1239 Geneva Street: Trustee-Led Restoration and Sale

The Successor Trustee for the Mark & Ellen Gershen Family Trust needed to prepare and sell a 1930 Spanish Revival home without flattening the character that made it distinctive. The assignment called for more than cosmetic work: original materials had to be preserved where they still carried value, aging systems had to be addressed, specialist work had to be sequenced, and every decision had to remain accountable to the trust.

Colin Davies advised and represented the Successor Trustee from the first property review through closing. The governing idea was disciplined stewardship: protect what was irreplaceable, direct spending toward work buyers could see or verify, and build a market presentation equal to the house.

The preparation plan separated preservation, repair, modernization, and presentation instead of treating the house as a blanket renovation.

• Preserve original hardwood, doors, windows, tile, hardware, plaster character, and architectural details wherever practical.

• Replace aged utility systems with higher-efficiency equipment while tracking available rebates and energy incentives.

• Use a historically sympathetic paint and hardware palette instead of a generic all-white reset.

• Commission the appropriate craftspeople for tile, wood, mechanical, finish, and staging scopes, then coordinate their work as one market-readiness program.

• Build the sale campaign around visible craftsmanship, light, material continuity, and documented market facts.

Colin served as real estate advisor and listing representative to the Successor Trustee. He developed the preparation strategy, assembled and coordinated independent specialists, managed access and sequencing, tracked approvals and documentation, and carried the finished work into pricing, photography, launch, buyer diligence, and closing.

His hands-on role included finish and material decisions, the preservation plan for original doors and floors, vendor coordination, lighting and color direction, utility-upgrade planning, and the final presentation brief. Contractors and craftspeople remained responsible for their licensed or specialized work; Colin remained responsible for keeping those moving parts aligned with the trustee’s disposition objective.

Capital-aware utility upgrades

Aged systems were replaced with a Rheem outdoor tankless water heater and an electric heat-pump HVAC system. The project captured a $4,000 Glendale Water & Power rebate and retained the supporting records needed to evaluate applicable California-administered energy incentives and tax credits. Eligibility and tax treatment remain matters for the trustee’s tax professional; within the real estate plan, the purpose was clear—improve operating efficiency while preserving trust capital for the work that mattered most.

Paint calibrated to plaster and daylight

• Main living-area walls: Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa, flat finish.

• Kitchen and bathroom walls: Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa, satin finish.

• Trim: Sherwin-Williams Creamy, semi-gloss finish.

• Interior window faces: Sherwin-Williams Clove, semi-gloss finish.

• Exterior window faces: Sherwin-Williams Really Teal, semi-gloss finish.

The palette was selected to work with the changing luminosity of the plaster rather than overpower it. Flat and satin finishes were assigned by room use, while the window colors created a deliberate interior-exterior shift.

Mud-bed tile restoration

Bathroom tile work was executed by Adam Esparza of Ale Tile using traditional mud-bed methods and custom color-matched material from B&W Tile Co.. The approach preserved the visual logic of the original green, mint, and lavender baths rather than replacing them with a contemporary template. View Ale Tile’s project reel.

Wood floors and 21 original doors

Tony Morales refinished the original hardwood floors—now approaching a century old—in a satin clear coat that retained the grain and warmth of the wood. All 21 original interior doors were stripped back to raw wood using Festool sanders and Metabo paint-removal tools, then prepared as part of the home’s coordinated preservation scope.

Period hardware, fixtures, and fasteners

The finish plan incorporated Antique-By-Hand window hardware from House of Antique Hardware, period components sourced through My Old House Fix, vintage wall plates, polished Moen and bridge fixtures, and copper flat-slotted hinge screws selected to keep small details consistent with the larger restoration.

Lighting and staging

Bulb color temperature and lumen output were curated room by room so the evening atmosphere, plaster, wood, tile, and metal finishes read accurately in person and on camera. Odin + Friday Home Staging completed the staging with a restrained plan that supported the architecture instead of competing with it.

The trustee’s capital was controlled through sequencing. Original elements were preserved where skilled restoration could keep them in service; replacements were concentrated on systems, safety, function, and market readiness. Rebate and incentive documentation was tracked alongside invoices, finish schedules, vendor scopes, and transaction records so the preparation story could be supported rather than merely asserted.

That discipline also protected the sale process. Buyers encountered a house with visible material continuity, modernized utility systems, a coherent finish palette, and a clear record of the work completed before launch.

Architectural photographer Christian Klugmann was commissioned and flown in to capture the way the house handled natural and evening light. He also developed the dedicated 1239 Geneva Street property website, giving the campaign a focused destination for photography, video, floor plans, and property details.

The campaign centered on the home’s courtyard, textured plaster, exposed beams, original woodwork, stained glass, restored windows, colored baths, mature landscaping, and indoor-outdoor relationship. It launched on February 17, 2026 at $1,995,000 and was later selected for The New York Times feature “$1.9 Million Homes in California” on March 9, 2026.