Venture roughly 30 miles northwest of the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles, and you’ll find yourself in the middle of an 8-acre property.
There, nestled between boulders and sand, stands a 3,200-square-foot home modeled after a log cabin.
“It’s just like almost being in an amusement park, the aesthetic of it,” according to real estate agent Matt Witek, who said the inside of the house resembled a Lincoln Log creation.
The expansive property at 7336 Studio Road in Canoga Park, California, hit the market last week for $3.5 million, according to a listing on Homes.com. Witek holds the listing with his business partner, Jonnelle Lewin.
It has three bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, and “secret pathways, hiking trails, fruit trees, gardens, equestrian facilities,” Witek told Homes.com. Beyond that, there are natural rock waterfalls, a tree-watering system and a 500-gallon backup water tank.
“They raised their kids there, and they had like these little hideouts that they made,” he added, explaining that the owners’ daughters would play in natural sandboxes that had formed between boulders.
Keeping up with private acres
The home is tucked on a private street where its neighbors include an “Earthship” — a three-bedroom self-sustaining house.
“It’s a place where people go to really create something of their own,” Witek said of the neighborhood. He and Lewin hold the listing for the Earthship, which hit the market in May with a $2.25 million price tag.
At the log cabin property, that potential for creativity comes in the form of 5 acres with three build sites that could be used for expansion.
“This home is all about the privacy and the views and the park-like setting,” Witek said, “and the ability to build and expand on this property is what makes it so special as well.”
Maintaining that much property, however, can present challenges. For example, the current owners have professionals who maintain the equestrian facilities.
Beyond that, “there’s a lot of natural habitat, so it’s like tending to large gardens,” according to Witek. “It requires maintenance, but nothing too crazy.”
Though the current owners raised their family at the property, Witek said a different buyer profile has emerged.
“Our gut is probably someone looking for maybe a second home, even from L.A., that allows them to kind of get out of the city, but they’re still close,” he noted.