"Emoji House" Now For Sale
Aug 20, 2019 10:53AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
After a hot-pink duplex in El Porto became the real estate media sensation of the summer, we asked, "What's Next for the Emoji House?" We now have at least a partial answer: It's for sale.
The controversial property on 39th Street is now on the market for $1,749,000, according to Manhattan real estate blog Manhattan Beach Confidential.
The property stands to benefit from what might have been the biggest (unintentional?) international promotion in Manhattan Beach real estate history - with stories on the house reaching as far as Jakarta.
MB Confidential author and real estate agent Dave Fratello reports that "a couple" of neighbors have inquired with the listing agent about purchasing the property. Some would assume that they would want to purchase it to repaint it and eliminate the nuisance.
But one neighbor who reached out to MB Confidential had this to say: "It’s funny to me that it bothers everyone so much... It actually adds character even though it’s a bit ridiculous."
Now, according to Fratello, the new risk for neighbors could be this: What if a buyer for the property wants it precisely for the emojis and the notoriety?
Read the full MB Confidential story, including a look at the pricing of the house, here.
And for those who have spent the summer on a media blackout, here's the brief back story, as first reported by the Easy Reader: Neighbors of the property reported the owner for illegal
short-term rentals (and the owner was subsequently fined by the city).
Apparently angry at the neighbors for reporting the illicit rentals, the
owner painted the house hot pink with silly-face emojis. The neighbors
say that they feel
directly targeted by the "shut up" message of one emoji, and in at
least one case, personally mocked by the features of another. Neighbors had complained at a City Council meeting about feeling
"threatened," "degraded," and that the now-famous attraction had become a
"nuisance."
The city's Planning Commission will meet about the topic on August 28. The city attorney
has already warned that their mural regulations need to be "content neutral."
