A open, light and colorful 1800 sq ft home in Venice Beach with enclosed surrounding gardens/patios. The living room, dining room and kitchen share one large bright space. Ideal for hanging out, entertaining or just watching your kids while you cook. There is a piano in the living room. The kitchen opens onto the back patio through sliding doors.

On the patio, you can barbeque and relax. We recently added a large 2 story bamboo treehouse in our backyard that is fun for both kids and adults.

http://o2treehouse.com/bamboo-play-structure/

The master bedroom has a king size bed and a beautiful view of the front garden through large bay windows. We have a very large collection of art and history books. The master also has an adjoining lounge area to watch TV & DVDs. The master bath has a walk-in shower with steam room.

We have high speed broadband internet with a wireless modem.

Our two boys share a large bedroom with a skylight, 2 twin beds and backyard access. The children's bath has a large bathtub.

We have a weekly housekeeper and gardener.

Venice is located on the coast between Santa Monica and Marina del Rey. It has a wonderful beach climate and some of the cleanest air in the Los Angeles area. There are an unending variety of things to do. Whatever might interest you, we could give you recommendations about how to find it, do it, explore it, etc... Think of Venice like a small town within a VERY large town. All is possible.
We live in the "family friendly" part of Venice. There are numerous very friendly families with young children on our street. Like all of Venice, there are a number of neighbors who are artists or work in the movie business. However, there are also businessmen, psychologists, teachers, architects, doctors, museum curators, even the local SCUBA instructor lives across the street. :-) We have several bicycles and scooters you may use to zip down to the beach through the Venice walk streets. People like to walk and ride bikes everywhere. Our house is also within walking distance of several large parks and golf courses.

Auto exchange is always possible if you prefer. In Venice, you can walk or ride bikes to reach everything. To visit the rest of Los Angeles, it is best to have a car.

We are particularly interested in summer 2013 in Madrid,Spain. We are open to coordinating non-simultaneous exchanges.

Open to any dates

Travel is the best education! Even if you aren't on our short list... tempt us! We will respond to all offers. In general, we prefer urban areas where we can walk and take public transportation.

We can do weekend or short term exchanges within California at any time.

We are a family of four. We principally manage property for a living. Ken (dad) is also an artist and Carolyn (mom) teaches and designs ESL programs. Our boys are 8 and 10.

We all love travel because it provides us a real window onto the world that one never gets from the daily news. We have completed three exchanges abroad and each was amazing! We have just returned from Fall in Madrid, which we LOVED!!!!

Our cat mostly lives outdoors in the garden. We can board him for long weekends, but would like exchangers willing to feed him during longer term stays. He has a cat door to the garage office where his food is... and can take care of himself should you travel around Southern California for a day or two.

We love walking through interesting cities, reading, drawing, painting, café culture, playing music and hanging out with family and friends. When in Venice, we are frequently swimming, boating or at the beach. :)

We take great care of our home and we would treat your home with loving care as well. We don't smoke and ask our guests not to either.

English, Español, Svenska