Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/14049
AUGUST 2010 SPORTS & EDUCATION 36 HOME & GARDEN : HOME TOUR When she's not pulling 12-hour days as a child- care provider, Starr Scott is volunteering her time at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, where her 16-year-old son Jacob plays football and baseball. Thankfully, this busy schedule is balanced with a peaceful home life that serves as a quiet retreat from Scott's fast-paced and often hectic life. In 2001, Scott was a single mother with three children when she purchased her 1,986-square-foot Wrigley residence from a real estate agent. The house was in "bad shape," but the fact that the fixer-upper was a stone's throw from the home she lived in for the previous 15 years was a major selling point. Scott also needed plenty of space for her business and her current abode does just that, as nine young children occupy a portion of her property Monday through Friday. "When I was looking for a home," Scott said, "I wanted a place where my kids could have some space and I could continue my business. Moving here meant moving my business and that's why we stayed in the neighborhood. With this kind of business you can't go too far." As if location and size weren't enough, Scott has always felt an affinity for Spanish homes and says her abode's aesthetic wasn't a deal- breaker, but was definitely the icing on the cake. "I've always liked Spanish homes," Scott said. "All you had to do was show me one Spanish tile on the corner of a house and I was like, 'ooh.' It wasn't a priority, but it was a benefit." Scott's quarters not only required an upgrade for Jacob, son Nicholas, daughter Hannah, Jacob's friend Dabness Atkins, dogs Sasha and Jeter and husband Chris (Scott re-married in August 2005), but her property needed to be brought up to code in order for her to run a business from home. The renovation began with removing pillars in the front of the house and replacing them with "All you had to do was show me one Spanish tile on the corner of a house and I was like 'ooh.' It wasn't a priority, but it was a benefit." —Starr Scott.