Buy Blanco Bungalow: This SoCal Home—and Adorable Star of Instagram—Is Now for Sale for $1.1M

It started with a dream—and it became a brand.

Indeed, a small kernel of an idea soon turned into a multiyear home renovation that ended with a new-found interior design business, a huge Instagram following, and mini retail empire. Yup, you can even shop the rooms here.

Layer on some superb taste and just about the savviest social media campaign we’ve ever seen, and you get this adorable property: Blanco Bungalow.

And the best news? This cute Long Beach, CA, home is for sale, listed with Taya DiCarlo of Compass. It can actually be yours for just over $1.1 million.

The famous two-bedroom, one-bath home has been the star of a years-long overhaul that was documented on Instagram by the owners, Jonathan Strader and Laura Genevieve.

Naturally, the homeowners also announced their decision to place Blanco Bungalow on the market to their followers.

‘Online fan base’

“This is the first property I’ve listed that has had its own online fan base. People are really inspired by the Straders’ dedication to maintaining the integrity of this classic California bungalow,” says DiCarlo.

Keep in mind that these two social media stars also have busy day jobs: Strader is a co-owner of Long Beach’s Little Coyote pizza shop, and Genevieve is a jewelry designer.

But it was their purchase of this 1920s bungalow for $555,000 in 2018 that changed everything.

Genevieve decided to pivot her career and leap into the interior design field, taking on this home as her first project and then naming her business Blanco Bungalow.

To call the structure a fixer-upper is to vastly understate the project that lay in store for the couple. In fact, the house sported purple carpet and brown walls, and allowed almost none of the abundant California sunshine to enter. The whole place needed a complete gut job.

Genevieve admits she was “incredibly intimidated by the work ahead of us,” but her perseverance and patience (along with the viewing of countless YouTube videos) finally paid off big-time.

Along the way, she laid out every bit of the renovation for her 44,000 followers, showing the before, during, and after as she transformed the house.

“We did 80% of the work ourselves, and as followers found me on social, they quickly became invested in each and every project we did,” explains Genevieve.

Beautiful bungalow

Although just 1,263 square feet, the home feels open and spacious, thanks to the white-on-white palette, graceful archways, and simple interior design.

“I love clean white walls,” says Genevieve. They “lend themselves beautifully to the stucco exterior and hand-done interior plaster.”

The private backyard more than matches the lovely inside, with lots of lush plantings, no-mow turf ground cover, a wood-burning pizza oven, two outdoor living spaces, and a side yard with a built-in bench around a fire pit.

But it’s the marketing that really sets this property apart, notes Tony Mariotti, a real estate agent and founder of RubyHome in Los Angeles.

“The photos, the staging, the Matterport 3D tour, and even the written descriptions are all top-notch,” he notes.

“The home also has a clever identity for the property that’ll stick in the buyer’s mind—plus it’s so obviously charming and in tip-top shape, which means it should sell quickly,” he adds.

By way of comparison, a recently remodeled house in the neighborhood was just sold for $870,000.

“But it’s not quite as cute as this home—I think Blanco Bungalow is worth more,” says Mariotti.

Long Beach offers diversity and historic charm that will likely help to sell this sweet little spot.

“It’s truly one of the more underrated cities of Los Angeles [County], with an eclectic art scene, parks, walking paths, amazing restaurants, and a fun nightlife,” says DiCarlo.

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