January 01, 2006
Weatherwolde Sale Final
Saving a castle: Castle's white knight
When William Malouf saw a photo of Weatherwolde Castle - gray, unkempt and slated for destruction - he knew just had to have it. The musician/preservationist spent the next 48 hours without sleep, researching the faux French-Norman castle built in 1928. And, even though he'd sworn off buying another fixer-upper, Malouf decided he would save the home and restore the castle to its former glory.
"I said to myself, 'I can't pass on this house,"' Malouf explained as he led visitors on a tour of his new abode. "I personally, aesthetically, could not think of a more perfect-looking house."
Malouf closed escrow last week on the four-bedroom, 2,500-square-foot castle, buying it from developer Scott Anderson who had planned to raze the Commerce Street house to make way for three new homes.
The sale was a relief to Tujunga neighbors and preservationists, who learned about the plans in July after
demolition was already under way and filed an emergency request to preserve the home as a historic monument.
With the support of City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, the city's Cultural Heritage Commission recommended granting the house landmark status.
"It's a one-of-a-kind," said Lloyd Hitt, president of the Little Landers Historical Society in Tujunga. "It's the first one we've really had to fight to save, and it sends a message that the town respects some of its older buildings."
Frustrated with the number of historic stone houses and bungalows bulldozed for larger homes in Tujunga, preservationists rallied around Weatherwolde Castle. More than 1,100 people signed a petition to save it.
Read the rest of the article at http://www.dailynews.com.
And for even more information on Weatherwolde Castle, see our prior postings or search the PreserveLA Archives.
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