Huscroft House can be moved to Westside

Deepa Bharath

The Planning Commission on Monday unanimously approved moving the

Huscroft House to a Westside location.

But John Morehart, owner of 126 Properties LLC and the historic

house, said the commission’s unanimous decision to decline the

variances he had requested for parking, setbacks and lot division

would kill the enormous potential the century-old house presents to a

buyer who may be interested in fixing it up.

The commission on Monday decided that the Huscroft House could be

moved to a Westside property that Morehart owns at 548 Bernard St.

This would spare the 1915 Craftsman-style house from demolition,

which was due since the city had found no buyers. In January, the

City Council transferred ownership of the house to Morehart’s

company.

Morehart said Wednesday that although the Huscroft House can be

used as a single-family home based on the commission’s approval, he

doesn’t believe there will be any takers when rental property

surrounds it.

“The person who buys it will be forced to take care of the two

rental properties on the same lot because the land cannot be

divided,” he said. “We need everything to be separate -- sewer,

parking everything.”

But that will not be possible because the commission did not grant

the variances.

Planning Commissioner Bruce Garlich said he believed the variances

were “not justified.”

“They weren’t necessary for the house to be moved to that

location,” he said. “It can still be used as a single-family

residence.”

But no one would buy it, Morehart said.

“Real estate is like a bundle of sticks,” he said. “If you take it

apart, it loses its aesthetic value, its emotional value.”

Morehart said he believes the Huscroft House is a “cool house.”

“But the Planning Commission wants me to use my money to make it a

condominium,” he said. “I don’t object to the city controlling its

use. But I object to it being attached to rental units in the back.”

Renters do not understand the value of such precious property,

Morehart said.

“The house has great bones, a beautiful skeleton,” he said. “It

needs the hands of a special kind of craftsman. It needs pride of

ownership.”

Morehart said he has not decided whether to appeal the

commission’s decision to the City Council. He has until 5 p.m.

Monday.

The historic home was built in Santa Ana and moved to Costa Mesa

in 1950. In 1998, the city of Costa Mesa spent $54,000 to move the

house from 2529 Santa Ana Ave. to TeWinkle Park. Three years later,

the council approved its restoration for use as a cultural museum in

Fairview Park, but later decided to sell the house and put it out to

bid. At the end of the formal bidding process, only two bids had been

received, both of which fell through.

At the end of 2001, the city said it would use the $200,000

designated from the Home Ranch development agreement to move the

historic home to Fairview Park, but expected the community to match

the money. That did not happen, and by September 2002, the

dilapidated home was headed to demolition. That was when Morehart

expressed interest in moving the house to his 12,000-square-foot

property on the Westside.

His plan was to demolish one of the two single-family homes on the

property to replace it with the Huscroft House.

Planning Commissioner Katrina Foley said she hopes Morehart will

move the house.

“I hope the project can happen despite the variances,” she said.

“These kind of Craftsman homes are few and far between and must be

preserved.”