Richard Neutra Home Owner Appeals Sentence Mandating He Rebuild Original Structure
In mid-December an original Richard Neutra home in the Twin Peaks neighborhood of San Francisco that once belonged to two teachers was razed, with the current owner planning to rebuild a new house on the property that would perhaps better fit his family of six than the modest Neutra structure. To rectify the illegal razing of the home, the San Francisco Planning Commission ruled unanimously that the owner, Ross Johnston, had to reconstruct a replica of the original home using the same materials as the original and erect a plaque in front of the house explaining the historical significance of the home and it’s architect.
Today, Mr. Johnston and his legal counsel are appealing the commission’s verdict. They argue that renovations to the house did reach beyond what the permit allowed, but that they only razed the house because of issues that the on-site contractor considered to be “life-safety” concerns.
“The Planning Commission decision is invalid, bizarre, and illegal,” Andrew Zacks of Zacks, Freedman & Patterson, PC, the land use attorneys for the property owner, tells AD PRO. “The commission’s order that the owner rebuild an exact replica of the original 900-square-foot 1935 Neutra home—a home that wasn’t even on the site when his family purchased the property in 2017—is absurd given permits previously approved by the S.F. Planning Department for a 3,700-square-foot single family home,” Zacks said.
While the commission’s decision was a new one, the problem is far from unique in San Francisco. There is an ongoing trend of construction sites that exceed the boundaries of their permits and are then faced with a mere fine, if anything at all. The response from the commission is a cracking of the whip that the commission hopes will protect other architectural landmarks and historical homes in the area from being demolished to build bigger, unaffordable homes while the rest of the city faces a housing crisis.
Should the decision be stayed, Johnston would have the opportunity to sell the land, though any subsequent buyer would also be held to the commission’s decision. That owner would then need to reconstruct the same home replica. The replica would need to use similar materials comparable to that of the originals, and reflect the same footprint as the original. While certain materials used to construct the 1935 home may now be unavailable, similar modern replacements will be allowed so long as they reflect the same aesthetic as the original. The commission’s leader, Kathrin Moore, doesn’t see as a difficult task for any architect.
“Any competent and caring architect today would be capable of doing this; it will take the love and care of a skilled architect to take on the interpretation of Neutra's message and translate it into contemporary materials,” says Moore. “There are plenty of materials that can be a good representation of what he used. For example, he most likely used redwood siding, a material that isn’t much used for siding today because it doesn’t wear very well. Other siding materials of equal quality and physical appearance can substitute; there is no shortcoming in materials. The only real challenge would be in, like, design and detailing.” There are specific time frames within which the owner has to take action and follow up with actual filing of permits for building, including penalties from enforcement, should he choose not to comply. An appeal will defer enforcement actions until the appeal has been heard.
The next step is a hearing before the city’s board of supervisors, which will weigh the historical value of the building against the decision over the owner’s land. According to Moore, “the board of supervisors will use case history and the law, the planning, and building codes, to make decisions using only what is in front of them." The result of the appeals process could set a larger precedent moving forward, as other Richard Neutra homes, as well as those of other historical architects, are listed on the market in the future.
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