | 3 2 5 G E O R G I N A
Consistent with the Craftsman empha-
sis on practicality, the home's floorplan is
as functional now as it was in Fleming's day.
Public and entertaining spaces are found
on the first floor, and sleeping spaces are
located on the second. There are three
bedrooms, all en-suite, located in the main
wing of this floor, and the servants' wing—
which you can access via the sweeping
main staircase or a secondary staircase,
originally created for easy access to and
from the kitchen, is home to two bedrooms
joined with a full bathroom, plus a charming
sunroom adjacent to a rooftop porch where
you can watch over activities in the backyard.
Given its roots as a house of leisure, the
large lot is geared towards fresh-air activi-
ties and entertaining. One can play tennis
on the full-sized court, one of the first
private tennis courts in Santa Monica, or
catch up with friends along the spacious
red-brick terrace, nicely shrouded by
old-growth landscaping. "The yard is quite
private," notes Pence. There's a grass yard
for playing games and a covered dining area
with a built-in brick-oven barbecue. Addi-
tional space, perhaps for a wine cellar, can
be found in the basement, which measures
approximately 380 square feet.
On the green lawn of the front yard stands
two towering old-growth California trees.
One is an Italian Stone Pine, a brushy green
perennial most likely planted when the home
was being constructed. "It adds to the charm
of the walk to the front porch," says Pence
of the hundred-plus-year-old tree, which
looks right at home next to the shingled resi-
dence with all of the warm signatures of its
Craftsman heritage—from its gabled roof
with overhanging eaves and exposed rafters,
to its exterior brick chimneys and covered
porches. Created during the crux of the Arts
& Crafts Movement by an architect and a
builder who were among its leading practi-
tioners, the home has been carefully overseen
for decades by its current owners. Today it
remains as a vibrant artifact not only of a
charmed time and place in California history,
but of an architectural style that remains as
elegantly inviting and user-friendly in 2022
as it was over 100 years ago when ground
first broke at 325 Georgina Avenue.
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