HOW MANY STEPS IS TOO MANY?

You never know what you’re going to see when you set out on Broker Preview in Laguna Beach. Every Wednesday, agents put their new (or retreaded) Laguna Beach homes on display for other agents to preview the property. Laguna Beach is the most interesting city I know of to go on Broker Preview, since the homes are so unique, varied and eclectic. Also, because of Laguna Beach’s geography, some of the hillside construction is simply mind-warping. Real estate in Laguna Beach is at a high premium, so builders and homeowners sometimes creatively build on small patches of land and go vertical.

Today, I visited a new listing that, well, took my breath away – but not the way you think. From the street or garage level, I elevated myself five flights(!) of stairs before coming to the first room. This level housed a secondary bedroom and bath. Continuing the climb, the next level brought me to the master bedroom level. Up and away beyond that was the main floor living area and kitchen where the listing agent was engaged in a conversation with other agents. Naturally, the conversation was centered around the considerable climb we each made to reach this height. By the way, the view was nice, but not the best I had seen today. I asked how many steps there were, to which he replied with a well-practiced: “77 steps to this level.” There are more levels? Sure enough, more steps led to more bedrooms and a bonus room near the top (there were more stairs to the back yard). On my way down (from the yard), I decided to count the steps for myself – want to guess? I counted 106 steps (isn’t that like ten stories?) from the back yard to the garage level. Pity the mom with a baby on her hip and an arm full of groceries.