The home has 595 square feet and a single bedroom. It’s about five blocks from the ocean. Take a tour in the slideshow. (Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

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(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)



(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)



(Photo by Bowman Group Architectural Photography)

Sure, most Laguna Beach houses have more than 595 square feet and a single bedroom.

But typically, not without a heftier price tag. Standalone homes don’t come cheap in this city.

The tiny cottage at 545 Lombardy Lane – a street that listing agents like to describe as “a treasure” because of its rows of cute, historic homes – is seeking just shy of $1 million. And it once asked more.

Last July, the seller sought $1.149 million. That got chopped to $1.095 million and then, in April, to $1.059 million. The price dropped to $998,900 earlier this month.

At that price, most other Laguna Beach spots on the Multiple Listing Service have zero bedrooms. They’re parcels of land.

The Lombardy cottage, on the other hand, is move-in ready, says Gary Boisen of Surterre Properties, the listing agent.

Built in 1941, the little home hasn’t change hands in about half a century.

“It has been owned by the same family for nearly 50 years and has been lived in most of that time until about the end of last year, when the tenant moved out,” he said. “It is completely ready to be lived in. However, I would assume most buyers would do upgrades and modernize it to a degree.

“It is not on any historical registry or inventory to my knowledge but I would think any buyer would keep the current footprint,” he said. “Even if the city allowed you to tear it down, you probably couldn’t rebuild it with the current footprint due to the multitude of code changes.”

Set on a 1,800-square-foot lot, the cottage has raised wooden beamed ceilings, a living room fireplace, and enough windows to keep it airy.

French doors in the dining room open to a sunny front courtyard tucked behind a wall. A large flower bed fronts it, creating some curb appeal.

A sliding glass door leads to a small, fenced back yard. The home is about five blocks from the Pacific Ocean.

An open house will be held on Saturday, May 26 at 1-4 p.m.

Laguna Beach’s median value – the midpoint of all sales – was $1.695 million in April, down 10.8 percent year over year. There were 46 sales, representing an increase of 70.4 percent over April 2017.

There were 268 active listings in Laguna Beach as of mid-may, according to a report issued by Orange County real estate analyst Steven Thomas at Reports on Housing. The average list price was $5.2 million.

See more photos in the slideshow.

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