A converted Topanga recording studio that once hosted musicians like Bob Dylan is for sale at $925,000.
Formerly known as Topanga Skyline Studio and Skyline Recording Studio before that, the 3,255-square-foot dwelling dates to 1957 and has been updated in recent years. It has one bedroom, two bathrooms and an open floor plan with a full kitchen.
The living space boasts exposed roof rafters, skylights and sand-finished plaster walls.
Records show the property sold for $640,000 in August 2013, nearly a year after previous co-owner Johnny Perez of the Sir Douglas Quintet died at 70.
Perez played drums in the 1960s band known for “She’s About a Mover” and “Mendocino.” He lived and worked as a record producer at the studio, where veteran recording engineer Steve Hoffman posted about unexpectedly encountering him in 2010.
Hoffman, who was there to be interviewed for a Japanese music show, didn’t know the studio belonged to Perez.
“The Smash (Records) gold record for ‘Mendocino’ was on the wall, which should have given me a clue, but I was too busy getting makeup put on … to put two and two together,” he wrote at his Steve Hoffman Music Forums. “At any rate, it was a pleasure to see Johnny Perez. A lot of great, classic records were recorded at Skyline Studios. The place looks like a 1969 time warp.”
It’s where Chicago laid down some tracks for its 1982 comeback album, Chicago 16, which produced the hit “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.”
The Bangles spent time in the studio working on their 1984 full-length debut “All Over the Place,” whose big hit was “Hero Takes A Fall.”
Dylan’s sessions at Skyline Studio produced the album “Knocked Out Loaded” in 1986.
While the vintage mixing and recording spaces remain intact, current zoning allows limited commercial and production activities by the owner/occupant. Examples include an architecture office, an art studio, a fine arts gallery and, yes, even a recording studio.
The mostly flat lot comes with a vintage trailer and an old hunting cabin and offers development opportunities, the listing reads.
Brian Linder and Rick Grahn of Compass share the listing.
Related Articles
Pasadena’s landmark Ambassador Auditorium heads to the market for $45 million
Christina Ricci lists her renovated Woodland Hills home for $2.2 million
16.5-acre cult settlement in West Hills’ rugged Box Canyon lists for $4.8M
‘As Seen on TV’ star to buy $100 million Miami home
‘Selling the Hamptons’: High Prices, High Drama on Long Island