A built-in cabinet separates the entry from the dining room, while the door leads to the kitchen. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The living room, with the dining room beyond. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The renovated kitchen. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The laundry room. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The primary bedroom. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The primary bathroom. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The shower in the primary bathroom. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
The Altadena home, designed by Buff, Smith and Hensman, is on the market for $2.495 million after a year-long rehabilitation project. (Photo by Geoff Yale)
A late-period Buff, Smith and Hensman home in Altadena recently hit the market for $2.495 million fresh off a major, year-long renovation.
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The 2,596-square-foot house, now available for the first time since selling for $831,500 in July 2003, has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. It sits on more than three-quarters of an acre, offering views stretching to the ocean on clear days from inside and beyond, framed by the floor-to-ceiling glass walls that overlook the grounds.
Owners Michele and Brian Smatko planned to meet with a listing agent in early 2025, but on Jan. 7, 2025, the Eaton fire erupted, tearing through the foothills. It killed 19 people and claimed more than 9,000 structures in its path.
“We assumed our house wasn’t going to make it, however when we drove up the following morning … we saw the eaves of our living room peeking out,” Michele Smatko said. “We were thrilled.”
Their relief was short-lived.
“At that point, we didn’t know the damage the fire had done to our home,” Brian Smatko added, speaking by phone from the couple’s new out-of-state home. “They had to do all this testing to find out the breadth of the contamination, and once we got those reports back, we discovered we had a lot of lead. Did not see much arsenic, if at all, and no asbestos. But the lead, being a neurotoxin, sticks to everything so it’s very difficult to clean. That’s what set us off on this big reclamation journey.”
The smoke damage was so significant that the house required gutting.
Faced with a choice between listing it as a ready-to-build “shell” or putting in the work, Brian Smatko said they opted to roll up their sleeves — a decision made possible by a insurance policy.
“I didn’t want to leave a mess for someone else,” he said. “Michele and I looked at each other and said, ‘We can do this! We can put this house back.’ When basically everything on the inside is ripped out, the basic design is still there.”
New terrazzo flooring replaced the old Marmoleum, and they reinstalled wall-to-wall carpet in the step-down living room, anchored by a rock fireplace and a mahogany-paneled vaulted ceiling.
The living room shares the open floor plan with the formal dining room. A built-in buffet separates the space from the entrance, where glass walls flank a red door and an embedded cabinet that juts both inside and out and is original to the home.
“It’s pretty unique,” said listing agent Julie Milbrodt of Coldwell Banker Realty. “People don’t build that way anymore, and I find those aspects desirable.”
She added that the appeal of the mid-century modern aesthetic has only grown stronger since this house’s completion in 2000.
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According to a building biography of the property by Tim Gregory, a smaller house built in 1951 previously occupied the site. Then-owner Helen M. Heard, the daughter of a prominent California land-and-cattle family, had it demolished to make way for a new modern-style home designed by Buff, Smith and Hensman, a pioneering Southern California firm known for post-and-beam architecture. Founding partner Conrad Buff died in 1988 at 62 and Donald Hensman retired in 1997, so surviving partner Dennis Smith likely drew the design.
While the renovation honors its legacy, the Smatkos didn’t put the house back exactly as it was, opting instead to modernize the finishes and functionality for a new era.
A pocket door conceals the renovated kitchen, fitted with new appliances, floating shelves, maple cabinetry and white quartz countertops.
“There were some original design elements that were not ideal; for example, counter heights were non-standard,” Brian Smatko said. “So we brought the counter heights up to standard.”
As part of those functional upgrades, they converted the butler’s pantry into a laundry room.
Milbrodt describes the “spectacular” primary bedroom as a private retreat with views and direct access to the backyard. The bathroom offers a long vanity and a dressing area with a large backlit mirror, while an open doorway leads to a tiled wet room. In this spa-like space is a separate tub and a shower with a glass-topped pony wall.
Outside, the grounds feature a redone pool and spa, water-wise landscaping and new decorative block walls.
The property includes solar panels, a fire sprinkler system, an alarm system and a new roof.
“We hope that as people tour the home, they see it’s a real gem that we tried to preserve,” Michele Smatko said. “I hope people, especially people who love preservation, see that it is something special.”
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