A Wallace Neff home that had previously been before the San Marino Planning Commission was listed for $5.9 million on Tuesday, Feb. 9 by owners Zhihuia Ma and Lina Xue.
The house now on sale is a one-story single family home at 1040 Oak Grove Avenue. It’s 5,185 square feet of livable area with six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a two-car detached garage.
“Before, it was gorgeous,” said Tink Cheney, San Marino realtor who sold the house in 2010 for $4.5 million. Architect Wallace Neff, who was instrumental in the development of style in San Marino, completed the home in 1955.
It does not have the “California style” homes Neff was known for. Cheney said this was one of the last homes Neff built, which made it more of a contemporary feel. She added Neff probably got his idea from French farmhouses.
Despite that, the Planning Commission board could not ignore the fact that the standing home was built by a such a renowned architect. After four hearings in 2015, it was clear community members and members of the Planning Commission would not support the tear down of 1040 Oak Grove Avenue.
A new two-story nine-bedroom single family house was being proposed in addition to a pool house with a bathroom and two garages that would hold five cars.
The initial hearing was on June 24, 2015. The proposal started out as a remodel, but the owners decided they would be better served with a new house because of family needs. The hearing was before the Planning Commission instead of the Design Review Committee because the applicant was proposing an accessory structure with a bathroom.
Architect Adele Chang said she discovered just the day before the hearing that it was a Wallace Neff home.
One neighbor said her “heart sank” when she learned they were proposing to take down a “quite beautiful and significant” Wallace Neff home. She said Neff was recognized for being a diverse architect, not for just one particular style.
Steve Talt, who was not a councilmember at the time, also commented on the Wallace Neff aspect stating, “I wish they could find a way to incorporate that history into the house.”
During deliberations, Planning Commissioner Marcos Velayos said further information was required to determine if the home is historic, and if it should be preserved. Howard Brody, chairman at the time, said they needed to see where it fit in amongst his work to determine if it is significant.
The hearing was continued to Aug. 26, 2015 but the applicant requested a continuance. The next hearing was Sept. 23, 2015.
Plans were altered slightly so the proposal was an 8,096-square-foot home with eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, three powder rooms, two garages and a pool house with a bathroom.
The architect did provide a Historic Resources Assessment Report, in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act review, stating the home did not contain any of the significant Wallace Neff architectural detail, and is not an example of the known “California style.” Essentially the home was not eligible to be listed in the national or distinct historic register.
Still, Commissioners Howard Brody and Susan Jakubowski were set against tearing down the Wallace Neff home. Velayos commented that though they received this report, they also received a report from the broker, who sold the house in 2012, which listed the huose as a historical Wallace Neff home.
The hearing was continued once more in an effort to get some real answers on the historical significance. Additionally, on Sept. 24, 2015, Shirley Jagels started a petition to save the Wallace Neff house on Oak Grove Avenue. It gathered at least 100 signatures.
Planning and Building Director Aldo Cervantes explained on Oct. 14, 2015 – the last hearing for the applicant – that because of the conflicting reports, a peer review would now be required.
That consists of the applicant hiring a third party expert to review the historical significance. If the applicant chose to, the city would find the third party person, get a price quote and return to the applicant. This process would have taken up to two months.
Cervantes said he was still waiting for a decision from the applicant as of Monday, Feb. 22. However, after discovering the home was put on the market, he said he would be requesting a withdrawal from the applicant as soon as possible.
