What $629,000 Buys in Running Springs: A Full Remodel
What does $629,000 buy in Running Springs, California?
A 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom, 3,662-square-foot home on Glenn Oak in Running Springs is listed at $629,000 — about $172 per square foot. The house has been rebuilt nearly top to bottom with quartz countertops, new cabinetry, dual-pane windows, whitewashed brick, and four distinct living zones, including a lower-level primary suite and a flexible studio beside the two-car garage. One shower in the lower-level bathroom is the only original fixture left.
By Rachael Smith | September 30, 2026
Most mountain homes under $650,000 make you pick one: square footage or condition.
You either get room to spread out and a decade of deferred maintenance, or you get a tidy little cabin with nowhere to put anyone. That trade-off is the whole game in this price band, and it's why so many buyers stall out.
This Running Springs listing is the rare one that doesn't ask you to choose — and that's worth understanding in detail, because homes like it don't sit long.
The house sits on a quiet street off Live Oak, the main road down the hill, and you're seconds from downtown Running Springs. The lot is about 6,900 square feet. There's a two-car garage plus comfortable surface parking for three cars, and room for five or six if you use the street frontage.
It's listed by Robert Nicorici with Icon Realty. I'll say this plainly — I've toured a lot of his listings, and the pattern holds. He takes an old, awkward house and rebuilds it into something people actually want to live in. Watch the specs and first walk-up at 0:26.
What the remodel actually covers
Start outside, because that's where you can usually tell whether a flip was done well or done fast.
Someone hauled in real stonework and set it into the stairwell and driveway. There's a covered breezeway at the entry, so you're not getting snowed on while you fumble for keys. Drainage runs through the hillside, with a small retaining wall and tiered landings on the way up. The exterior is painted a deep charcoal.
None of that is cheap, and none of it shows up in a listing photo the way a kitchen does. It's the kind of spending that tells you the renovation budget wasn't only cosmetic.
Inside, the finishes are consistent from room to room — which is the real tell on a quality remodel. Cheap flips run out of money halfway through and you can see the seam. Here you can't.
- Flooring: wood laminate throughout the main house
- Brick: original brick kept and whitewashed, which brightens the rooms instead of darkening them
- Windows: dual-pane in the main house — a detail buyers routinely forget to ask about, and one that matters at this elevation
- Ceilings: a mix of drywall with recessed lighting, tongue and groove, and exposed white headers
- Fireplaces: several, including a full brick feature wall in the main living area
The kitchen is the centerpiece. Quartz countertops, a built-in island with bar seating, a brand-new range with interior ventilation, white subway tile, a large farmhouse sink, gold fixtures, new cabinetry with floating wood shelves, and built-in firewood storage worked right into the cabinet run.
The counters step through three levels, which sounds fussy and works well in person. The galley section is spaced properly — you can open the dishwasher and still get past it, which is a test a surprising number of remodels fail.
Layout-wise, you're getting four separate places to put people:
- Main floor — living room, a second living area that works as an office or dining room, and the kitchen
- Upstairs — a large game room under an A-frame ceiling with two bedrooms off it, reached by open floating stairs built on heavy beams
- Lower level — the primary suite, with roughly nine-foot ceilings, tongue-and-groove, a barn door, storage under the stairs, and its own balcony
- Studio — a flexible room by the garage with a separate entrance
That separation is the thing to focus on. Four zones in 3,662 square feet means a full-time family isn't living on top of each other, and a short-term rental can sleep a real group without anyone drawing the short straw.
The bathrooms carry the same design language — ribbed wood paneling, hex tile, quartz counters, wall-mounted toilets, a hammered metal sink in one, a cast-iron tub in another. Laundry sits in the upstairs hallway. The furnace looks close to new.
If you're weighing a mountain home as a rental, run the numbers before you fall for the finishes. I break down real Big Bear rental income — gross, expenses, and what's actually left — every week on my YouTube channel. Subscribe here so you have the math before you write the offer.
Where the house still needs work
No house is perfect, and you should always know what you're buying into before you get emotionally attached.
The lower-level shower is the one untouched thing in the house. It's clean and it's painted, but it wasn't updated with everything else. If it were mine, I'd gut it and tile it out. Budget for that.
The studio has mixed windows. Most are single-pane, with one dual-pane. If anyone's going to sleep or work out there through a Running Springs winter, that's a real comfort and efficiency gap.
The door between the studio and the garage doesn't self-close. That's a safety item, not a preference. Fix it before anyone sleeps in that room.
The studio is not a permitted ADU. The listing language calls it a possible ADU, and the bones are there — separate entrance, its own space, right by the garage. But "could be" and "is" are very different things. If an ADU is central to why you're buying, verify San Bernardino County's requirements before you're in contract, not after. The same homework applies to older mountain cabins where additions were made over the years.
There's also a shed on the property. It's empty, and it's fine.
So who does this house actually fit?
If you want a full-time mountain home, the layout and the condition are both there, and you're minutes from town rather than down a long unmaintained road. If you want a weekend place near Snow Valley, Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear, this is well positioned for all three. And if you're looking at it as a short-term rental, the four-zone layout and the sleeping capacity are exactly what drives nightly rate — though as with any mountain rental, the income math deserves its own look before you commit.
For comparison, it's worth seeing what $599,000 buys in Lake Arrowhead with lake rights — same general budget, very different value proposition. And if covered parking is high on your list, the premium a garage commands in this market is worth understanding before you compare listings.
Common questions about this Running Springs listing
How much is the home, and what's the price per square foot?
It's listed at $629,000 for 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and 3,662 square feet — roughly $172 per square foot, on an approximately 6,900-square-foot lot with a two-car garage.
Is anything left unfinished?
One shower in the lower-level primary bathroom is the only original fixture in the house. It's clean and painted but not updated. The studio also has mostly single-pane windows and a garage door that doesn't self-close.
Can the studio be used as an ADU?
It has a separate entrance and the right bones, but it isn't a permitted ADU as-is. Converting it means checking county requirements and upgrading the windows and the garage access door.
How's the parking?
Two-car garage, plus room for about three cars on the property and five or six if you use the street frontage — better than most homes at this elevation.
Here's the short version: at $629,000, you're getting 3,662 square feet where someone else already spent the renovation money, and your to-do list is one shower and a few windows. In this market, that's a strong position to start from.
The hard part isn't finding the house. It's knowing what a remodel is worth, what it's hiding, and what it'll cost you after closing — and that's what I walk through on every tour I film. Subscribe to the channel so you're seeing these homes with me, and call or text me at (909) 744-2190 when you want to walk one in person.
About Rachael Smith
Rachael Smith is a top-producing real estate agent with RE/MAX Big Bear, specializing in mountain homes, short-term rental investments, and luxury properties in Big Bear Lake and surrounding areas. With over a decade of experience and hundreds of homes sold, she helps buyers, sellers, and investors make smart, strategic real estate decisions. Through her strong online presence and data-driven approach, Rachael connects clients with opportunities both on and off the market.
This home is listed by Robert Nicorici with Icon Realty. Rachael Smith, RE/MAX Big Bear, DRE #01923537.
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