Shotgun home must be cleared away by Monday
Preservationists across the city have launched an ambitious campaign to raise $14,000 to move an 1880’s-era shotgun house before it’s demolished.
Members of the Ocean Park Community Organization, assisted by the newly-formed Santa Monica Conservancy, have convinced the city council to allow them to store the house on a vacant lot at the Santa Monica Airport for no more than two years while supporters raise money for its restoration.
The home — long-designated a city landmark — is believed to be the last remaining example of what the majority of residents of Santa Monica’s Ocean Park Neighborhood lived in during the 1800s, preservationists said.
“One hundred and twenty years ago, 220 of these homes made up Ocean Park,” said OPCO member Fred Whitlock. “Today, there’s only one left, and we’re trying to preserve it.”
But to move the antique home, located at 2712 Second Street, the two groups will have to raise $14,000. It’s anticipated an additional $94,000 will be needed to restore the home to its historical significance and find it a permanent location within the city.
Early Wednesday morning, OPCO members and preservationists gathered at the house to prevent construction crews from demolishing the structure. Before they could convince the workers to cease, two additions to the building and a gardening shack in the backyard had been leveled.
The building’s interior had already been gutted, and many of the original windows, window sashes, moldings and trim had already been removed and thrown out.
“We’re not going to have everything intact as we had hoped, but it’s a last hour thing,” said Tom Cleys, president of the conservancy group. “We’re past the 11th hour, and we’re way out in the 13th hour now.”
Braden Powell, the owner of the building, met with OPCO officials late Wednesday night at a Main Street cafe. He agreed not to knock the structure down as long as the group moves the house by Monday morning, and he demanded they must re-imburse him a few thousand dollars the construction delays will cost him.
As of Tuesday evening, the two groups had raised $2,000, but OPCO members said a supporter, who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to loan the organization enough money to move the building. However, fundraising continues to pay back the loan.
“The level of community support that has gone into this has been unbelievable,” said Pam Vavra, a conservancy member. “It’s just super.”
The city has issued the needed permits to move the structure, and today officials expect the building to be raised off its foundation in preparation to be transported to the airport, Vavra said. Any time between tomorrow evening and Saturday morning the building is expected to be moved.
A shotgun-style home is a single building separated into various rooms which are not connected by hallways. The style — which was developed during the Civil War when opposing military camps would dig into locations — caught on because the structures could be built quickly and cheaply. After the war, the ‘shotgun’ style caught on with companies that would mass-produce the shacks as residential homes and ship them west, where they could be sold cheaply to settlers.
The homes were shipped to Santa Monica by rail during the late-1800s. Settlers of the area could buy a shotgun-style home and a small tract of land for very little money, and the homes quickly dotted the landscape.
The city had designated the house a landmark almost ten years ago, but a new owner of the home convinced Landmarks Commission officials that the structure was too small to live in and it could not be further expanded. A demolition permit was then granted.
“If preservation is going to destroy someone’s investment completely, demolition permits can still be issued,” said Nina Fresco, an OPCO member and a landmarks commissioner.
Preservationists foresee using the building once it’s preserved as a museum, an art gallery, a public meeting space or even as a day care facility. They believe the preserved building could become a local attraction.
“It really speaks to our city’s history of tourism and how Santa Monica was developed and created by Realtors,” Whitlock said.
Anyone wishing to make a donation to save Santa Monica’s remaining shotgun home should contact OPCO at (310) 385-3350 or
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 26, 2002. Read the original PDF.