A piece of Surf City history on the move

Jenny Marder

History rolled slowly and carefully through the streets of Huntington

Beach just after midnight Monday when Joe Santiago saved the historic

Manning House from a bulldozer and had it moved to a new location.

The Surf City resident had the house towed across town, where it

will be stored for two months before completing the final leg of its

journey to Downtown Huntington Beach.

The previous owner, Deborah Cowley, gave Santiago the Manning

House free of charge, as long as he paid to relocate the structure.

Santiago is now the owner of two turn-of-the-century houses, which

he plans to combine into one. In two months, he will secure the

Manning House by crane atop the Warner House, at 10th Street and

Orange Avenue, where he lives with his fiancee, Shannon Allen.

“This is probably going to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of

experience,” Santiago said. “It all sort of fell into my lap.”

An avid enthusiast of old homes, Santiago couldn’t resist taking

on the Manning House when he learned of the owner’s plan to demolish

it to make way for two three-story apartments complexes.

The Manning House, built in 1906, was named after its first owner,

Edward Manning, the first mayor of Huntington Beach. The Warner House

was built a year later.

“They’re like big brother and little sister,” Santiago said.

“Their similarities are uncanny. It’s like they were separated at

birth.”

It took about 40 minutes to move the Manning House from its plot

at 701 Delaware St. to Scott Oil Company near Main and Gothard

streets, where it will be stored for the next couple of months.

“I thought, what a great idea to save and preserve this with

another historic house,” Santiago said.

The house is a blend of three architectural styles, Craftsman,

Victorian and Colonial Revival, all of which were popular during the

early 20th century. Single-story, rectangular and roughly 1,000

square feet in area, it served as a single-family residence for 100

years.

“It’s very, very beautiful as far as carpentry work,” said

Mitchell Wade, Santiago’s contractor. “They were craftsmen in those

days. They weren’t in a hurry like contractors are today. There was

obviously time put into it.”

The house is in very good condition for its age, Wade added.

“This home has survived three earthquakes, inspects, bugs,

termites and water,” he said.

Santiago estimates that relocation will cost $30,000 to $40,000.

Before the move, different parts of the house, including the roof,

had to be removed. Fencing, bricks and trees around the house were

also salvaged.

To move it, the house was jacked up onto two steel beams and then

secured to a set of wheels that looked like airplane landing gear,

Santiago said.

Santiago and his fiancee haven’t decided whether to rent the

Manning House out as a second-story apartment unit or live in it. The

two hope one day to turn the historical property into a bed and

breakfast, but there are years of restoration before the house can be

fully revived.

But the landmark is in good hands, Wade said.

“If anybody was going to receive that house and take care of it,

no one is more qualified than Joe Santiago,” Wade said. “I couldn’t

throw out a nail without his permission.”