Going Dutch
eing in the home restoration and construction business isn’t what Jeffrey and Shelly Greenfield planned. The married duo started out as CPAs. Then Shelly quit to raise son Chayson. “We had the traditional relationship. I worked. She worked out,” Jeffrey chuckles. A couple of years later, Shelly got itchy for work outside the home. “She’d always had an eye for architecture and design, which was put to the test when we restored and renovated a property we owned. It was incredibly well received,” Jeffrey explains. The transformation process captivated Shelly, whose father owned a CPA firm but restored homes on the side. “I wanted to take homes and make them more beautiful,” she explains. Naming their firm Red Door Homes, the couple divvied up responsibilities: Jeffrey was in charge of the financial side; Shelly handled design, sourcing and implementation. Red Door’s first job was a small bungalow nestled in the hills of Sherman Oaks. “We did virtually everything ourselves. We even sifted the dirt. Our goal was to build for the love of architecture and neighborhoods versus a price-per-square-foot mentality,” says Jeffrey. The couple turned a solid profit, and Red Door Homes was off and running. Jeffrey and Shelly, along with 10-year-old Aidan and 14-year-old Chayson, recently put their skills to the test on their own home. The original structure on the property was built in 1948, which according to the couple makes it the oldest home in Longridge Estates. The hilltop lot offers magnificent 180º views of the east Valley. Modeled after a Pennsylvania Dutch farmhouse, the Greenfield
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VENTURA BLVD, HOLIDAY 2015
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