Huscroft House may avoid demolition

Deirdre Newman

They couldn’t sell it. So now, they may give it away -- with

$30,000 thrown in to help move it.

The city’s public services director will advise the City Council

to transfer ownership of the Huscroft House to 126 Properties, LLC on

Monday.

The company’s owner, John Morehart, said he intends to move the

dilapidated house to a Westside property he owns at 548 Bernard St.

This would spare the house from demolition, which was due since the

city had found no buyers for the 1915 Craftsman-style house.

If the agreement is approved Monday, it would serve as a

preliminary step for the transfer. Morehart would still have to seek

Planning Commission approval.

Part of the agreement calls for the city to pay Morehart $30,000

-- half of the cost of relocation and abatement of toxic materials

like lead-based paint and asbestos. More importantly, from the city’s

perspective, it is also equivalent to the amount it would cost to

demolish the house, which is still an option if the deal with

Morehart falls through.

“The feeling is, if we have to spend that much money anyway, let’s

see if someone can use the house and we’ll give them that amount of

money to help make it into something that someone can occupy and

use,” said William Morris, director of public services, on Thursday.

The Huscroft House has tested the patience and purse strings of

the city since 1998, when officials paid $54,000 to move the donated

house from 2529 Santa Ana Ave. to TeWinkle Park. The historic home

was built in Santa Ana and then moved to Costa Mesa in 1950.

In 2001, the council approved its restoration for use as a

cultural museum at Fairview Park. But in July, the city 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 offers

eventually fell through.

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

from the Home Ranch development agreement to move the historic home

to Fairview Park, but expected the community to raise another

$200,000.

Community support never materialized and, by September 2002, it

looked like the beleaguered home was headed for the chopping block.

Enter Morehart, who expressed interest in moving the house to his

12,000 square-foot property on the Westside. Morehart intends to

demolish one of two single-family homes on the property to replace it

with the Huscroft House. In addition to kicking in the $30,000, the

city is also offering to waive certain permits and fees.

Morehart was unavailable for comment on Thursday.

Sid Soffer, a former Costa Mesa resident and restaurant owner

jailed for violating city property codes, charges that the city would

be violating its own code if it allows the house to be moved before

it is brought up to code. Soffer, a fugitive from justice now living

in Las Vegas, has long criticized the City Council for its ownership

of the Huscroft House, which he contends violates property codes.

“The municipal code specifically states that any house that is

moved shall be brought up to code before it is moved,” said Soffer,

whose property is coincidently a few lots away on Bernard Street.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.