All Beverly Hills, 90210 fans will recognize the gray, white, and blue three-story home for sale on The Strand. The building once housed Kelly, Donna and David's beloved beachfront apartment during the show's college years, and now has yet to see new residents.
On the market since February, this 3,670-square-foot Cape Cod-style home was built in 1915. Inspired by the colonial era, 3500 The Strand sits at the very end of 35th Street, facing the beach.
"It's a beautiful home, no doubt, but it gives people an unrealistic expectation of what its like to live in L.A," said local homeowner Alicia Powell, adding that the 90210 residence seen on television misrepresents the financial demand that will come with living there in reality.
Sunkissed characters on the show struggled to solve soap operatic plotlines of love and revenge, instead of mortgages and water heating.
While living the California dream seemed easy for them, Hermosa Beach buyers will have to hand over $9,599,000 for the home, which also made a guest appearance in the 1988 comedy My Stepmother is an Alien co-starring Kim Basinger and Dan Aykroyd.
Previously a vacation rental, the property's price dropped nearly $1 million from its original $10.5 million listing.
"I live on the beach and it's no picnic," Powell said. "I have high property taxes."
Prospective buyers can only imagine the taxes that come with the tidewater abode, which is the biggest beachfront house Manhattan Beach resident Dave Whitmeyer has ever seen in the South Bay, he said.
"It's right on the corner so there's sand and beach on two sides of the house," Whitmeyer said. "I don't think you can get that anywhere else here. I don't even think you can get a grass lawn on the beach and the house has one."
Grass aligns a white picket fence that leads visitors to the entrance of the home. An extensive, shaded porch with royal blue awnings also makes the house memorable with its nautical motif.
But for Hermosa visitor Ashley Harvey, and many other die-hard 90210 fans, the iconic pad will always represent more than charming architecture.
"Watching this show as a kid, I was convinced that you wanted to move out of your parents' house and into a beach house like Kelly and Donna," said Harvey, who grew up in Beverly Hills. "It really did symbolize the California dream."
To learn more about 3500 The Strand, inquire realtor Bryn Stroyke at 310-545-9595.
