My overall experience staying at Mark’s house was very positive and I strongly suggest his house! The house, a cute bungalow-type building, is conveniently located close to the Metro Expo/La Brea line. For someone working/studying at UCLA, this makes transportation easy (total transportation time: 1hr, with a combo of metro+bus, but this is better than driving to UCLA given the traffic. The whole journey is very straightforward, cheap, and easy). The neighborhood -West Adams- is colorful and peaceful during the day, but a lot of caution is needed from evening onwards, as the streets are not safe to walk. It is advisable to always use a taxi service after hours. There is one super nice coffee place, approx. 15 min walking from home. Other than that the neighborhood options for dine/recreation are very limited. That said, Culver City, Downtown, and Hollywood are all within a short-drive distance, and this is convenient if you want to experience different, lively parts of LA. Grocery stores and CVS are within 15min walk.
The house itself has all the amenities needed for a pleasant stay and seems to be very well suited for long-term stays. Everything is functional and Mark is very responsive if you need him to fix something. He is anyways usually in the house, staying in one of the rooms, or visiting during the day, working in the garden and brainstorming ideas on how to improve the house. He is very friendly and has countless stories to share. He is also quite strict with extra guests (ie. partners visiting), therefore be wary of the home regulations. The common areas of the house were super warm and cozy during the winter months, the room itself was quite chilly, as there is no heater installed in it. A space heater offered by Mark however, helps a lot. The room is spacious and has lots of spaces to store personal items/clothes. I spent most of my time in there working and I found the room to be a very comfortable and well- lit space for reading/laptop related work. The kitchen is fully equipped and clean, as is the bathroom. Note that for this room you have to share the bathroom with another guest (or Mark). This was not a problem for me, everyone was very courteous and the space remained clean. There is a small beautiful back garden which is a pleasure to look at and to experience in sunny days. During my stay I had a total of three alternating roommates besides Mark, all of which were extremely nice, discrete and respectful, and with whom we had great discussions and even outings. I felt safe, welcomed, warm and at home in Mark’s house. I highly recommend it for people working at UCLA, or another well connected area, who are looking for a peaceful/exciting long term stay. I stayed there January to March and had to leave a few weeks early due to the coronavirus pandemic (I returned home to avoid being blocked in LA). I wish Airbnb had a provision for a refund, but this was not offered by the host.