City Council Votes to Lift Stop-Work Order on Halliburton House

By a 3-2 tally, the Laguna Beach City Council on Wednesday morning voted to rescind the emergency stop-work order they issued last week regarding the interior demolition of the famed Halliburton house, located at 31172 Ceanothus Drive in South Laguna.

At issue was whether or not the proper paperwork had been granted to allow the current homeowners to tear out the house's deteriorating floor, among other remodeling work. Questions were raised if the work needed an environmental impact report, as well as provisions from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the city's historic preservation law.

Ann Christoph, a landscape architect as well as a former Laguna Beach mayor and city council member, was decidedly on the side of keeping the stop-work order in place, at least until further studies can be made.

"I was very concerned, as the level of the plans are very unclear," said Christoph. "It's kind of a blank check. I can't believe that (city) staff would have accepted such a drawing ... and allowed construction to commence."

"We don’t want the work of a thousand cuts on this project," Christoph continued. "We are going to be examining the work as it goes through the process, and need to know the total scope of this house, what needs to be done, and that requires a historical report and the review of CEQA. Demolition requires CEQA under our ordinances we have, and for staff to say that it's not very much demolition so therefore it doesn’t require CEQA is a completely arbitrary decision on their part."

"That thing has sat there derelict for so many years," said Gregg Abel, a local designer and contractor who favored lifting the stop-work order so the new owners can get on with the remodel. "I think the South Laguna people should applaud (the new owners) for taking this on. Right now, it's garbage."

"The kitchen was like an IKEA kitchen put in in 1976," agreed real estate agent Fred James, who had previously purchased the property out of bankruptcy. "It wasn’t a 1930s kitchen," referencing that there had never been much of historical value in the interior of the home to preserve in the first place anyway.

Verna Rollinger was the more outspoken city council member who wanted to keep the stop-work order in place.

"I don’t think anyone wants this house destroyed or restored in a way that doesn’t meet the needs of the new homeowners," she said. "I don’t agree with the staff's conclusions. I believe that CEQA and a historic report should be required at this point—are in fact required at this point—as is a coastal development permit and review by the Heritage Committee and the Design Review Board. And I don’t think that has to be a bad thing."

Council member Kelly Boyd, though, landed squarely in the homeowner's corner.

"I will side with the staff report (rescinding the stop-work order) too," Kelly said. "The house is in drastic need of repair, and (previous owner Mark Scott) is very happy that somebody’s finally taken the task to do that. This was and is a private house. It's already been explained to us that it's not necessary for CEQA. The more we postpone, the more expensive it is for the homeowners. Do we need to have a really good look at what's to take place? Absolutely, but I’d like to see the people move forward and get this house done.”

The council in the end voted to lift the stop-work order as soon as the city is provided information on the house's interior renovations and the contemplated exterior work.

The house, commissioned by adventurer Richard Halliburton and built by architect William Alexander Levy in 1937—also known as the Hangover House, partially because of all the parties it once hosted—is reputed to have been the inspiration for the fictional Heller House that appears in Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead.