Shortly after arriving at UCI, Melinda and I bought this house. It has many fine features; it's two blocks from the ocean, one block from lots of shops, restaurants and cafes, in a nice neighbourhood that's not an impossible commute from Irvine. It was built in 1930 in the Spanish style, and has lots of very nice original features. It has plenty of space, and a lovely walled courtyard at the front overlooked by a balcony from the master bedroom. However, it's been rented out for the last 17 years and not especially well maintained, and so when we first saw it, it was clearly in need of some repair.
Since this is clearly going to be a long-term project, I thought I'd document some of the steps...