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From the Beginning, Beauty Was Part of the Bay Park Plan

The view from the kitchen sink of a home at 2030 Garfield Road in Bay Park.
Photo courtesy of Redfin
The view from the kitchen sink of a home at 2030 Garfield Road in Bay Park. Photo courtesy of Redfin

Bay Park is a community within the larger Clairemont subdivision that includes North Clairemont, Bay Ho, Clairemont Mesa East and Clairemont Mesa West. Its general borders are Interstate 5 on the west, Linda Vista Drive to the south, Tecolote Canyon on the east and Balboa Avenue to the north.

Bay Park was originally developed in response to the acute demand for housing following the end of World War II. Many of the homes in the area look from the exterior just as they were when first built in 1951.

But given the location and expansive views from the higher lots in Bay Park, many have been replaced completely or extensively renovated resulting in multimillion-dollar vistas over Mission Bay and the coastline without the multimillion-dollar price.

Rebecca Roman, a listing agent with Redfin, has a listing on one such home at 2030 Garfield Road in Bay Park. It was built in 2010, replacing what was probably the standard 1,000- to 1,500-square-foot home on a 5,000- to 7,500-square-foot lot that was the mainstay of the original development.

On the eve of the war, the county’s population doubled in size to 400,000, which included 100,000 servicemen and other jobs supporting the war effort, according to a 2011 California Department of Transportation report on tract housing.

As a result, the production of housing boomed to meet the need. Among the developers were Carlos Tavares and Lou Bergener who developed Clairemont in 1950. The concept for the community was “a village within a city,” with lots oriented toward the views and the canyons rather than a traditional grid system. Today this idea is commonplace, but at the time it was considered visionary.

Roman’s listing is on one of the highest avenues with stunning, second-story, 360-degree views of Mission Bay, SeaWorld, city lights, La Jolla and Point Loma. It’s a three-bedroom, three-bath home with 2,824 square feet on a 6,100-square-foot lot priced at $1.425 million.

“It has a detached two-car garage and a carport that fits an additional car in a horseshoe driveway,” Roman said. “It’s also located on a quiet private street in Bay Park; it’s a horseshoe, so only the people living on that street will be driving by; it’s not a main thoroughfare.”

Roman said the home is hard-surfaced throughout with hardwood on the staircase, the family room and the master bedroom suite; the remainder is “mostly travertine tile.”

To take advantage of the views, the living areas are on the second story. All the bedrooms are downstairs with the master suite separate from the two guest bedrooms.

“The master suite is a large spacious open area with French doors to the backyard facing the Jacuzzi,” Roman said. “It has a steam shower, a huge walk-in closet in the master bath, with additional closets in the master bedroom.”

The two guest bedrooms also have French doors leading to private patio areas.

The ceilings downstairs are vaulted allowing for “tons of light,” she said.

The kitchen is a classic white cabinetry with veined granite countertops, it’s “white and bright with tons of light coming in,” Roman said.

There is also an elevator from the ground floor to the second floor that the owner uses to get the groceries to the kitchen. There are steps from the second floor up to the rooftop deck. Roman said the owner loves sitting on the upstairs balcony enjoying the view and dinner with friends.

“It’s just gorgeous up there,” she said.

Roman has been in real estate in San Diego for the past seven years. She joined Redfin in 2014 and said she chose Redfin because “it’s a win/win with the agent and for the clients.”

Redfin, an online real estate company, breaks with the standard industry practice in that agents are not paid commission; they are paid a base salary with full benefits.

Instead of working as an independent contractor, Roman said this approach takes the pressure off of having to close a sale to “put food on the table next month,” and rather than write off any expense she may have, she submits an expense report.

Redfin charges a 3.5 percent listing fee right now. Redfin gets 1 percent, the buyer’s broker gets 2.5 percent and the buyers get a rebate.

Redfin, which got its start in 2004, recently filed for an IPO (initial public offering) that is expected to debut in late July or early August of 2017.

“We’re not cutting out any services,” Roman said. “We do everything a traditional agent is going to do; we’re just able to do it for a little less.”

Send luxury real estate items to sglidden@sdbj.com.

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