Remodeling

It's 10 a.m. and Ian Schrager has way too much energy for someone just in from New York and just out of morning meetings. As if fueled by multiple espressos, he bounds across the lobby of his new hotel, Le Mondrian, hand outstretched, a wide grin interrupting his rocky mug. He sits down in the almost empty restaurant and-- bam --lands in the middle of a conversation. "I have to say," he says, looking out the window at a hazy Los Angeles, "my wife is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Known for the great variety of the roles he plays, Leonardo DiCaprio now is trying his hand at Malibu beach house landlord. He has listed this Cape Cod-inspired home for $75,000 a month for a long-term tenant or $150,000 a month for leases of less than six months. His Malibu Colony compound was recently remodeled and features a four-bedroom main house on the ocean side, a two-bedroom guest house and a detached loft with gym. There is a beach-front deck, a fire pit, gardens and lawn on the less-than-half-acre lot. DiCaprio, 37, whose blockbuster hits include "Titanic" (1997)

When Gary Teunissen decided to add 400 square feet to his 40-year-old ranch home in Orange, he realized the extra space created by extending the kitchen and enclosing a breezeway would boost his annual property tax bill by about $500. "The key decision was whether to remodel or buy," said Teunissen, a financial analyst for a national home builder. "The property tax issue was a big part of my analysis."

Film producer Stacey Sher and musician Kerry Brown have listed their house in the Beverly Crest area at $5.795 million. Originally designed by Wallace Neff, the 1948 house was once the home of actress Julie Andrews and director Blake Edwards and later remodeled. The 1.61-acre site includes a 7,800-square-foot main house, a 2,480-square-foot guesthouse, a separate building with a bathroom, a tennis court, a basketball court, a swimming pool and waterfalls. The living space features beamed ceilings, stained-glass windows, brick, stonework, mahogany doors and six fireplaces.

Until I bought my first and only house six years ago, it never occurred to me that I might take on a kitchen remodel. I was an apartment dweller, with apartment dweller logic. Kitchens came with a place. The way to transform a kitchen into my kitchen was to put my cast-iron pots on the stove and my scales on the counter and to hang up the French dish towel rack with labels above the hook for what each towel may touch: hands, glasses, plates, cutlery. Presto. Home.

CORONADO, Calif. -- The U.S. Navy has decided to spend as much as $600,000 for landscaping and architectural modifications to obscure the fact that one its building complexes looks like a swastika from the air. The four L-shaped buildings, constructed in the late 1960s, are part of the amphibious base at Coronado and serve as barracks for Seabees. From the ground and from inside nearby buildings, the controversial shape cannot be seen.

Spring cleaning is turning into spring remodeling this year for many homeowners. Home improvement projects are starting to make a comeback after frugal consumers pulled the plug on remodeling and renovation work during the downturn. With the economy showing signs of stabilizing and retailers and contractors continuing to offer good deals, many Southern Californians are sprucing up their homes' appearance and value by repainting their bathrooms, installing new floors and carpets, and upgrading their kitchens.

Hundreds of home improvement specialists will offer products and advice to home improvers at the 34th Annual Home Remodeling & Decorating Show . The show will feature an Eco-Expo with environmentally friendly products. Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa St. $7.75. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sat., 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Sun. (818) 557-2950. www.thehomeshow.com.

I've never laughed so much at a newspaper article as I did at Ellen Switkes' "Read the Fine Print Before You Buy," Dec. 3. I laughed, I howled and tears came to my eyes. I have put off remodeling my bathroom for eight years--more out of cost than inconvenience. However, I found her article downright hilarious and I believed every word of it too. It was just too funny not to be true. Ellen Switkes is the Erma Bombeck of bathroom remodeling. Every word was a delight to read. KATHY NAGY Burbank

The remodeling of Woo's house in Silver Lake (two houses up from mine) is a long way from "mansionization"; he is simply taking what was essentially a sort of stand-alone garage apartment with a tiny yard, and building it into what looks to be a nice but unobtrusive house with no damaging effect on the long-settled neighborhood. CHARLES PALMER, Los Angeles

After a 14-year dark spell, the remodeled Port Theater in Corona del Mar will reopen during this year's Newport Beach Film Festival with free screenings and seminars. The theater will officially welcome the public back on Saturday with the seminar series "Vision and Craft: The Art of Filmmaking," from 1 to 5 p.m. "Kingdom Come," a documentary by first-time director Daniel Gillies, will be screened at 5:30 p.m. The buzz surrounding the reopening of the East Coast Highway venue, which closed in 1998, could have been expected to increase ticket sales, but festival organizers said they decided to offer all of the programming for free throughout the festival, which opens Thursday and runs through May 3. "We thought that this was an important opportunity to give back to community and we are hopeful that in the future, patrons and sponsors will underwrite these opportunities," said Gregg Schwenk, the festival's chief executive.

Those of us who attended Coachella in 2010 understand the reasons why the annual music and arts festival had to change. Two years ago, the three-day concert in Indio, Calif., was so overcrowded with sun-baked, drunken revelers that many of those in attendance vowed to not return. And if you were lucky enough to have access to the VIP area, it was so packed that many under that giant canopy felt more claustrophobic than important. This year? The festival, which begins Friday and features headliners Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Radiohead and the Black Keys, has thankfully reduced the number of tickets for sale (a smart move implemented in 2011 by the promoter, the AEG-owned Goldenvoice)

Screenwriter and director Stephen Sommers and his wife, Jana, have listed their estate in Malibu for sale at $13.5 million. Set in the gated community of Serra Retreat at the end of a cul-de-sac, the rebuilt and remodeled main house and detached guesthouse sit on 1.5 acres with a sports court, outdoor fireplace, a barbecue center and expansive lawns. The free-form swimming pool features waterfalls and a slide. Interior amenities include a home theater, double-island kitchen, two family rooms, six bedrooms and nine bathrooms in 9,130 square feet of living space.

Newport Beach officials recently ordered a real estate investor to stop gutting the interior of an office building designed by celebrated Modernist architect Richard Neutra. It is the latest dispute concerning the Mariners Medical Arts building, a sleek 1963 complex at 1901 Westcliff Drive saved from demolition in 2009. Preservationist John Linnert, a Costa Mesa architect, noticed crews working on the upstairs interior in January and reported them to the city planning staff.

Do you fit any of these descriptions? •You came through the housing bust and recession far more debt-averse than you were before. •You've been reluctant to consider selling your house because you don't believe you'll get what it's really worth. •Buying a new home is out of the question, even with today's low interest rates, because it's so difficult to qualify for a mortgage. •You've gradually come to the conclusion that it's smarter to improve the house you already own — spend some money on making it more comfortable, more up-to-date — and just stay put for a while.

Marcos Siega, a director and producer of "The Vampire Diaries" since 2009, has sold his Encino home for $1.65 million. The remodeled midcentury house features floor-to-ceiling doors, an upgraded kitchen, five bedrooms and five bathrooms in 3,628 square feet. The half-acre lot includes a swimming pool with a spa. Siega, 42, has worked on "Charlie's Angels" (2011), "Dexter" (2007-09) and "Cold Case" (2005-09). The property came on the market in September at $1.665 million.

Homeowners and rental property owners spent a record $233 billion in 2003 on remodeling, according to a new report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard. The latest report in the Improving America's Housing series, "The Changing Structure of the Home Remodeling Industry," noted that baby boomers still account for more than half of all the spending.

Starbucks customers are about to get a different kind of buzz. Already a go-to for morning commuters and afternoon pick-me-ups, the coffee giant is aiming to expand the happy hour crowd by offering wine and beer at select Southern California locations. Starbucks said it would bring booze to four to six new or remodeled stores in the region by the end of this year and planned to do the same to a small group of locations in Atlanta and Chicago. In addition, patrons could order "premium food" such as savory snacks, small plates and hot flatbreads.

"The Lord of the Rings" star Elijah Wood has succeeded in his quest to find a buyer for his Santa Monica house. It has sold for $1,758,800. The Spanish-style home, built in 1924, was listed as a remodeling opportunity. The front door opens into a round foyer with a British brewery cast-iron tile floor. Including a guesthouse with an office attached to the two-car garage, the property has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 2,130 square feet of living space. Wood, 30, played Frodo Baggins in the "Lord of the Rings" (2001-03)