A bold concept of teamwork inspired Mike Deasy and George Penner to create their new real estate firm, Deasy/Penner & Partners on Main Street in Venice. They envisioned a company in which the agents would be partners in the firm, actively involved in multiple aspects of the business, and would accrue equity in the company based on their individual productivity. “All agents participate in both profit and equity,” says Palisadian Deasy, formerly of Mossler Deasy & Doe, a trailblazer in the industry of architecturally significant homes. “Most of our agents are as adept at creating ads as doing finance and administration.” Deasy/Penner & Partners was born in June and currently has 15 agents, including Frank Langen, a Santa Monica Canyon resident and co-creator of inthecanyon.com. The firm hopes to have a team of 30 within six months. Penner, an advertising executive who was chief operating officer at MDD, has even created a logo that can be personalized by incorporating the name of each partner. In this way, Penner says, they’re “rewarding and incentivizing each agent” and simultaneously “developing a firm that’s a unified front in the eyes of the consumer. “We’re allowing our new brand to be everybody’s brand,” he says. Penner resigned from MDD May 31 and Deasy followed shortly thereafter. Both are well versed in the specialized market of architectural homes, and Deasy bought his current home’the Entenza house designed by Modernist architect Harwell Hamilton Harris’from Penner in 1998. The two share a passion for the “home as art” and a mission to help clients translate their aesthetic preferences into a living environment that will complement their lifestyles and tastes. “We want to be experts on how people live in the house,” Penner says, explaining that the name of the architect who designed a house and the year it was built are less important than how the house interacts with the emotions of the buyer. “Think of the home as a piece of artwork but not as a museum that you can’t live in.” Deasy adds that their philosophy is “not having the art impose itself on you.” The firm’s reach will extend from Malibu to Palm Springs, and incorporate diverse architectural styles. Currently, their most significant listings in terms of design include three Brentwood homes: the Binstock residence, a bluffside estate on Richwood; a restored Spanish-style home on Medio, with gardens designed by Pamela Burton; and a New England traditional home on Carmelina. They have two listings on Amalfi in Santa Monica Canyon. One is an original concrete house that was renovated and wood-clad in the 1960s by Doug Rucker, and expanded two decades later by architect Sam Tolkin. French doors open to the verdant canyon, which stretches around the home. “We’re very passionate about our vision,” Penner says, emphasizing that their firm’s scope “goes well beyond the focus on mid-century architecture, which MDD did so well. There’s so much more design and ‘home as art’ in Southern California.” Deasy says that currently, one of the most popular designs is the Nantucket beach style’white and open, with hardwood floors. Penner adds that mid-century modern is still “in” but “I think it’s evolving. People are looking at contemporary designs with a mid-century attitude.” Whatever the trend, Penner says there’s “a sense of need to be more diverse and create a market that breaks through the generality.” Deasy and Penner believe they’ve created that market and a new real estate model with their boutique firm. For more information, visit www.deasypenner.com or call 275-1000.
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