Historic Al Otto Home In Old Town Temecula Poised For Teardown

TEMECULA, CA — The apparent doomed fate of the historic Al Otto house in Old Town Temecula looms this week.

For nearly a year, the owner and representatives of the late 1880s home at 28717 Pujol Street have sought permission to demolish the dilapidated structure. Now the teardown will likely get approved during Wednesday night's Temecula Planning Commission meeting.

Real estate agent and property owner Kreg McCoy discussed the conundrum.

"To put it simply, the house is in pretty bad shape," he said Tuesday, voice laced with frustration. "There's nothing to the house anymore, no interior framing, nothing. It wasn't built well in the 1800s."

The Al Otto house sits just under 1,000 square feet and was built by Ervin Gentry, according to Temecula Valley Historical Society documents. The home was moved twice — once by mule train from its original location in Murrieta and later from another spot in Old Town Temecula.

Longtime owner Al Otto was the local grammar school's custodian and bus driver in the early 1900s. Christine Otto ran a post office from the property before the mail service moved to the nearby Palomar Hotel.

Now, things have changed. The house sits elevated on a haphazard "Jenga" pile of wood jacks. Its windows and walls are bowed and broken. Its only residents are vermin nesting within the walls and underneath the home.

"It's a matter of structural safety that it come down," according to real estate agent Helaine Campbell, who has brought prospective buyers to the property. "The house is tilted. It looks kind of like the shack at Knott's Berry Farm."

Recently, Campbell met Temecula Valley Historical Society's founding member Rebecca Farnbach at the site for a walk-through to evaluate the building. After a tour of the property, Farnbach begrudgingly admitted it was too far gone to save.

"This is the first time in our history that we've approved a teardown of a historic home," Farnbach said.

Historical society officials once placed a plaque at the home, and they are hoping to retrieve it if the building is torn down.

"Back then, it was still in decent shape," Farnbach said. "Now, it's just awful. The floor is slanting. Some of the boards are broken through.

"Of course, it bothers us to have anything historic torn down but we will strive to maintain a nod to its history with whatever is ultimately built there."

Ultimately, the historical society advises on Old Town property but does not have the final say on what happens.

Multiple Planning Commission documents state that once approval to tear down the building is granted, a demolition permit is the next step.

Planning Commission documents state that the project site will become "a vacant lot with no uses or structures once the demolition is complete — it will be a blank slate for buyers to build duplexes or apartments on the site."

Though building plans have not yet been submitted for approval to the city, they are ready, according to McCoy.

Any new structure must be consistent with the Old Town Specific Plan. The historical society has requested the new design pay homage to the style of the historic home with either a plaque or design elements to look back at what was once the Al Otto house.

"That's easy," McCoy said. "We can absolutely do that."

See the full agenda for the 6 p.m. Temecula Planning Commission meeting.