Steve Lewis fell in love with a nearly century old, U-shaped house in southeast Fresno when he learned it was designed by architects Charles and Henry Greene — the brothers who designed the Gamble House in Pasadena.
The 3,300-square-foot colonial revival-style home on the corner of East Balch Avenue and Eighth Street in Fresno is known as the Mundorff Home. It was named after Mrs. Howard F. Mundorff, the wife of a retired San Francisco baseball player, who commissioned Henry Greene in 1917 to design the house.
Lewis, a Fresno State professor, and his wife, Nancy Ellis, have lived in the house for eight years. They are moving to Santa Rosa this summer and are putting the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with guest house up for sale. The price: $349,000.
“This is definitely the coolest house I’ve ever lived in,” Lewis said.
The house, the only Greene & Greene design in Fresno, sits on half an acre and is shaded by three large Sycamore trees. Fruit trees on the property also produce pomegranates, grapefruits and almonds.
The front door opens into an entryway with hardwood floors and round arches leading to the bedrooms on the west side of the house and to the living areas on the east end. A family room with floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the center courtyard.
The tile fireplace, an element found in most Greene & Greene homes, is still in tact in the living room, but painted over. The ceiling is framed by wide crown moulding with decorative grape and leaf details.
A swinging door separates the dining room from the butlers pantry, a small kitchen with original cabinets and the maid’s bedroom. A small basement, a rarity in Fresno, exposes the craftsmanship of the home with thick redwood beams.
Two of the bedrooms have attached bathrooms with painted brick walls and octagonal floor tiles. A sunroom was added to the third bedroom in 1930.
A garage in the back of the property was converted into a guest house that can be rented out. The house is on the local register of historical resources.
To see a gallery of photos from the Mundorff Home, click here.
This is the first of an occasional series about interesting houses and buildings in the central San Joaquin Valley.
Submissions can be emailed to blee@fresnobee.com
A nonprofit housing agency with an emphasis on helping Asian American homeowners has opened an office in Fresno.
The National Asian American Coalition, whose corporate headquarters is in Daly City, has a small two-person office at 2569 W. Shaw Ave., Suite 103A, between Marks Avenue and Van Ness Boulevard. The group also opened a satellite office in Hercules, north of Oakland.
While the office is new, the coalition’s work in the Central Valley is not, said Faith Bautista, president and chief executive officer.
“In 2008, when foreclosures were really bad in every city, the Hmong community (in Fresno) asked for help from NAAC to train them on how to help the Hmong save their homes,” Bautista said.
The agency taught Hmong leaders how to fill out intake forms and to identify the necessary housing and financial documents for lenders.
“We also did a lot of one-on-one foreclosure counseling,” Bautista said.
Now the agency is taking its work one step further by buying real estate-owned property throughout the Valley, renovating them and then selling the houses to families who have gone through its Project Renew housing education program.
The group bought 18 houses already. The goal is to buy at least 100 houses.
Rather than dwelling on the housing problems, the agency thought about a solution that would create jobs and help people who lost their homes buy again, Bautista said.
For more information, visit naacoalition.org or call (650) 952-0522.
(Photo courtesy of Granville Homes. Pasatiempo model: 2.029 square feet with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and a two-car garage.)
Update: Darius Assemi, president of Granville Homes, will discuss how home building affects the local economy at Saturday’s grand opening event.
Assemi will be joined by Fresno City Council Member Lee Brand and Al Smith, president and chief executive officer of the Fresno Chamber of Commerce.
The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Granville Model Center at Copper and Maple avenues.
Original Post: Granville Homes is unveiling four new model homes on Saturday at Copper River Ranch in northeast Fresno.
The models range in size from an 1,800-square-foot, three bedroom and two bathroom home to a 3,484-square-foot, seven bedroom, four bathroom house. All models have Granville’s Eco-Smart Technology with cool roof technology, extra insulation, and solar panels.
The houses can be built on lots in any of Granville’s three developments including Sageberry at Copper River, Rio Belleza at the La Ventana development west of Highway 99, and Green Park at Sunnyside in southeast Fresno.
Prices start in the $200,000s. For more information, visit Granville Homes or call (559) 440-8370.
Notices of default in Fresno County are on the way back up after falling at the beginning of the year as lenders adjusted to new state legislation designed to prevent foreclosures.
Last month, 305 notices of default – the first step in the foreclosure process – were filed in Fresno County compared to 256 in March, according to ForeclosureRadar’s monthly report.
“The increase simply reflects a return to a longer-term trend that was interrupted by the implementation of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which went into effect Jan. 1,” the report said.
But other foreclosure activity including notices of sale, which set the date of an auction, fell slightly last month to 225 compared to 246 notices filed in March.
“The longer-term foreclosure trend is down due to the fact that fewer homeowners are defaulting on their loans and the potpourri of government debt-relief programs that have slowed the foreclosure process to nearly 300 days,” the report said.
Visit ForeclosureRadar for information about your area.
Housing affordability is falling in Fresno County as home prices rise, said the California Association of Realtors.
In Fresno, 64% of prospective home buyers could afford a median-priced, single-family house at the end of the first quarter this year compared to 70% the previous quarter and 72% a year ago, according to the association’s housing affordability index released on Friday.
That means buyers have to earn $30,010 a year to buy a $157,470 house, the association said.
Madera County was the state’s most affordable county with an index of 77% while San Francisco and San Mateo counties tied for the least affordable at 23% due to higher home prices.
For a list of counties and an affordability index, visit CAR.
The Fresno Housing Authority is busy these days.
Not only is the nonprofit housing agency planning to demolish downtown Fresno’s historic Droge Building on Monday, but it has also broken ground on a $6 million senior housing development in southwest Fresno.
The authority announced Thursday that construction has started on Bridges at Florence, a 33-unit apartment rental complex at 649 E. Florence Ave., near Edison High School.
The project will turn a blighted parcel of land into a vibrant senior community with picnic areas, a community garden and a resource building for activities, the authority said.
“We look forward to seeing this project become a reality so that seniors in our community have an opportunity to live in high-quality, yet affordable housing that provides them with amenities to enjoy their retirement,” said executive director Preston Prince.
Seniors whose annual income is between $12,050 and $24,120 are eligible to live at the complex. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
(Photo provided by De Young Properties. Ground breaking of 2013 St. Jude Dream Home.
De Young Properties on Thursday celebrated the start of construction for its seventh St. Jude Dream Home.
The Clovis home builder has raised more than $5.4 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital over the last seven years by selling $100 tickets for a chance to win a new home.
This year’s house is a 3,298-square-foot, four bedroom, three bathroom home in the builder’s newest development called CountryCourt at Gettsburg and Armstrong avenues in Clovis.
Tickets go on sale Aug. 15. The drawing will be held Nov. 10 during a live television special on KMPH (Channel 26.1).
For more information, visit deyoungproperties.com.
The Community Housing Council of Fresno will install new officers and honor community members who best encourage homeownership during its annual banquet at 6 p.m. May 16.
The Champions of Homeownership Awards Banquet, now in its eighth year, will be held at TorNino’s Banquet, 5080 N. Blackstone Ave.
At the event, the nonprofit housing agency, which has helped nearly 6,500 families over the last six years, will recognize a professional, a business and a volunteer of the year. Award winners will be announced that night, said John Shore, executive director.
The guest speaker will be Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno.
Proceeds from the banquet will be used for grants given to needy first-time home buyers.
For more information, visit chcfresno.org or call (559) 221-6919.
Hundreds of low income families won’t get housing assistance this year from the Housing Authority of Fresno who is facing budget cuts as a result of the $85 billion federal spending crunch.
The authority, which provides housing for low-income residents and the homeless in the city and county of Fresno, announced Thursday that it will face a $8 million shortfall in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Of that amount, more than $4 million was used for the Section 8 rent-subsidy program. That means the authority will serve more than 600 fewer families this year – a blow to a program that continually faces high demand and long wait lists.
Funding for building maintenance will also be affected which means delays in inspections and repairs.
“The Fresno Housing Authority Boards of Commissioners have been proactive in taking various measures to reduce program costs in order to maximize assistance to the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Preston Prince, executive director and chief executive officer.
“Some of these measures include not filling vacant positions, providing retirement incentives, and reducing overall agency costs and expenses across the board.”
A bill introduced by Assemblymember Henry T. Perea to extend state tax relief for homeowners is on its way to the state appropriations committee for approval.
Assembly Bill 42 would follow the federal Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 by sparing California homeowners – for at least another year – from paying taxes on their mortgage debt after a short sale or principal modification. The forgiven debt is considered taxable income.
Congress extended the federal act in January for a second time, but California chose not to continue its state relief program.
“This bill will prevent undue hardship to taxpayers who would otherwise be subject to taxation resulting from having all or part of their loan balance on their principal residence forgiven by their lender,” Perea said.
“A lot of families who are forced to make a decision to sell their home, as a short sale, are already in financial trouble. They can’t afford to pay an additional tax on money they’ve never received.”
