DOUG & ROCHELLE KRAMER

EXECUTIVEAGENT MAGAZINE

DOUG AND ROCHELLE

K R A M E R ®

REAL ESTATE

Executive Agents of the Month ® REAL ESTATE

® REAL ESTATE

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DOUG AND ROCHELLE KRAMER Living By Design Written by Haley Freeman - Photography by Ian Wiant

C

alifornia’s distinctive architecture is a creative expression of our state’s unique cultural heritage.

From Spanish Colonial Revival, to the classic Bungalow, to Midcentury Modernism, the sun-drenched lifestyle and sweeping landscapes of California have inspired designers to create innovative and beautiful spaces for people to call home.

Realtors® Doug and Rochelle Kramer consider themselves more than simply transactional real estate agents.

They are curators of California’s rich architectural assets, and they have the joy of matching these extraordinary homes with loving owners.

Both Doug and Rochelle had successful corporate

careers prior to turning their passion for unique homes into a vocation. Doug graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and went on to secure and manage corporate travel agreements with Fortune 1000 companies. Rochelle used her Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of California, Irvine to pursue a career in technology marketing and web design. When the couple married in 2000, they took up residence in Doug’s 1950s ranch home in Long Beach.

“I just happened to land there when I bought my first home as a single man,” Doug explains. “I was looking for something interesting, and stumbled into the neighborhood by chance.”

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The Rancho Estates neighborhood, commonly referred to as the Ranchos, is a housing tract in east Long Beach built by iconic Modernist architect, Cliff May. May designed approximately 18,000 tract homes and more than 1,000 custom homes throughout the U.S. during his lifetime.

Although Rochelle had grown up in Long Beach, she was unfamiliar with the neighborhood and the charm of May’s architectural style. As she and Doug began making the home their own, they both discovered that what they really had was an unpolished gem. “In the process, we learned more about Long Beach in general and its rich architectural heritage, not only turn-of-the-century bungalows but also Midcentury Modern architecture, the latter being greatly influenced by local architects such as Kenneth Wing, Ed Killingsworth and Paul Tay.” As the discovery process unfolded, both Doug and Rochelle found they were less and less enchanted with their jobs in the corporate world. “I felt like I wasn’t doing anything significant or meaningful,” Doug says.

“I observed Realtors® in my area and felt like they were assisting people in the fulfillment of dreams by getting them into a home they loved, a place where they could establish and build a family. Combined with my interest

in design and architecture, I decided to make the break.”

Rochelle worked for a time behind the scenes building a website and helping Doug with marketing, until she finally joined him a few years later. He continues, “At that time, the renaissance for Midcentury Modernism was occurring. Its epicenter was in Palm Springs, but we saw that we had some of that same lineage in our neighborhood. It prompted the idea to create a niche here in our area where a lot of great design is overlooked.”

They combined their talents to launch RanchoStyle.com in 2003, a website dedicated to their own Long Beach neighborhood. As demand for midcentury homes increased, so did the Kramers’ knowledge of modernist enclaves throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties. This led to the release of their next, broader website, SoCalModern. com in 2005. Rochelle says, “We discovered properties throughout Orange County and south L.A. County designed by renowned architects such as A. Quincy Jones, Richard Neutra, and John Lautner, to name just a few. It’s been a journey together built out of passion. We’ve met so many interesting people along the way. Many are architects and designers in the area who have a passion for the same thing, and we were educated a lot through these contacts.”

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® REAL ESTATE Since Doug and Rochelle began their modernist odyssey, appreciation for this architectural genre has swelled.

Once considered drab little out-of-date fixer-uppers, these homes are now “stamped on the mantel of architectural history, and it’s not going away,” Doug says. “It’s like good music that never gets old.”

So, what are the elements of design that so captivate Doug and Rochelle? Doug explains, “Good architecture, I think, connects one to the outside. It integrates nature with structure. So much of Midcentury Modern architecture is about that – the walls of glass, the openness, the line of sight. It’s also about exposing the architecture – the beams, the structural skeleton, the clean lines – not covering it up with heavy ornamentation.”

Rochelle describes what she loves most about their home, “We have a pool that is essentially in our front yard. It’s something that is unique about the neighborhood. Many of the homes were built pushed back on the lot, so if you want

a pool, you’re going to put it in the front yard with a tall fence around it for safety and security. Our house is essentially L-shaped, and the pool is in the negative space of the L. We have a wall of windows that look out onto the pool.

We don’t use our pool that often, but we enjoy it every day because it’s part of the ambience of our home, part of the living environment. It brings this serene, resort-style qualREAL ESTATE ity to our somewhat modest, 2,000-square-foot home.”

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Marketing these living monuments takes special skill and an understanding of both the homes and the buyers who seek them. “We’re finding more opportunities to work with sellers in preparing properties with the right design choices and staging to help them get maximum value,” Rochelle says. “We exercise our design knowledge and skill to make recommendations that will bring the property back to life, ensuring that the final composition is one that will photograph beautifully. It doesn’t always mean spending a lot of money, but prepping and staging properly pays big dividends.”

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“It often means simplifying things and capturing more of the indoor/outdoor connection by staging with the appropriate scale of furnishings,” Doug adds. “They don’t have to be the most iconic pieces, but they need to be of proper scale and placement so that it feels right and resonates when you’re walking through the space.”

Doug and Rochelle are also a fantastic resource to homeowners who need skilled tradesmen for custom restoration work.

The Kramers are active preservationists who are committed to conserving the cultural landmarks of Long Beach. In conjunction with the University Art Museum at Cal State Long Beach, they helped organize a home tour of Midcentury Modern residences last year, which included their own home. In addition, they received an award from Long Beach Heritage for their restoration of a Cliff May Rancho in 2011. Their leadership has inspired others in the neighborhood and beyond, as a number of their clients have also received awards for their home restorations.

While Doug and Rochelle are certainly keen authorities on buying and selling historic homes in Southern California, they provide the same enthusiastic, white glove service to clients in all types of real estate transactions extending from L.A. to Orange County. Realtors® Steffie Hands and Blake Nicolai share the Kramers’ appreciation for architecture and work tirelessly along with them to give clients a positive real estate experience. Steffie now heads up the group’s newest brand, CalBungalow.com, which features Bungalow and Craftsman architecture.

As purveyors of these unique and enduring California treasures, Doug and Rochelle are providing something more than mere lodging. They are facilitating the opportunity to experience a lifestyle that results from careful design, one that begins where space meets light and endures for generations.

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Doug and Rochelle Kramer

RE/MAX Real Estate Specialists 6695 E. Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite 150 Long Beach, CA 90803 - Tel: 949-861-1008 Email: Doug@socalmodern.com - Rochelle@socalmodern.com Web: www.SoCalModern.com - CalBRE # 01374637 / 01392260 ExecutiveAgent Magazine