A Los Angeles Home Built for Just $200K Brings Cheer to an Infill Lot

Lehrer Architects sets a new standard for approachable starter homes in one of the country’s most expensive markets.

Nov 17, 2020 - 20:51

A Los Angeles Home Built for Just $200K Brings Cheer to an Infill Lot

Lehrer Architects sets a new standard for approachable starter homes in one of the country’s most expensive markets.

The path to homeownership can be daunting—especially in Los Angeles, a cutthroat real estate market where what’s deemed an affordable housing unit averages $500,000 to $600,000. "And that’s not even for a single-family home—that’s for an apartment or condo in a multi-unit building," says Michael B. Lehrer of Lehrer Architects. "Most single-family homes go for even more. That’s just insanity."

One of four sited in South Los Angeles, a starter home designed by Lehrer Architects and constructed for roughly $200,000 occupies an infill lot provided by the city.

Photo by Farhad Samari

Lehrer Architects has a history of working on community-minded projects. A 2013 collaboration with the nonprofit development corporation Restore Neighborhoods Los Angeles (RNLA) created five three-bedroom, two-bathroom single-family homes on land donated by the city. The houses ended up costing $300,000 to $400,000 each to build—making their sale price less affordable than the team had hoped—in part because of their size and in part because public funds supporting the project came with oversights that added to the budget.

"We want to make houses that both respect the neighborhood and enhance it," says firm principal Michael Lehrer. "Our main question was, how do you fit it in?"

Photo by Farhad Samari

In 2015, RNLA executive director John Perfitt challenged Lehrer and his partner, Nerin Kadribegovic, to answer an RFP for middle-class starter homes that would cost $200,000 or less to build, including the design, permits, construction, and architect’s fees (the city would once again donate land).