What’s old is new again, and for homeowners who lost everything in January’s Eaton Fire, the Historic House Relocation Project means hope and rebuilding in Altadena.
A four-bedroom, 2,300-square-foot home, built in 1926 on N. Orlando Ave. in West Hollywood is the latest home to be saved from demolition and is now slated to be carefully taken apart and restored onto a new foundation in Altadena, on the lot where the Martinez family lost their home of eight years.
“It feels like a lifetime, but it also feels like yesterday,” David Martinez said, thinking about his home burned in the fire.
He said his family, including wife Lauren and three young children (the youngest was born only one month after the Eaton Fire,) are eager to return to the community they love.
Martinez already envisions life inside the new space.
“Christmas tree there, stockings over the fireplace,” Martinez said, while touring NBC4 through the interior of his new home.
This is the third home in the relocation project from Los Angeles-based architecture and interiors firm, Omgivning.
“We’re connecting with the families, connecting them together, helping broker the deal with the property owner, so that we can purchase the house for a dollar,” Morgan Sykes Jaybush, the architect who first envisioned the project, said.
“And then we’re organizing all the construction crews to get the house out there and permitting the new foundation plus any renovation that we want to do to the house,” he added.
It’s an effort to save homes destined for landfills and help families move back into fire-affected neighborhoods faster and at a lower cost than traditional rebuilding.
“So far, from what we’ve gathered, like the last two homes that have done this, it is on par or maybe like 25% less than what they had been quoted to build something new,” Martinez explained.
As of Wednesday, the house in West Hollywood was being carefully cut into pieces and getting ready for the big move next week.
Jaybush said they follow local and state traffic laws and will have a police escort, and the actual trek happens at night.
The home will eventually be lowered onto a foundation on West Pine Street in Altadena; utilities will be connected. The process is expected to take about nine to 12 months following rebuilding permits and inspections.
Project organizers said the West Hollywood home was previously owned by a 98-year old woman who passed away in December. They said she raised eight children in that home. Developers now plan to build up to six new homes on the property, according to Jaybush.
“I want it to be something that’s viable for everybody else. There are so many other people that need a home,” Martinez said.
Jaybush said there is a waiting list of 180 people who are interested in taking this next step.
Anyone interested in the Historic House Relocation Project (whether obtaining or donating a house) can reach out to Omgivning at HouseRelocation@Omgivning.com or (213) 596-5602