When The Strand house on the corner of 10th Street went on sale in July for $28.9 million, it appeared to be a new record for real estate prices in the area.
Although the price reflects today’s market, the three-story house, built in the early 1920s, is a symbol of old Manhattan Beach.
Joe Owen, 73, lived in the house from the age of 13 to about 22, when he got married. His mother and stepfather, both LAPD officers, bought the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in 1955 for $35,000.
“All the policemen turned it into a party house,” said Owen.
Despite the house’s popularity, the couple was investigated by the police, who were suspicious because of the high price of the house. Owen said he didn’t know how his parents were able to afford it, but noted that they lived without furniture “for several years.”
“We had mattresses on the floor,” he said.
The surrounding area looked a lot different then.
“There were a lot of little beach houses up and down The Strand,” he said. “A few big houses around — not anything like now.”
In the mid 1960s, his stepfather, Charles Owen, built a large addition behind the house with several apartments that he rented.
Joe, who lived in a house on 14th Street and Ocean Drive with his mother before they moved to 1000 The Strand, would go surfing before school. He went to Grand View Elementary, Mira Costa High School and El Camino College, where he met his wife. He taught shop after college but didn’t make enough money, so he started a contracting business.
Owen’s mother passed away in the early 1990s. When his stepfather died in 2012, Owen and his stepbrother Richard Owen inherited the property.
Owen and his wife, who live in La Quinta, don’t visit the house too much anymore because the humidity bothers her asthma.
The house hasn’t sold, though an offer for $28 million in cash was made. The buyer was having trouble coming up with the money, so the offer hasn’t been accepted, according to Owen.
Once the house is bought, it will probably be demolished, Owen figures. He’s not too sentimental about it.
When asked how he’ll spend the money from the sale, he wasn’t sure.
“We’re probably going to invest most of it,” he said. “The kids will probably get some of it. Buy a bigger house out here. Some charities will probably get some.”
Their favorite charities include Animal Samaritans, a nonprofit animal welfare organization, and the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert.
Manhattan Beach resident Robert Bush, who used to hire Owen to do odd jobs on his rental properties starting in the 1970s, was excited for his friend.
“I have never met a more competent, honest and reliable person in my life,” Bush wrote in a letter. “That is why I am so happy that he has come into a large amount of money.” ER
