A small yellow and dilapidated beachside cottage on Ocean Avenue received a lot of love this year, when more than 1,500 people signed a petition pleading with City Council to save the 102-year-old structure from the wrecking ball.
The Save the Cottage movement started in April 2006, when the building’s property owner — the University of Illinois Foundation — filed an application to demolish the permit, but gained steam this year when the final decision on the fate of the building was left to the City Council in June.
Located at 2219 Ocean Ave., the cottage was constructed in the early 1900s and is considered to be one of the very few remaining beachside-facing cottages, if not the only, in Santa Monica. The three-bedroom, three bathroom cottage was owned by William Hobson and was deeded to the University of Illinois Foundation after his death in 2005.
The Landmarks Commission placed the building in its historic registry in August 2006, a decision that was subsequently appealed by the university, that had placed the home on the market. University officials reportedly had a difficult time trying to sell the building before the historic designation
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 26, 2007. Read the original PDF.