Modern Low-Water Garden: 5 Drought-Tolerant Landscaping Ideas

OK, so California isn’t the only state going through a water shortage. At least 30 states in the U.S. currently have some level of drought, ranging from “abnormally dry” conditions in Florida and Massachusetts to the “exceptional drought” currently happening in California and Nevada. (How’s your state faring? You can check using the NOAA’s U.S. Drought Monitor.)

If you live in more one of more than half of the states on the list, water conservation is probably a high priority for you, but honestly, conserving water doesn’t mean you have to live with a dry and neglected garden. And it’s not the only reason to swap your water-loving lawn for a more drought-tolerant landscape. Today’s low-water gardens aren’t just smart and in vogue; they’re downright gorgeous.

These 5 drought-tolerant landscaping ideas look so fresh and modern that they’re an inspiration — even if water conservation isn’t your first goal.

1. Replace your grass with artificial grass.

Grass is the largest water waster in the yard and it’s the most high maintenance item. On top of the watering there’s the mowing, mulching, aerating, fertilizing and re-seeding or re-sodding. Artificial grass doesn’t have to look like a neon green professional football field, either. There are a lot of realistic artificial grass options with varying amounts of multi-colored hatch.

2. Replace your grass with gravel and stone.

Artificial grass looks more like the real deal than ever before, but a gravel, stone and paver garden gives the garden a contemporary, minimalist look. It’s still low maintenance (and requires zero water) and is a great counterpoint to succulents and a fire pit.

3. Use succulents in your garden design ideas.

We can’t get enough of them and the way combining many different types in the same garden adds amazing texture and color.We’re particularly obsessed with aloe, burro’s tails, and hens and chicks.

4. Plant ornamental grasses.

Many types of grasses that aren’t your average green blanket lawn grasses are drought-tolerant and perfect for a low-water garden. Some of the most beautiful and low water ornamental grasses worth adding are:

  • Little Bluestem (grey-green blades that go to shades of purples and red)
  • Fountain Grass
  • Blue Oatgrass
  • Purple Fountaingrass
  • Blue Fescue
  • Pampas Grass

When planting grasses, mix it up: Use both tall and short grasses along with a few of the more colorful grasses thrown in for pop.

5. Add Color with flowers, go with perennials.

It’s possible to create a colorful drought-tolerant landscape simply by selecting the right assortment of succulents and colorful grasses. But if you love seeing flowers in your landscape, go for perennials that are sturdier and require less water:

  • Blanket flower (red, yellow and orange daisy-like flowers)
  • Russian Sage (fragrant, delicate silver leaves with fine lavender-color flowers)
  • Yarrow (normally yellow flowers, but there are other color varieties available)
  • Salvia (bold crimson-red blooms)
  • Lavender (fragrant and colorful)
  • Kangaroo Paw (exotic plant with beautiful, bright red, orange or yellow velvety flowers)

How lucky for us that drought-tolerant landscaping can be modern and inspiring? Which will you be trying in your backyard or landscape design? 

Credit: By Cynthia Bowman, FreshHome.com

Solar-Hydrogen House: No More Power Bills–Ever!

A New Jersey resident generates and stores all the power he needs with solar panels and hydrogen

EAST AMWELL, N.J.—Mike Strizki has not paid an electric, oil or gas bill—nor has he spent a nickel to fill up his Mercury Sable—in nearly two years. Instead, the 51-year-old civil engineer makes all the fuel he needs using a system he built in the capacious garage of his home, which employs photovoltaic (PV) panels to turn sunlight into electricity that is harnessed in turn to extract hydrogen from tap water.

“The ability to make your own fuel is priceless,” says the man known as “Mr. Gadget” to his friends. He boasts a collection of hydrogen-powered and electric vehicles, including a hydrogen-run lawn mower and car (the Sable, which he redesigned and named the “Genesis”) as well as an electric racing boat, and even an electric motorcycle. “All the technology is off-the-shelf. All I’m doing is putting them together.”

“I’m a self-sufficiency guy,” he adds. Strizki, a civil engineer, has been interested in alternative energy sources since 1997 when he began working on vehicles fueled by alternative means during his tenure with the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Strizki’s two-story colonial on an 11-acre (4.5 hectare) plot 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Trenton is the nation’s first private hydrogen-powered house, which he now shares with his wife, two dogs and a cat. (His two daughters and son, all in their 20s, have left the nest.) It has been running entirely on electricity generated from the sun and stored hydrogen since October 2006, when Strizki—in a project that his wife Ann fully supports—built an off-grid energy system with $100,000 of his own cash and $400,000 in grants from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, along with technology from companies such as Sharp, Swagelok and Proton Energy Systems.

The Strizki’s personalized home-energy system consists of 56 solar panels on his garage roof, and housed inside is a small electrolyzer (a device, about the size of a washing machine, that uses electricity to break down water into its component hydrogen and oxygen). There are 100 batteries for nighttime power needs along the garage’s inside wall; just outside are ten propane tanks (leftovers from the 1970s that are capable of storing 19,000 cubic feet, or 538 cubic meters, of hydrogen) as well as a Plug Power fuel cell stack (an electrochemical device that mixes hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity and water) and a hydrogen refueling kit for the car.

On a typical summer day, the solar panels drink in and convert sunlight to about 90 kilowatt-hours of electricity, according to Strizki. He consumes about 10 kilowatt-hours daily to run the family’s appliances, including a 50-inch plasma television, along with his three computers and stereo equipment, among other modern conveniences.

The remaining 80 kilowatt-hours recharge the batteries—which provide electricity for the house at night—and power the electrolyzer, which splits the molecules of purified tap water into hydrogen and oxygen. The oxygen is vented and the hydrogen goes into the tanks where it is stored for use in the cold, dark winter months. From November to March or so Strizki runs the stored hydrogen through the fuel cell stacks outside his garage or in his car to power his entire house—and the only waste product is water, which can be pumped right back into the system.

“I can make fuel out of sunlight and water—and I don’t even use the water,” he notes. “If it’s raining, it’s fuel. If it’s sunny, it’s fuel. It’s all fuel.”

The modular home—built in 1991—looks like a typical suburban house; its top-of-the-line insulation and energy-efficient windows look no different, and the facade hides the hydrogen-powered clothes dryer and geothermal system for heating and cooling, which pumps Freon gas underground to harvest heat in winter and cool in summer.

“Geothermal is another piece of free energy,” Strizki says, noting that he dug eight feet (2.4 meters) down into the granite under his home to take advantage of the constant 56-degree Fahrenheit (13-degree Celsius) temperature underground. In summer he can use the lower temperatures underground to cool his entire house, and in winter he can capture those warmer temperatures, supplementing them with a heat pump powered by electricity from hydrogen. “Nothing goes to waste.”

This year, Strizki is hardly running his $78,000 Hogen electrolyzer (manufactured by Proton Energy Systems in Connecticut, a company that makes hydrogen-generation equipment) because last year’s mild winter left him with full tanks. When he does turn it on, the excess hydrogen vents from a small pipe on the roof with the sound of an impolite burp.

That vented hydrogen speeds at 45 miles (72 kilometers) per hour through the atmosphere on its way off the planet—one of only two gases, the other being helium, that escapes into space entirely because it is lighter than air. In fact, Strizki’s quarter-inch thick propane tanks weigh less when filled with hydrogen than when depleted.

Of course, hydrogen is a highly flammable gas, but its quick escape eases Strizki’s fears that it might ignite or explode. It “disperses faster than any other gas,” he notes. “Hydrogen won’t sit around waiting for a flame.”

The final piece of Strizki’s energy solution is dubbed “Genesis,” his $3-million aluminum Mercury Sable, one of 10 that carmaker Ford produced in the 1990s to test how well the lighter metal would fare in crash tests. Ford gave Strizki the special model to drive in the Tour de Sol solar car race in New Jersey in 2000. Strizki installed a 104-horsepower electric engine (compared with a Toyota Prius’s 44-horsepower motor) that can reach speeds of 140 miles (225 kilometers) per hour. Pop the hood and next to the electric engine sit two fuel cell stacks that convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and electricity, propelling the electric engine forward smoothly and quickly.

The car never competed because it was not ready in time, but the unique vehicle does hold the world record for farthest travel on a single charge: 401.5 miles (646.2 kilometers), a distance which Strizki drove in December 2001. Today, Genesis shares the road with a variety of less costly fuel cell cars: Honda’s new hydrogen-powered FCX Clarity, which hit the market this week leasing for $600 a month, as well as the hydrogen-powered Chevrolet Equinox test-vehicle fleet from General Motors—part of a pilot program that aims to determine how hydrogen cars might function in everyday life. Both the Japanese and U.S. automakers are betting that these nonpolluting cars will one day replace the internal combustion engine.

GM is committed to building a “mass volume” of its hydrogen fuel cell powered Equinoxes in coming years, according to Larry Burns, GM’s vice president of research and development, but only if a way to refuel them exists. As it stands, the entire nation has just 122 hydrogen stations—compared with 170,000 gasoline and diesel stations.

This is part of the reason that not everyone is a fan of hydrogen. Former U.S. Department of Energy official Joseph Romm, a physicist, notes that it’s a waste of time and electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen instead of just using the electricity directly in an all-electric, plug-in hybrid car. The debate boils down to whether batteries or hydrogen are a better way to store and deliver electrical energy.

But Strizki argues that hydrogen offers benefits that batteries do not. For example, GE Global Research found that hydrogen might prove a better way to store electricity generated by renewable resources in remote areas—such as wind farms in North Dakota or solar arrays in New Mexico—than building expensive and costly electric transmission lines. Instead, the hydrogen generated in such locations could be pumped nationwide through existing natural gas pipelines, providing fuel for a fleet of hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Regardless of whether those future vehicles are powered by hydrogen or rechargeable batteries, both would move using an electric motor that does not require polluting (and newly expensive) fossil fuels. And they would come with another important extra benefit: the batteries or hydrogen fuel cells that run the car could also serve as a backup energy source for the home. “I can plug this car into my home and run it,” Strizki notes.

Strizki is now working to bring the price down enough to make homes powered by the sun and hydrogen affordable for average consumers. He says that he can build a solar-hydrogen system for as little as $90,000, thanks to dipping costs for solar panels and lessons learned in building his home. Even at that price, however, the off-grid system would be expensive compared with annual electric bills in New Jersey that average $1,500, although that number has been increasing every year, including a jump of as much as 17 percent this year.

But add gasoline costs to that—which average more than $3,000 annually, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration—and the price becomes more reasonable, particularly because the EIA figures were calculated back when gasoline was $2 per gallon rather than the present $4. “It didn’t make sense when gas was $1 but now at $4? A lot of things that didn’t make sense, now make a lot of sense,” Strizki says.

He is already overseeing construction of the second such home-energy system—estimated to cost $150,000—for a wealthy client in the Caribbean.

The backyard tinkerer is also working with several potential clients to construct off-grid homes in New Jersey, New York State and even Colorado, and has quit his most recent job as an installer of solar energy systems to concentrate full-time on the company he co-founded to promote the homes: Renewable Energy International. The key to bringing the price down will be newer, better generations of the component technology, particularly the electrolyzer. Fuel cell manufacturers such as ReliOn in Spokane, Wash., are already taking a page from the computer industry—employing removable individual fuel cells, known as “blades,” similar to the computer blades in data centers, that can be changed individually if problems occur.

Ultimately, this suburban home may become the first of a coming hydrogen-electric economy—one that eliminates or sharply reduces the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change—or merely another technological dead end, like Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic dome or dymaxion car.

“The only way to get a zero-carbon footprint is to grab the big power plant in the sky,” Strizki says. “Maybe [the solar-hydrogen house] is too expensive, maybe not as efficient as they like, but no one is saying it doesn’t work.”

Credit: David Biello , Scientific America

Prefabricated Homes Go Back to the Future

This Richmond extension takes on the best elements of modular building. Picture: Tom Ross / Archiblox

There’s been a bit of buzz about prefab housing lately, but what’s all the fuss about really?

In last week’s episode of Future Homes we met Richard, who built a gorgeous prefabricated Avalon home overlooking the beach with his wife Jackie three years ago.

We’ve heard that modern pre-fab building is making waves in the building industry, but what are the real differences between a prefab build and a ‘normal’ build? And why should you consider going prefab for your next big project?

Fast build times

A modern living space could be yours in a fraction of the time. Picture: Tom Ross / Archiblox

Although prefabricated homes seem futuristic, they have been built in Australia for hundreds of years.

Indeed some of our oldest standing buildings are prefab! One of Melbourne’s oldest still-standing homes, that of Governor Charles La Trobe, was prefabricated in England and brought to where it still stands in King’s Domain in 1839.

But, as you’d expect, the building materials have improved significantly – enabling average build-times to shrink to a fraction of what they are for other builds.

As the name suggests, prefabricated houses are largely constructed off-site. The pieces are then put together in a matter of weeks instead of many months, as is the case with traditional builds.

Bill McCorkell, founder of Archiblox, who built the home for Richard, says “through smart design and clever construction the prefabrication process minimises wastage and maximises efficiency to deliver a beautifully designed, cost-effective home.”

Archiblox quote a 12 week build-time for a standard three-bedroom home (depending on complexity), saving unnecessary delays that can accompany a traditional architect-designed build.

They’re moveable & re-arrangeable

Richard’s Avalon home was built quickly and smartly. Picture: Archiblox

Prefab homes throughout history have enabled people to move to an area, set up their home, and then move on – if necessary.

It’s one of Richard’s favourite elements of his home: “I’m incredibly transient, so the thought of being able to take my home with me if we find another spot we’d like to be, is a comforting thought and an economical choice.”

So if you spot your dream plot of land, it could be as easy as picking up and moving your prefab home instead of worrying about finding a brand new place.

The benefit to this is not just that you can move locations, but you can re-arrange the home later on, if necessary.

Bill says: “Our prefabricated modular homes are like jigsaw puzzles, you can start small and overtime add more modules to create more space.”

They cost less

Due to the nature of the factory build, costs can be brought down significantly.

There’s no need to worry about budget blow-outs that bad weather can bring or unexpected issues and errors that come with working on a building site.

Christine McCorkell from Archiblox says prices for standard modular homes start from $2,500 – $3,500 per square metre.

Well-considered spaces with tonnes of hidden benefits. Picture: Tom Ross / Archiblox

The cost benefit is also seen at the end of the project with far fewer nasty surprises at the end of a modular build than that of a traditional build.

Less time building also means less time paying for short-term accommodation too.

Christine says: “The big reduction, lies in the soft or holding costs, such as rent and financing. For instance, homeowners only need to find alternative accommodation for a significantly shorter, pre-defined period – several weeks instead of months.

“This means far less outlay – upwards of $30,000 to $50,000 – to say nothing of the decreased disruption. If you need to borrow money, it is also for a much shorter period.”

They’re more sustainable

Thanks again to the factory-build environment there’s less wastage with pre-fab building.

The modern design helps too, according to Bill, who regularly create homes with eight-star energy ratings. “Our smart sustainable designs create prefabricated modular homes for longevity and healthy living,” he explains.

“We have much better resources to pick out building supplies for our design,” Bill says. “From the start, we designed this particular structure to maximise materials and minimise waste.”

“Archiblox designs homes and buildings to sit in harmony with your site.”

Consideration is also applied to optimising thermal mass, solar passive designs, double-glazing all windows and installing light-coloured roofing materials.

Credit: Erinna Giblin

Why It’s Smart To Consider Buying A Fixer-Upper

With a little editing, this could have GREAT curb appeal. remove old hedges, awnings shutters, and update with a modern color scheme.

If you’re in the market for a new home and searching the listings diligently, you’ve probably noticed the description “move-in ready.” This is the listing agent’s way of saying the house doesn’t need any work. Just bring your stuff in, and you’re all set.

But how many home-buyers purchase a new place and keep everything the same? Even if every wall has a fresh coat of paint, there’s new carpeting on every floor and all the bathrooms have been updated, what are the chances that the new owner won’t change some detail? Just because things are updated doesn’t mean every single aspect of the home is going to be to the buyer’s tastes.

That’s part of the reason it might be a smart real estate move to consider buying a “fixer-upper” — a house that’s decidedly not move-in ready, one that needs some work. It can be similar to building a brand-new house to your own specifications: You get to be the one to choose wall colors, carpeting and tile styles, window coverings, etc. — not the previous owner.

And this is not something to be underestimated. A person might buy a new house with color schemes that they can live with, but maybe don’t love. But because the decor is newer, they are reluctant to replace it. Because it’s not necessary, they settle for living with something they don’t love.

This could be great, but you anything, there are amazing hardwoods under those original carpets. Remove that dated wallpaper and paint.

On top of that, the buyer might be paying a premium for something they don’t love. If a seller has redecorated or improved the whole place, that seller is reaping the benefit. If the home’s value has been raised, the buyer is paying for it. Also, consider this reality: A seller who re-does a whole house in order to sell is not likely putting in the highest-quality materials. They’re cutting costs to maximize profit.

But if you buy a fixer-upper, you might be able to secure an undervalued property, improve it and get the benefit of the extra equity. It’s a core real estate concept. If you can find the right property, this could mean thousands of dollars almost immediately. And because you’re the one choosing what materials are used, you could be getting this instant equity and your dream home all in one package.

Strange color scheme and layout, but even this could be updated to todays standards..

This concept is especially true if you are willing and able to do some or all of the work yourself. The term “sweat equity” is exactly what it sounds like: You can improve the value of a home, increasing your equity by working on it yourself. And the more you can do yourself, the greater the value of your sweat equity.

Painting is probably the minimum you should be able to tackle on your own. If you can’t or aren’t willing to roll some paint on some walls, then maybe a fixer-upper isn’t for you. But if you can also lay tile, change light fixtures, fix toilets, tear down wallpaper — maybe even install drywall or carpeting — by yourself or with friends to avoid hiring help, you can save substantial amounts of labor costs. When you buy a fixer-upper, every hour of your own labor can be like putting money in your own pocket.

So remember: When you’re browsing those home listings, “move-in ready” may sound good, but you might not want to ignore those fixer-upper listings. The combination of control and cost savings — especially if you can address your preferred updates yourself — could be extremely valuable.

Credit: Abhi Golhar, Forbes Real Estate Council

How Technology is Changing Home Design

Technology is transforming current Architecture and Interior Design concepts.  A new home design by New York’s Steven Holl Architects illustrates some of these new trends. The home is designed to be self-sufficient, drawing power from geothermal and solar energy, with thin-film photovoltaic cells connected to a battery energy storage system. The home’s wood and glass are locally-sourced, lowering the carbon footprint of the construction process. All interior fixtures are made from 3D-printed materials.

This combination of sustainability, 3D-printed construction and alternative materials illustrates three trends that are driving changes in home design. Along with connectivity to the Internet of Things, these trends are playing a role in reshaping the look of tomorrow’s home.

Sustainable Home Design

Demand for sustainability and resiliency is one of the biggest trends driving home design. In addition to concern for the environment and cutting energy costs, recent hurricane disasters have contributed to demand for homes that are resilient to the worst weather conditions; homes like this in Mississippi which was designed and rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina.

To achieve this, home builders are incorporating a number of guidelines for designing home exteriors and interiors. For example, wider exterior wall studs and Energy Star-rated windows promote better insulation. Extra windows, skylights and light tubes support passive heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting. Concern for energy conservation is favoring energy-efficient choices for water heaters, heating and cooling systems, light fixtures, and appliances. Concern for water conservation is reshaping kitchen and bathroom design to favor water-saver faucets and shower heads and low-flow toilets.

Until we find a way to print 3-d flooring, rest assured sustainability is a Carlisle cornerstone, from our harvesting methods for the raw materials to our recycling practices post production and the overall life cycle of a Carlisle floors in a space.  We like to think we were doing it “before it was cool” and you can learn more about Carlisle’s sustainability practices here.

3-D Printed Construction

Three-dimensional printing is another trend reshaping home design. The prospect of using 3-D printing for homes gained attention when Chinese firm Huashang Tengda built the world’s first 3D-printed home in 45 days using special reinforced concrete.  As this technology progresses, you want to make sure the interior design products, like your floor covering, is compatible with this type of structure and sub-floor.  You can learn more about Carlisle wide plank floors and installing to concrete here.

Chicago’s WATG Urban Architecture Studios has pioneered the application of design principles to 3-D printing with an award-winning innovative home called “Curve Appeal.” Inspired by the natural look of a cave, the home uses a curving, arcing structure that is composed of 3D-printed plastic and carbon-fiber panels that form an exterior skin and interior core.

Transparent glass forms many of the walls to minimize artificial lighting needs, and semi-translucent glazed pillars form interior support columns, making the home look like a giant curved bubble or glass cave. The materials enable the building to follow a free-form, curving layout, which illustrates how 3-D printing opens up design possibilities that would be more difficult with traditional materials.

Alternative Materials

The demand for sustainable materials and the use of 3D-printed materials are contributing to a trend toward alternative materials for construction and design of interior and exterior products.

Sustainability concerns are promoting the use of materials such as reclaimed wood, particleboard and plywood that are made of formaldehyde-free low volatile organic compounds, and recycled plastic. Sprayed foam, concrete, plastic and carbon fiber can be 3-D printed.

Furniture designers also are using alternative materials. For instance, Dutch designer Lillian van Daal has used 3-D printing to create a chairthat imitates the natural structure of organic tissue, making it easier to recycle than traditional compound materials.

Reclaimed wood floors  are increasingly popular, as are locally sourced wood floors, which are manufacturing within a 500 mile radius of a project) since they can be applied to LEED motivated projects and help contribute toward point potential.  These products can also be used for wall and ceiling paneling both inside and outside the home as well to make the home even more environmentally friendly, like this project from Design+Build by South Swell, in Southern California.  They used barnwood on the interior ceiling and exterior to give this Lifeguard house a very authentic, aged appearance.

 

Internet of Things

Photo by Design+, Build by South Swell

Look for contemporary exterior design inspiration Concurrent with these other trends is the emergence of smart homes that are connected to the Internet of Things. Smart home technology use is projected to double in 2016 to include 30 million Americans by 2017, according to August Home and Xfinity Home project. In smart homes, systems such as entertainment, security and HVAC can all be controlled by a smartphone, with connected TVs serving as a central display screen.

Home designers are building around this anticipated smart home expansion. The Openarch project has designed smart walls and floors that let any surface serve as a screen for TV, movies, apps, video chat or video games. Devices such as thermostats and appliances are being built into walls and other surfaces, promoting a sleeker, more streamlined look. IKEA has begun selling furniture with charging stations for wireless devices built in.

– – – – – –

Looking for more ideas to incorporate the internet of things to your home for added safety, security and convenience, check out these tips.

credit: WidePlankFlooring.com all images belong to originators

5 Reasons Why We Can’t Stop Loving Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Seeing mid-century modern architecture is always a delight for the eye. There is always a mix feeling of luxury and elegance that totally amazes us!

Although Mid-Century Modern Architecture wasn’t always a thing, since Cara Greenberg reaffirmed it, it has been growing and catching more and more supporters throughout the years. There is no doubt that mid-century inspiration is our long-term sweetheart, and now that it’s really on trend, we encourage you to know this style and embrace it, because it’s here to stay and certainly to make a statement.


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1 | This style is timeless. Generation after generation, it will never be unfashionable. There is always a place for Mid-Century Modern and you can never go wrong with it.

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2 | When you see this kind of style, you instantly sense some kind of mystery. It seems like this architecture is almost trying to tell us a story. Extensive use of glass, changes in elevation and open design concepts are key points that make this style so unique.  It is also very mysterious because the partial walls or cabinets of varying heights that create different depths.

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3 | The way this architecture allows light to enter the rooms from multiple angles is what makes it so magical. It instantly connects us to nature and creates a beautiful relaxing place.

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4 | When people think about colors, they often think of the bright hues of the mid-century time period, because it was an epoch where everything was very visual and colorful. There’s always a bunch of beautiful designs and pieces that come to mind when you remember this era.

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5 | In this style, all items should have clean lines, because is required to ‘keep it simple, but stylish‘. Tons of excess and a bunch of ornate embellishments simply don’t combine with Mid-Century Modern.

There are a lot of other reasons why we love and feel inspired by the Mid-Century Modern Architecture, but we think these 5 reasons are enough for you to feel the same way! Maybe it’s time to redecorate your house, don’t you think?

Credit: EssentialHome.eu

Take Your Lower Property Tax Rate To Your New Home!

Under Proposition 60, California homeowners 55 and older get a one-time chance to sell their primary residence and transfer its property-tax assessment to a new one, but the market value of the new home generally must be equal to or less than the market value of the old home.

Prop. 60 was designed to help longtime California homeowners who want to downsize but don’t want to give up the low property-tax assessment they enjoy in their existing home.

Under Proposition 13, homes are reassessed for property-tax purposes when there is a change in ownership or new construction. In between ownership changes, the assessed value can go up by an inflation rate not to exceed 2 percent a year. (Homeowners can get temporary reductions when property values go down.)

With the dramatic increase in California home prices, many longtime homeowners would face a big property-tax increase even if they bought a smaller home.

Prop. 60 lets homeowners 55 or older transfer their base-year value from an existing primary residence to a new primary residence, but there are restrictions.

The new home must be in the same county as the old one or in one of eight counties that accept transfers of base-year value from other counties.

Also, the new home must be purchased or built within two years – before or after – the sale of the original property.

If the new house is purchased before the old house is sold, the market value of the new house on its purchase date cannot exceed 100 percent of the old home’s market value on the date it is sold.

If Brad could afford to hold on to his existing home and it appreciates to more than the value of the new house and he sold the first house within two years, he could qualify for a Prop. 60 transfer.

Suppose his existing home is worth $500,000. On Aug. 1, he buys a new larger home for $600,000.

He holds on to the first home, San Francisco property values go through the roof, and two years later it is worth $610,000. He could sell the first home before Aug. 1, 2014, and retroactively transfer his old property-tax assessment to his new home, even if the new home’s value has climbed above $610,000.

What if a homeowner sells the existing house before purchasing a new one?

To give the homeowner a cushion for inflation, the value of the replacement house must be 105 percent or less than the value of the original house if the new home is purchased within one year or 110 percent of the first home’s value if the replacement home is purchased in the second year after the sale of the original property.

Bradley Marsh, an attorney with Winston & Strawn, warns “there are a lot of pitfalls” with this tax break.

“Just because you sold one place for $700,000 and bought another for $695,000 doesn’t mean you will” qualify, Marsh says. Assessors may challenge whether the sales price equals the market value. They don’t always.

If you exceed the cutoff by even a dollar, you lose the entire Prop. 60 transfer, Marsh says.

Marsh notes that the market value of a home excludes personal property such as a washer, dryer or hot tub. If such items are included in a purchase or sale, the homeowner might (or might not) want to make a note of their value in the contract.

As of Jan. 1, the eight counties that will transfer property tax assessments from other counties are Alameda, El Dorado, Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Ventura.

“If you are moving from Los Angeles to San Francisco, you can’t transfer” your old value but if you are moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you can, assuming you meet all the other requirements, says Francis Nguyen, deputy director at the San Francisco assessor-recorder office.

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Rams-Chargers Stadium Construction in Inglewood is at 40% Completion

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The future home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers football teams has hit a major construction milestone.

Today, the Inglewood project “topped out,” a term that’s used to signify that the highest steel beam on the stadium has been put into place.

The project is now nearly 40 percent complete. Concrete columns and other elements that will eventually support the shiny, transparent roof canopy are being installed at the site now.

Not yet installed is the 120-yard video screen, Oculus, which will run along the top of the field, just under the roofline.

The stadium, projected to cost $2.6 billion, is on track to open in summer 2020, according to the LA Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park, as the 298-acre property containing the future stadium and the vast neighborhood that will spring up around it is called. The community is scheduled to open in phases, starting in 2020.

Not long after it opens, the stadium will be thrust into the national spotlight, not only as the largest and most expensive football stadium to date, but also as the host of the 2022 Super Bowl (not the 2021 event, as once planned).

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the community around the stadium would open in 2023. It will open in stages, starting in 2020.

Credit:  LA Stadium and Entertainment District; Curb.com, Photo Credit: Hiro Ueno.

Beach Cities Fireworks Viewing from North to South

This spot in Malibu is a great place to see all the fireworks that rich people will be launching from their boats.

Credit: mikepmiller

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  • Palisades Charter High, Pacific Palisades

  • 15777 Bowdoin St
    Pacific Palisades, CA 90272
  • (310) 230-6623
  • Open in Google Maps

A concert and fireworks show follows the annual Pacific Palisades Fourth of July Parade. The parade is free; tickets to see the music and fireworks are $10.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Ballona Creek Bike Path, Marina del Rey

  • Ballona Creek
    Marina del Rey, CA 90232
  • Open in Google Maps

Bike to Fisherman’s Village or Burton Chace Park in Marina del Rey, where there are official viewing spots, or continue along the path toward the bridge that crosses the creek for excellent views of the fireworks. Bring a radio and tune into KXLU (88.9 FM): The synchronized music will be playing over the air. The show is on a barge on the water, and it starts at 9 p.m.

Credit: Focqus

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  • Stevenson Field, El Segundo

  • 408 Eucalyptus Dr
    El Segundo, CA 90245
  • (310) 524-2300
  • Open in Google Maps

El Segundo’s Fourth of July celebration goes on for most of the day and culminates with music and fireworks in the evening. Tickets are $5.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Toyota Sports Complex, Torrance

  • 555 Maple Ave
    Torrance, CA 90503
  • (310) 618-5982
  • Open in Google Maps

In Torrance, fireworks can be seen from grandstand seating at the courthouse on Maple Avenue, or at the neighboring Toyota Sports Complex. Admission is free, but guests will need to pick up tickets in advance.

Credit: Unknown

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  • Cabrillo Beach, San Pedro

  • 3800 Stephen M White Dr
    San Pedro, CA 90731
  • (310) 732-3480
  • Open in Google Maps

San Pedro hosts an excellent—and free—fireworks show at the Port of LA at 9 p.m. If you want to view the show from the water, the Los Angeles Maritime Institute offers a Fourth of July sail on a tall ship ($60 for adults/$30 for kids).

Credit: Unknown

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  • The Queen Mary, Long Beach

  • 1126 Queens Hwy
    Long Beach, CA 90802
  • (562) 499-1701
  • Open in Google Maps

An English ocean liner might seem like an odd place to celebrate American independence, but those looking for an up-close view of a great fireworks show could do far worse than the Queen Mary’s Fourth of July festivities. Tickets start at $44. If that’s too much, the fireworks can be easily seen from nearby Alamitos Beach.

Credit: Garo Manjikian

Source: Visit Curbed.com for an interactive map for all of Los Angeles

L.A.’s Hottest New Real-Estate Amenity: Walkability

In Los Angeles, a city known for its cars, high-end buyers increasingly want homes within steps of bars, restaurants and sports venues

Kerry Moy, a portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Los Angeles, lives on the 41st floor of the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live, near the Staples Center entertainment complex.

From his luxury condominium in Beverly Hills, Calif., David Henry Simon can walk to his favorite restaurants. In the morning, he steps out for coffee or strolls to a nearby grocery store, where the cashier knows him by name.

Located at the Montage Beverly Hills, a five-star hotel, the three-bedroom, 2,600-square-foot home Mr. Simon bought last summer is steps away from the upscale stores and eateries around Rodeo Drive.

“There are days when I don’t touch the car,” says Mr. Simon, a lawyer, real-estate investor and native New Yorker. “It’s just like when I was growing up in Manhattan.”

Meet the hottest new amenity in Los Angeles luxury real estate: walkability. In the city known for its car culture, more high-end home buyers want a neighborhood feeling and the ability to walk to urban attractions.

The shift comes as locals are growing weary of worsening traffic and high-priced parking, and as community-oriented millennials are gaining market power. Fueling the trend is a slew of new luxury condo buildings where, developers are hoping, buyers will pay a premium for proximity to urban life. While for most Angelenos, luxury living still means a home in the hills with a private pool and garage, some now share walls in exchange for the ability to run out for a bagel in the morning, a beer at night or a chat with neighbors at the dog park.

“Things are changing in L.A.,” says Cory Weiss, president of western region development  for real estate marketing. “People are flocking to new developments in areas where they can walk.”

The firm is marketing six projects in the city that involve “vertical living,” as real-estate professionals call condo buildings, in walkable areas, several of them around Sunset Boulevard. At one, the Residences at the West Hollywood Edition, 20 condos sit atop a new boutique hotel designed by Ian Schrager and start at $5 million.

Los Angeles’ luxury condos can cost as much as a Malibu mansion. Beverly Hills’ Mr. Simon wouldn’t say how much he paid for his home at the Montage, which has high ceilings and a view of the Hollywood sign. But a similarly sized, three-bedroom unit in the building is currently listed for $9.5 million. Two units recently sold for roughly $4,000 a square foot, according to Soren Olsen, director of sales of the residential brokerage at Redwood City, Calif.-based Ohana Real Estate Investors, which owns the Montage Beverly Hills. Mr. Simon, who is single and in his 70s, also owns an oceanfront house in Manhattan Beach but added the condo partly because he “missed just walking places.”

Foot-friendly city life is drawing buyers to downtown Los Angeles, which has become a more vibrant urban center in recent years. Kerry Moy, a portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Los Angeles, bought a one-bedroom condominium in the Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live, near the Staples Center entertainment complex, for $1 million in 2012. He initially planned to use the apartment, with contemporary finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows, as a second home but spent so much time there that last year, he added a two-bedroom unit next door for $1.7 million.

While he still drives—impossible to avoid altogether in Los Angeles, he says—Mr. Moy, 59 and newly single, enjoys grabbing an iced vanilla latte at the coffee shop in his building on his way to his office, also downtown. He walks to concerts, basketball and hockey games at the Staples Center, or to nearby restaurants such as Triple 888, a Chinese bar and grill he has invested in. Mr. Moy, who is originally from Chicago but has lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years, feels the property will appreciate alongside the ongoing revitalization of downtown. “An area in transition is an area of opportunity,” he says.

Real-estate website Redfin, which calculates “walk scores” to grade neighborhoods’ walkability on a scale of 1 to 100, says that an increase to 80 from 60 adds an average of $129,000 to a property’s value in Los Angeles. Downtown Los Angeles, the neighborhood ranked most walkable, boasted a median home price per square foot of $679, well over the citywide median of $449, in March, the latest data available. MacArthur Park, a nearby district that scores second-highest for walkability, was also higher than the median at $471.

Urban-style condominium living is growing in popularity across all price points. In August, comedian Richie Doyle paid $950,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in a Mediterranean-style complex in West Hollywood, an area popular with young buyers for its culture and nightlife.

Mr. Doyle, 25, can see celebrities arriving for events at Delilah, a lounge and restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard. On Valentine’s Day, Mr. Doyle and his girlfriend walked to dinner at Norah five blocks from their house. At night, the couple says, the area feels like New York’s Greenwich Village.

“If you want to be in the epicenter of L.A. culture and what makes L.A. great, you can’t enjoy it if you’re sitting in the car for 45 minutes,” he says.

The city of Los Angeles is encouraging car-free living. Along with extending public transportation, it is making streets more pedestrian-friendly, with wider sidewalks, benches and trees. It is also encouraging construction near transit hubs.

Eric Yang and Lauren Kawabata drive to work but can walk to most other places. Married in December 2016, the couple went to Japan for a honeymoon before starting to house-hunt in the spring of last year. So when they saw a newly built three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot condo around Memorial Day in Silver Lake—complete with a roof deck and view of lush palm trees—they bought it for just over $1 million by Labor Day. On its website, Newport Beach, Calif.-based developer Planet Home Living touts the homes’ location “in one of L.A.’s hottest neighborhoods near shopping, dining, markets and more.”

On Saturday mornings, Mr. Yang, an accountant at EY, and Ms. Kawabata, a pharmacist, walk to the farmers market and to get his tea and her latte at the Blue Bottle Coffee shop on Sunset Boulevard, a 15-minute walk from their contemporary condo complex, Covo Silver Lake. If Mr. Yang, 30, and Ms. Kawabata, 29, get home from work early, they stroll to area restaurants such as Silverlake Ramen or Wood, a pizzeria featuring wood-oven baked pizza. Mr. Yang says the cost of parking in Los Angeles makes the couple want to drive less. Above all, it was the car-free trip to Japan that sparked their interest in a convenient, walkable neighborhood.

“We’re both natives of L.A.,” Mr. Yang says. “But it took a trip to Tokyo for us to get of our cars.”

Credit: Cecilie Rohwedder, The Wall Street Journal