Costa Mesa Huscroft House may be on its last legs

Lolita Harper

Without a willing buyer in the next few months, the aging Huscroft

House will be turned into kindling, the City Council decided Monday

night.

Faced again with the nagging question of what will happen to the

craftsman-style home, council members decided to support the most

expedient measure available -- even if that means destruction.

Mayor Linda Dixon, a longtime supporter of the 1915 house, said the lack of support for the aging structure saddened her. It is

important for the community to come together in an effort to preserve

the past, she said.

“We have to step forward and protect the little bit of history

that is left in this city,” Dixon said.

With Monday’s vote, the City Council overruled a longtime plan to

move the Huscroft House -- originally built in Santa Ana in 1915 but

moved to Costa Mesa by the Huscroft family in 1950 -- to a permanent

home at Fairview Park.

John Moorehart, a Costa Mesa business man, said he would be

interested in moving the house to a lot in the 500 block of Bernard

Street if it were seriously in danger of being demolished.

“I don’t think I have to convince anyone of the quality of

workmanship put [into the house],” he said.

Councilman Gary Monahan, who has never been a big fan of spending

city money on the decrepit house, was optimistic about Moorehart’s

proposal and suggested the city work with him to see if it were a

viable opportunity.

City Manager Alan Roeder discouraged the council from entertaining

offers from well-intentioned but indecisive buyers. He said the city

should consider “interested, qualified” parties who have the

resources to “acquire, relocate and put [the house] to productive

use.”

The city still has access to $200,000 that Home Ranch developers

pledged to cover the costs of moving the house from its current perch

on Arlington Drive to Fairview Park. Council members have said the

Home Ranch money, donated by the Segerstrom family, was not enough to

make a public project work, so they will try to renegotiate and

redirect the funds.

The house has sat along Arlington Drive since it was donated to

the city three years ago. The council said it hoped something would

be done with it before the winter season, which will decay the house

even further than it is.