A sweet Bixby Knolls home with a sour history in the pickle business • Long Beach Post News

I’m not sure what it looked like when it was built in 1923 when John D. Robertson and his wife Marguerite moved in, but today it’s a Knolls storefront with shiny, highly polished porcelain floors throughout the house’s open floor plan and sparkling new kitchen appliances and fittings. According to the advertisement, the house was completely renovated and flawlessly remodeled inside and out. So, no, it’s not the same house as the Robertsons house from 1923.

Polished porcelain base for maximum cruise-style gliding. Collection photo.

The Robertsons were married in 1919 to George Primrose Taubman, a Scottish preacher who was born on the Isle of Man before moving to America, where he took Jesus to the Ohio and Kentucky hills before rolling to Long Beach in 1915.

Taubman’s charismatic sermons and Bible discussions drew up to 3,500, but generally just over 2,000, men to his Men’s Bible group outside of the First Christian Church, and by 1921 it was the largest of its kind in the United States.

At the time of their marriage, Robertson was working in sales at Curtis Corporation in Long Beach. The company was known for its olives and olive oil when it was called Curtis Olive Corporation, but then it got chic and started selling allspices, high quality tuna products, and other canned foods – going on the then deluxe suffix of – ola, sells Garnishola, a side dish based on allspice; Sandwichola, an olive / tuna / allspice spread; and the flagship Curtisola, an antipasto.

It wasn’t a huge leap for Robertson Curtis Corp. to leave and get both feet into the pickle business, and for the next 47 years he dedicated his life to pickles (although his devotion is believed to be on his wife and their son and daughter – but pickles too) as President of the John D. Robertson, Inc., with a large facility on Loma Avenue on Anaheim Street, selling Big Boy dill pickles and, later, olives by the ton.

Curtis Corporation exhibits at the Pacific Southwest Exhibition in 1928. The exhibition features jars and cans of Curtis products and a sign that reads “The Curtis Corporation, Unusual Things to Eat”. Photo courtesy Long Beach Public Library.

On November 26, 1969, when he and Marie (as Marguerite liked to be called) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, Robertson was retired. For nearly half a century they had enjoyed life in their home at 3810 Elm Avenue. The anniversary should be her last. Marie died the following June.

Now this home, with its various historical landmarks, is on the market at a price that would have overwhelmed Mr. and Mrs. Robertson, who likely bought it somewhere in the four-figure range: $ 1.575 million, which is not inconvenient for a revitalized four bedroom, three bath home in Bixby Knolls.

The sprawling back yard at 3810 Elm Ave. Entry photo.

Listed by realtor Marcos Ramirez of Keller Williams Pacific Estate, in addition to the striking porcelain flooring (perfect if you want to slip in your socks like Tom Cruise), improvements to the home include new electrical and plumbing, a newly installed roof, and new windows. The spacious house with 2,270 square meters is located on a suitably large 7,890 square meter property with its hard landscape of large concrete squares in the lawn.

And it’s hard to beat the location. The home is a short walk from Jongewaard’s Bake n Broil, SteelCraft and all of the Bixby Knolls stores on Atlantic Avenue.

“Affordable” Rancho Homes (Under $ 1 Million)

Is that a sign of the impending collapse of the Long Beach property market? Does the bubble burst? Have we finally reached the peak of out of control house prices?

Probably not. I’m not sure if we will soon be looking back to November 2021 when the wheels of property prices began to decline, but it’s a dire indicator when the ranchos have two modern mid-century homes for sale for under one Million dollars when they went well above that mark on a regular basis, with one going for nearly $ 2 million.

OK, maybe I’m a little bit alarmist (or maybe even sarcastic).

Hit a million dollar bill on Cliff May at 3350 Kallin Ave.

The living room in the Cliff May house on Kallin Ave. Entry photo.

If you’re looking to spend a little less, head to a Cliff May on Roxanne Ave. 3046 for $ 989,900.

The houses are pretty similar – both built in the 1950s construction frenzy, both with three bedrooms, three bathrooms. The more expensive of the two has about 200 square feet more living space, which likely justifies its additional $ 10,000 price tag.

The $ 989,900 Cliff May Rancho on Roxanne Ave. Entry photo.

Either way, both properties are likely to cost a little north of a million dollars, so nothing to worry: the end is not near.