|
Search for Orange County vintage
homes by price
Many buyers prefer to
search for homes by price range. The following links are arranged by
price and include homes built up to 1939. These homes are in all
Orange county cities that have large numbers of vintage homes. To
find homes built after 1939, use my links by decade here.
| $200,000
to $299,000 |
$500,000
to $599,000 |
$800,000
to $899,000 |
$1.2M
to $1,5M |
| $300,000
to $399,000 |
$600,000
to $699,000 |
$900,000
to $999,000 |
$1.5M
to $2M |
| $400,000
to $499,000 |
$700,000
to $799,000 |
$1M
to $1.2M |
$2M
and higher |
Search for Orange County vintage
homes by City
The following links are
arranged by Orange County City. These include homes built up to 1939,
with the exception of cities like San Clemente, where vintage style
homes were built well into the 1940s. OC's original cities of Anaheim,
Santa Ana, Fullerton, and Orange are cities that are rich
in history and have large inventories of vintage homes. Prominent
neighborhoods include Floral Park (Santa Ana), Anaheim Colony, the
homes around Fullerton's beautiful Brookdale street, and "Old
Town" Orange, the area around the famous Orange Circle. Coastal
cities like San Clemente and Laguna Beach also have
many wonderful examples of homes built between the turn of the
century and the 1940s, including those built by Ole Hanson.
While
some OC cities have chosen the unfortunate path of tear down and
redevelopment, other Orange County cities have done remarkable jobs of preserving
and restoring their original down towns and neighborhoods The
cities of Orange, Fullerton, and Tustin stand out, in
that each of these cities have vibrant, beautifully restored down
towns and many wonderful, vintage neighborhoods and communities.
Misc.
Vintage Home searches Here
are some additional vintage home searches. These include searches by
bank owned homes, short sales, homes with owner financing or
assistance, ocean view homes, and homes with large lots. If you are
looking for homes with other search criteria, please feel free to
contact me. I will be happy to send you a customized list from the
Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Which
Orange County cities have the highest number of vintage
homes? For this
analysis, I looked at recent MLS combined activity* for
19 major Orange County, California cities. These cities all have significant
numbers of vintage homes (homes constructed up to 1949). Santa Ana leads all OC cities by a
wide margin, followed by Anaheim. Coastal community Laguna Beach
was next. Predictably, Fullerton,
Orange, Buena Park, and Garden Grove follow, as these are all
original Orange County settlements. After that, the beach
communities rise again with Newport Beach, Huntington Beach,
Costa Mesa, and San Clemente.
Orange
County vintage homes distributed by decade
For the following chart I analyzed
recent MLS combined activity* for homes in 19 major
Orange County cities by decade. This includes the cities with
significant numbers of vintage homes (homes constructed up to
1949). Although generally the activity increases by each
subsequent decade, MLS activity is noticeably higher for homes
from the 1920s than for homes from the 1930s.
* Recent MLS combined activity - This is strictly a measurement
of total activity for the Orange County MLS within a
particular sort and within the current timeframe of the MLS
database. It is not a measurement of total homes sold, as it
includes many homes that have been listed, sold, or cancelled
on multiple occasions.
 |
Restore or
Remodel? |
|
One of the first
things I always notice when I check vintage homes in the MLS
is whether the home
been restored (returned to period decor and
finish) or remodeled (renovated or updated with modern decor,
fixtures, etc). To me there is nothing less appealing than a
period home that has been updated with granite
counters, vinyl windows, modern fixtures, etc. I don't believe
that there is any point to buying a vintage home if you are
really looking for one with contemporary updates and features.
Over the years, some of OC's vintage homes have been remodeled
in this way. With all due respect to the current home owners,
these homes should be avoided when they do come up for sale,
as they do not accurately represent an original home of that
period.
On the other hand, there are probably good reasons
why past homeowners may have replaced
some of the home's systems such as appliances, heating systems, plumbing, or
electrical wiring. Modern equivalents for these items are safer
and more efficient than their original counterparts. In an
ideal vintage home however, much of
the home should have been preserved or restored to reflect the period in which
the home was built. This includes features like windows, floors, woodwork and
trim, lamps, fixtures, tiles, sinks and tubs, paint colors,
furnishings, and decor. Here are a few articles that address this point:
Renovate
or Restore, Which is Right for You?
How
to restore a vintage bathroom
Fixer
upper may be a vintage home if repaired
Links
Vintage
Home Resources
Here
are a few links that offer products or services to owners of
vintage and historic homes.
| Antique
home |
Resources
for owners of vintage homes |
| B&B
Hardware |
Good source
for historic restoration hardware |
| Historic
home works |
Information
about preservation and restoration references on the
Net. Tips and a place for Q&A are available. |
| Historic
Lighting |
Source for
Arts & Crafts and period lighting in Monrovia, CA |
| Mills
Act |
Information
about this property tax incentive |
| American
Bungalow Magazine |
Quarterly
magazine dedicated to homes of the early 20th century |
| Historic
house colors |
Assists
homeowners in the selection of exterior colors for
historic homes as well as new construction |
|
|
OC
Heritage and Historic Area Links
 |
Return to the
prior page |
|
Thank you for
visiting my Orange County vintage homes web page! Vintage,
turn-of-the-century, and historic homes and lots in OC are an
endangered species due to the County's re-development efforts. I hope that you will
treasure these homes as
much as I do and that as a homeowner, you will endeavor to preserve, protect,
and restore your unique property. Each one of these homes
is a small piece of Orange County history!
|
