Palisades-News-June-3-2015-

Palisades NewsJune 3, 2015 Page 11New Realtor Opens Office on ViaBy LAUREL BUSBYStaff WriterRealtor Donna Bohana has alwaysdone things a little bit differently. Asa Baldwin Hills teenager, she optedto head to an English boarding school. Butit wasn’t a typical English boarding school.At Tasis, students spent six weeks inEngland and then six weeks in anothercountry. She visited Ireland, Spain, Franceand Greece, among other places—learninga bit of each native language and experiencingeach nation firsthand.“I didn’t know it at the time, but it laidthe foundation for me to understand workingwith different cultures,” said Bohana,who works with people from around theworld in her real estate agency, Solstice InternationalRealty, which recently openedat 833 Via de la Paz. “When I meet peoplefrom these different countries, I can alwaysfind a connection somewhere.”Her new office, which will have its grandopening on June 21, is also designed toallow her the time and space to connectwith her clients. The space is arranged morelike a living room than a traditional officewith sofas, a coffee table, and a big-screenTV for viewing properties and documents.“I just wanted a new concept—not acorporate office, which never did feel rightfor me,” Bohana said. “I wanted somethingmore comfortable and inviting where wecan sit comfortably and talk about whatyou need.”Bohana, a single mother with a 6-yearolddaughter, Emme, named her companyafter the solstice, because her birthday isMarquez KnollsAssociation AnnualMeeting on June 6The Marquez Knolls Property OwnersAssociation will hold its annual meeting onSaturday, June 6, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. atMarquez Charter Elementary School.There will be a short business meeting withthe election of next year’s board. Sandwiches,desserts and drinks will be served.“How to Create a Drought-Tolerant Yard”is the topic for this year’s program. Rebatesare available to assist in the cost of these doovers.Marquez Knolls resident Laura Mackwill share her experience in transforming herlawn into a vibrant drought-friendly garden.Director of Sustainable Solutions for Tree -People Lisa Cahill will present more specificson the why and how of lawn conversions.LAPD, LAFD and ACS Security will beavailable to answer questions.Donna Bohana, owner of Solstice International Realty.a few days before the summer solstice, andthe winter solstice has always been a fortunatetime of year for her. Her biggest sale, a$10-million home, occurred in December.“For some reason, that time—winter orsummer—seems to be my lucky time ofyear,” said Bohana, who founded the companyin 2007 and has offices in Malibu andPasadena. “I just thought I’m going to namemy company that. It’s a happy time of year.Photo: Bart BartholomewThe word solstice means new beginnings.”Bohana said her own beginning as a realtororiginated with a part-time job inMalibu at the Fred Sands realty company.At the time, she was earning a degree ininternational studies at Pepperdine University,and she was still considering variouscareers.After graduating from Pepperdine in1992, Bohana became an executive assistantto the Malibu Board of Realtors, butshe also decided to earn her realtor’s license.Once she had that in hand, shestarted work at Coldwell Banker, where sheworked for 14 years before branching outon her own. Danielle Thompson joinedher as the broker of record and now runsthe Pasadena office.From the beginning, Bohana decided totake on not only sales, but also propertiesthat weren’t that popular at the time amongMalibu realtors—one-month rentals. Althoughthe short-term rentals had lowcommissions, she found that they oftenturned into sales, even if the sales happenedyears later.“I’ve gotten lucky with the rentals, so Iwork them like I work my sales,” said Bohana,who lives in Malibu close to where itmeets the Palisades.Valerie Joslin, a neighbor, client and alsoBohana’s interior designer, said, “She’llhustle for you. You’ve seen handymen withsigns—no job is too small. Donna will say‘Give it to me.’”And even though Bohana has soldmany high-end properties since her earlydays as a realtor, she still embraces theidea that no job is too small. She also declinesto specialize.“I just never wanted to have a label. SoI just do everything,” Bohana said. “Whatdo you specialize in? Everything.”Castellammare and Miramar EstatesBy MICHAEL EDLENSpecial to the Palisades NewsThe Castellammare subdivision andprestigious Miramar Estates weredeveloped starting in 1925-1926on land that Alfonso Bell had owned. Theoriginal style of architecture was to beMediterranean, with Italian Renaissance asthe initial theme for the street names andstyles, suited to a seaside neighborhoodreminiscent of the Amalfi Coast in Italy.Paseo Miramar and Tramonto are the“backbone” streets of these areas, which arelocated between Santa Ynez Canyon (Pali -sades Drive) and the original Getty Museum,just off Pacific Coast Highway atCoastline Drive.Castellammare means “castle by the sea”and Tramonto means “sunset” or “settingsun.” Some other streets include Porto Marina,“door or entrance to the sea coast,”Monte Grigio, Quadro Vecchio and Revello.Paseo Miramar literally means “walk toa view of the sea.” A few of the streets onthat hill include Resolano, Lucero andVista Pacifica.As in many of the Palisades hillsides areas,both of these neighborhoods have homeownersassociations and deed restrictionsthat include protections of individual views.A substantial part of the price pointmany of these homes sell for is due to thewide variety of types and magnitudes ofviews. Numerous geologically-challengedhillside lots still remain undeveloped andmajor slope failures, many decades ago, haveresulted in road closures in a few locations.Several sections of the Castellammarehill include public stairs that date back tothe 1920s. Many of them are difficult tofind, and some have been abandoned bylack of use or soil movement. The remainingportions enable walking down towardsPacific Coast Highway between homes,and a few get close to accessing the bridgeacross to the beach.There are at least two major hiking trailaccess routes in the area, as well as a publicpark in Los Liones Canyon. The Getty Villaowns a large parcel of land that extendswell beyond the museum grounds.There are about 680 homes in Castellammareand Miramar Estates. Elevenhomes sold in 2014, ranging from $1.1million for a tiny house on a small lot onCastellammare to $9.25 million for a beautifulnew architectural home on a large loton Paseo Miramar. The median averagesale price was $2.26 million which was 8percent higher than 2013’s $2.09 million.As of June 1, there were seven homes onthe market, asking between $2.45 and $10.5million. No homes were in escrow. Threehave sold so far in 2015, from $1.675 millionon Notteargenta to $2.711 million onTramonto.One of the several remaining large buildablesites in the Palisades that is zoned formultiple units is off Tramonto and overlooksPCH and the ocean.A project of 53-luxury townhomes hasbegun construction and may be availableby 2017, with sizes ranging from 2,200 to3,200 square feet.(Michael Edlen has been ranked #52 ofall agents in the country with nearly $2 billionin sales and more than 1,200 transactions.He has tracked Pacific Palisades salessince 1987. Call: (310) 230-7373 or email:michael@michaeledlen.com.)