Eco-Inspired on Red Hill

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After seven years of work, Echo Park Author/Historian Michael Jacob Rochlin is selling his house.  "I bought it in 2005 for $500,000 and have spent well over $100,000 converting it into an Eco-Home.  I will be losing over two hundred thousand dollars but at least I've completed what I set out to do." 

The 1922 bungalow now has a tankless water heater, gray water appliances, organic vegetable garden, drought-tolerant landscaping, ten composters, rainwater harvesting and plant nursery.  In addition to the two-bedroom house, there is a backyard yurt and an office/gallery with a soundproof rehearsal room. 

"Lake Shore Avenue is one of the quietest, safest streets in the city.  There hasn’t been a single incident in all the time I’ve been here.”

The canyon, north of Sunset, is five minutes from downtown, yet has the look and feel of a small town.  The rear half of Rochlin's 10,000 square foot lot is a wildlife habitat.  There are a total of fifty-five trees. 

Rochlin earned his Bachelor of Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in 1987.  His projects include the California School of Professional Psychology Rosemont Campus (now Kedren School), Sketcher’s Van Nuys and the documentation of Anokia (Anita Baldwin’s Arcadia Estate).  He has written ten books and is currently teaching at Otis College. 

“While living on North Lake Shore, I wrote three novels and compiled two photographic essays.  The house was also inspiring musically.  I broke out of practicing alone and now perform regularly in a Latin/Jazz band.  The street has numerous well-known musicians.  “My adjacent neighbor (a film composer) has also Xeriscaped and we keep an open gate between the two properties.” 

Interested parties are welcome to drive by in the evening when solar lights illuminate the front.  On foot, look for it by the west Ewing steps.  For those not in the market for a house, yet interested in Echo Park history, Rochlin is offering a ten-week course starting February 4th. 

“According to several maps Echo Lake once extended all the way up to Effie.  The district also once had a “City Beautiful” community center laid out along a gradually descending axis.  Unfortunately due to misguided ideas about youth and race, it was purposely destroyed.”

Echo Park Improvement Association President Darren Hubert is the listing agent and can be reached at (323)898-2991 or Darren@UrbanHillsides.com. 

Darren will hold an open house on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

For information on “Vanishing Act—L.A.’s Hidden History,” call Otis College at (310)665-6800 or Michael Jacob Rochlin at (213)481-8174.