Historic home not on safe ground yet

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- The City Council decided this week to put the Huscroft

House up for sale.

The council had been considering restoring the 1912 Craftsman-style

house and moving it to Fairview Park. But now, if a buyer can’t be found,

the house may be demolished.

In December, the council unanimously approved the restoration of the

house for use as a cultural museum at the park, but since then, council

members have taken drastically different stances on the issue.

Councilwoman Linda Dixon and Mayor Libby Cowan were both in favor of

restoring the house.

“It’s pretty sad that it’s going up for sale, and if no one buys it,

it will be demolished,” Dixon said Tuesday. “I would hate to see that

because we have so little of our past. There was a lot of community

support, a lot of disappointed people who felt this would be a project

that would unite the community.”

Cowan said she has heard that someone is interested in buying the

house but has no idea who the person is.

“It’s evident that a change in attitude will be very slow in this

community toward things that are worthy of protection and preservation,”

she said. “I think we’ve lost an opportunity to create a sense of place,

create a sense of who we are and where we came from.”

Councilman Gary Monahan was opposed to the project, saying the cost of

the restoration would be too high.

In 1998, the city paid about $54,000 to move the donated house from

2529 Santa Ana Ave. to TeWinkle Park, where it’s been awaiting the move

to Fairview Park.

On Monday, the council considered spending an additional $174,900 to

move the Huscroft House from TeWinkle Park to Fairview Park. Staff

estimated the restoration cost at $189,750.

“I don’t believe that we have the money or that we should be spending

that amount of money on something such as this,” Monahan said. “It’s not

what I believe is in our best interest.”

At the meeting Monday, Council members Karen Robinson and Chris Steel

also voted against the project.

Steel said he would support the project if the council was willing to

close the city’s job center and use money from that for the house, but

other council members were against the idea.

Neither Steel nor Robinson were available for comment by press time.