About the Building
Le Chateau of Westwood is a building of 1982 at 1370 Kelton Avenue, and the Los Angeles County Assessor confirms it as a genuine for-sale condominium rather than a rental held on a single parcel. Twenty-four separately assessed parcels run consecutively from 4324-008-021 to 4324-008-044, each carrying the legal description Tract 40581, Lot 1, Condominium, followed by a unit number from one to twenty-four. Every parcel sampled is coded 010C, the assessor's classification for a purpose-built condominium as opposed to a conversion or a co-operative. Homes are individually deeded and individually financeable.
The unit numbering describes a compact building. Situs addresses on the roll run 101 to 108, 201 to 208 and 301 to 308, which is eight homes on each of three residential tiers and accounts for all twenty-four. Condominium directories describe the building as five floors. Both statements can be true if the count includes parking or an entry level below the numbered residential tiers, but the roll's numbering is the more reliable guide to where homes actually sit. Ask which physical level a residence occupies rather than reading it off a marketing description.
The county record also corrects the published unit mix. Directories describe this building as two-bedroom homes from 1,520 to 2,380 square feet. The assessor records 1,520 square feet with two bedrooms and three bathrooms at 101 and 201, 2,098 square feet with two bedrooms and three bathrooms at 301, but also 1,857 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms at 108 and 2,493 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms at 308. Three-bedroom plans exist here, and the largest home on the roll is a hundred and thirteen square feet above the published ceiling.
That top-floor pattern is the most interesting thing in the data. Unit 308 is recorded at 2,493 square feet and unit 301 at 2,098, against 1,520 for the same stack positions on the first and second tiers. The third level is materially larger than the two below it, which in a building of this form usually means the top homes take in roof volume, setbacks or terrace area that the lower plans do not. It also makes them effectively unique inside the association, with no true internal comparable and appraisals that reach outside the building.
On vintage: a 1982 completion places the property outside both of the city's mandatory seismic programmes. Los Angeles Ordinance 183893 reaches wood-frame soft-storey buildings permitted before 1 January 1978 and non-ductile concrete buildings permitted before 13 January 1977. Neither window catches this building, and it does not appear in the city's published soft-storey permit data. Older properties elsewhere on Kelton Avenue do appear there, having completed retrofits. Absence here reflects the building's date rather than any conclusion about how it is framed. Ask the association whether it holds any engineering report on the structure, and whether any voluntary strengthening was carried out during a past exterior project.
Amenities & Services
The Residences
The roll shows 101 to 108, 201 to 208 and 301 to 308, three residential tiers of eight. Eight homes to a floor on a 23,222 square foot lot means a single corridor with homes taking light from the Kelton elevation on one side and a rear elevation on the other, and corner positions at each end of the run taking two aspects. Establish which elevation a home faces and whether its glazing is single-aspect. In a building this small, the four corner homes on each level are a distinct sub-market.
The county records 1,520 square feet with two bedrooms and three bathrooms at both 101 and 201, which means the plan repeats vertically in at least one stack. That figure also matches exactly the bottom of the range a condominium directory publishes for the building, which is clean corroboration. A two-bedroom with three bathrooms in this period typically means two full suites plus a powder room serving the entertaining rooms. Ask whether the third bathroom is served by its own vent stack or shares one. Ask too whether the powder room shares a wall with a bedroom in the neighbouring home.
Unit 108 is recorded at 1,857 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, which contradicts the two-bedroom-only description published by condominium directories. Ground-tier homes in buildings of this type frequently gain area at the rear of the plan where the podium allows, and they often come with patio rather than balcony. That is a genuine trade: more usable outdoor space, less privacy and less light. Confirm the outdoor area is exclusive-use common area rather than general common area before you count on it. Ask also how the ground tier relates to the parking entry and the refuse store.
Unit 301 is recorded at 2,098 square feet with two bedrooms and three bathrooms, against 1,520 for units 101 and 201 in what appears to be the same stack position. That is a five hundred and seventy-eight square foot difference on the top tier, which is too large to be a measurement variance. Something changes in the plan at the third level. Get the recorded condominium plan sheet for that floor and read the unit outline rather than assuming the stack repeats. Compare the parcel record for 301 against the one for the home directly below it before you accept any per square foot comparison between them.
Unit 308 is recorded at 2,493 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, the largest figure the county returned for this building and above the 2,380 square foot ceiling published by condominium directories. Homes at that size in a twenty-four unit association have no true internal comparable, which means an appraisal will reach out to Kelton, Midvale and Veteran. Ask what has closed inside the building in the last twenty-four months, at what size and in what condition, before you accept any headline price per square foot. Ask also what sits directly above the ceiling.
Marketing for this building refers to private saunas off the principal bathroom in several residences. Features of that kind are common in early 1980s Westside condominiums and are often original. What matters for a buyer is whether the installation is on the recorded plan, whether it was permitted, and how it is ventilated and drained, because a sauna adds heat and moisture to an assembly that in 1982 was not detailed for it. Ask for the permit history and inspect the surrounding finishes carefully. Ask whether the association treats the installation as an owner improvement.
Due Diligence
The county roll settles it: twenty-four separately assessed parcels under Tract 40581, Lot 1, running 4324-008-021 through 4324-008-044, each coded 010C, purpose-built condominium. Homes are individually deeded, individually taxed and individually financeable. This is not a co-operative and not a single-parcel rental. Aggregator pages for small Westside buildings frequently blur those categories; the parcel record does not. On a twenty-four home association the form of ownership also drives lender project review, which will ask about owner-occupancy, delinquency rates, commercial space and whether any single entity owns more than one unit. Have those answers ready.
The assessor's situs numbering runs across three residential tiers, 100, 200 and 300. Condominium directories state five floors. The likeliest reconciliation is that the published figure counts parking or entry levels beneath the numbered residential tiers, but this has not been verified it. Do not rely on a floor count from a listing when you are assessing outlook, lift dependence or stair access. Ask which physical level the home occupies and walk it.
Los Angeles Ordinance 183893 reaches wood-frame soft-storey buildings permitted before 1 January 1978 and non-ductile concrete buildings permitted before 13 January 1977. A 1982 completion falls outside both, and this address does not appear in the city's published soft-storey permit data. Older properties on Kelton Avenue do appear there. That absence is a function of the building's date, not an engineering finding. Ask whether the association holds any structural report.
California Civil Code section 5551 requires associations of three or more multifamily units to have exterior elevated elements with substantial load-bearing wood inspected by a licensed engineer or architect, first inspections due by 1 January 2025 and repeats every nine years. Balconies and walkways are squarely within scope. Ask for the completed report, the findings, the repair schedule and how the work is funded, because in a twenty-four home association a large repair divides into few shares.
Civil Code section 5550 requires a reserve study at least every three years with a visual inspection, reviewed annually, and section 5300 requires an annual budget report. With twenty-four owners, each capital item is divided into twenty-four shares, so an underfunded reserve translates into a large per-owner special assessment quickly. Read the study, the funding percentage, two years of financials and every special assessment the association has ever levied. Ask what percentage of the recommended reserve the association actually holds.
The building is presented in a French Normandy manner, with steep roof forms and applied detail. Complex roof geometry means more flashings, more valleys and more places for water to find its way in, and applied trim costs more to prepare and repaint than a plain elevation. Ask when the roof was last replaced, what warranty remains, when the exterior was last painted, what it cost and what the reserve study assumes for the next cycle.
The association does not publish a schedule here, and the directory and aggregator numbers that circulate are unconfirmed and go out of date quietly, so this site does not carry one. The current figure for a specific home appears on the listing and in the statutory disclosure package. For a lift-served building with a fitness room, sauna and spa, that would be modest, and it is worth testing. The statutory disclosure package under Civil Code section 4525 is the authoritative source for the current assessment and inclusions.
Directories describe secure gated parking. The allocation that binds is on the title report and the recorded condominium plan, not the marketing page; confirm the count, the tenure, whether any space is tandem and what the board permits on electric vehicle charging. A directory states pets are allowed subject to association rules. On leasing, Civil Code section 4741 bars a rental cap below twenty-five per cent of units and permits a bar on tenancies of thirty days or less.
Everything above is drawn from public records, city permit data and published sources. The association’s statutory disclosure package is the only authoritative answer on dues, rules, reserves, insurance and litigation — Ben will request it and read it with you before you remove contingencies.
Common Questions
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