Town's Oldest Home Sold to Developers
Submitted photo New owners of a 120-year-old Laguna Beach home plan major changes. The oldest home in Laguna Beach, 154 Pearl Street, a historic board and batten design constructed in 1888 from shipwrecked timbers washed up onshore, was recently purchased for $3.8 million by Tresor Properties, which plans to expand the structure and add a second residence on the lot.
The original house was built by the Harper family and stayed in their hands until John and Fran Andersen bought the home five years ago, said John Fischbeck, a principal of the 10-year-old Laguna Beach-based brokerage, development and construction company, the third owner of the 120-year old structure.
The Andersens spent two years restoring the cottage with whitewater views, including rebuilding the windows of redwood to appear as authentic as possible. They also rebuilt the interior, where termites had damaged the walls, Mrs. Andersen said.
The Pearl Street home, a simple box plan with low ceilings and uneven floors and a single gable roof, is an E-rated or exceptional structure, based on the city's historic preservation standards. Properties denoted K and C are of lesser historic or intrinsic value.
Submitted photo The whitewater view from the oldest home in Laguna Beach. The new owner's renovation proposals now rest with Laguna's nine-member heritage committee, chaired by John Madison, a former landscape architect and lawyer who owns a historic former home remade as Madison Square Garden restaurant.
Tresor's original renovation proposal was not accepted, continued by the committee in order for the architect to come up with alterations to the design by mid-September.
Though sympathetic to the hurdles property owners face, Madison said, "The owners push for what they can get."
In this case, the owners seek to remove what they view as nonviable existing elements such as a later addition to the basement and non-historic additions on the first floor. The overall process will add square footage to the existing cottage, bumping it to about 2300 square feet from 1500 square feet. The plan also calls for adding another more modern design 1600-square feet house on a lot that is zoned for two residences. The new residence will incorporate the existing stand-alone garage already on the property.
Architect Mike Blakemore, currently working on Tresor projects in East Cape Baja California in Mexico, said the heritage committee rejected the first proposal even though it was based on the owner's extensive historical study. Blakemore said the second proposal reduced the deck and other elements of the design.
"If a developer tried to sneak by us," according to Madison, and apply directly to Design Review to gain approvals for changes to a historic structure, "…they would be sent back to deal with us." The committee recently gained two new members, up from the seven previously making up the group. The committee includes a blue chip quota of lawyers, architects, builders and former councilmembers.
Madison himself is a veteran of the process. His restaurant building on the historical register also had an E rating.
Research plays a big part in the committee's recommendations to sanction proposed modifications because over time previous owners' improvements, such as aluminum or vinyl windows, were not original to the structure. Deciding what must be preserved and what should go takes time, research, and thought, Madison explained.
About 300 homes in the town were identified for the historic register when the California Historic Homes Division surveyed the structures in 1981 and 1982.
Tresor must first seek design approval from the heritage committee while simultaneously satisfying planning and zoning requirements, staking the project and noticing all neighbors within 300 feet of the project, which will be done within a few weeks, according to Blakemore. A green light from the heritage committee is necessary before Tresor seeks approvals and permits through the Design Review Board.
The committee seeks to retain a structure's prime historical elements while also satisfying the desires of the owner, Madison said. "We don't want to prevent anyone from driving a nail. It's a give and take. You've got to have progress or you're dead."
The owners are likely to invoke the Mills Act at some point, which grants incentives and tax breaks to owners that protect, preserve and maintain historic property in accordance with specific preservation standards. In 1972, the Mills Act granted local governments "…authority to grant property tax relief to owners of 'qualified' historical properties.
Those breaks become especially valuable given current property prices.
Tresor in July also acquired the historic home of artist William Wendt. Its restoration is estimated at $8 million and could be completion by 2011, according to John Fischbeck.
Another sample of Tresor's approach to historic projects can be seen at the 939 Catalina, also on the historic register.
Tresor principals include builder Ken Fishbeck, his brother John, and Ken's son, Jeff. They pride themselves on undertaking redevelopment of historic properties in Laguna and Mexico. Their website claims they are "…committed to enhancing the city's distinctiveness and preserving the historic significance of landmark properties that signify its cultural heritage."
