Millionaires spark uproar by taking wrecking ball to historic homes to build monster McMansions – with no town safe from new teardown trend
Historic homes are being demolished and replaced with modern mansions as a worrying new trend spreads across the US.
The issue became a topic of conversation in recent weeks after actor Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger demolished a landmark 1950s home in LA to make way for a massive ranch-style mansion.
The famous couple bought the Brentwood property known as Zimmerman House for $12.5 million last year, but tore it down upon purchase.
The couple plan to replace it with a sprawling 15,000-square-foot mansion that has angered preservationists, who claim the move is part of a trend to buy historic homes for the country, demolish them and build larger homes in their place build.
‘This situation is not an isolated incident. We lose these types of homes more often than we care to say,” said Adrian Fine, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Conservancy. told the Washington Post.
Chris Pratt demolishes a 1950s landmark LA home to make way for a massive ranch-style mansion
The actor bought the Brentwood property known as Zimmerman House for $12.5 million last year, but tore it down upon purchase.
Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger are now building a larger mansion on the property
“We’re seeing more of these teardowns because people see them as valuable pieces of trash,” Fine explains.
The issue of millionaires buying up valuable land and demolishing the historic homes on it is not limited to California.
A 1950s house designed by Al Beadle is in danger of being demolished in Phoenix, Arizona.
Planning permission has been applied for for Beadle’s White Gate residence, despite it being considered an architectural icon in the area.
The 1954 house was built as a model of modernity and its white exterior contrasts with the red Camelback rocks behind it.
The property was purchased by a limited company earlier this year and a permit for its destruction has been applied for. according to the Modern Phoenix.
Elizabeth Waytkus, executive director of the nonprofit conservation group Docomomo US, told the Post that the desire to demolish and build is partly because modernist homes are becoming less easy to manage as their internal systems begin to fail.
According to Waytkus, it is also difficult to find the workers who can fix ailing systems on technology installed about 70 years ago.
A demolition permit has been applied for for Beadle’s White Gate residence, despite it being considered an architectural icon in the area
The property was purchased by a limited company earlier this year and a permit has been applied for for its destruction
The 1954 home was built as a model of modernity and its white exterior contrasts with the red Camelback rocks behind it
Two buildings designed by brutalist architect Marcel Breuer have been threatened
In one case, Waltkus contacted a couple who had purchased a house designed by brutalist architect Marcel Breuer to introduce themselves and ask what they planned to do with the property.
“The owner said to me, we understand what we have, we have no intention of demolishing it, we want our grandchildren to be able to use it in the summer,” Waytkus told the Post.
Adding: ‘Two weeks later it was gone.’
On the East Coast on Cape Cod, another Breuer home is in danger of being demolished.
Wellfleet Cottage, built in 1949, is set in four hectares of pine woodland.
The Modern House Trust has offered to buy the cottage and its historic contents if it can raise $1.4 million of the $2 million purchase price by the end of May. WGBH reports.
If they fail to do so, it will be sold on the open market and likely demolished, as the property’s land is worth more than the house.
Some architecture and conservation experts argue that America’s appetite for huge houses is part of the demolition problem.
Wellfleet Cottage, another Breuer home, is in danger of being demolished on Cape Cod
A historic John Schmidtke home in Elgin will be demolished by a developer unless someone is willing to move the building elsewhere
The 2,300-square-foot house was built in 1967 and designated a historic landmark in 1996
High Street Logistics paid $30 million for the property and four other adjacent parcels with plans to build two light industrial buildings
The company is willing to let the Schmidtke house disappear for free if it is removed, but so far no plan has been developed
The average single-family home, built in 1973, was 1,525 square feet, but rose to 2,383 square feet by 2022, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
However, some argue that criticism of such excesses and disgrace does not contribute to the preservation of more historic houses.
“It doesn’t do the conservation community any good,” Waytkus told the Post.
We are missing the point,” she added, explaining that only persuasion and restrictions will work.
But even when a compromise is sought, a solution is not always found.
In Illinois, a historic John Schmidtke home in Elgin will be demolished by a developer unless someone is willing to move the building elsewhere.
The 2,300-square-foot home was built in 1967 and was designated a historic landmark in 1996, but was purchased by a developer interested in the land. The Chicago Tribune reports this.
High Street Logistics paid $30 million for the property and four other adjacent parcels with plans to build two light industrial buildings.
The company is prepared to let the Schmidtkehuis disappear for free if it is demolished, but so far no plan has been developed.