1635 Ocean #D2, Long Beach, CA 90802

#2D is the only one here that opens — really opens — directly onto this outdoor space, and it rearranges the entire logic of the home. Push the doors back and the living room stops having a wall. Coffee migrates outside. Dinner follows. So does the long part of the evening: oversized chairs, too many candles, plants you keep buying, something cold sweating in your hand, and everyone staying an hour past when they said they’d go. There’s also the small matter of actual room. While most coastal condos ask you to play competitive furniture Tetris, this one hands you 1,422 honest square feet. Bring the big sofa. Host the dinner party. Work from home without working from your bed. The hardwood brings the warmth. The patio brings the fun. And the deeply unromantic, deeply expensive items have already been handled — plumbing approximately five years young, water heater brand new. Then there’s the HOA. $381 a month. Sewer and trash. In Southern California, a beachside condo with...