Historic Michael White Adobe under threat of demolition in San Marino

An L.A. Times piece yesterday examined the undetermined but almost certainly gloomy fate of the Michael White Adobe in San Marino. The structure is unusually situated on the San Marino High School campus, which sprung up around the adobe.

The intro to the Times' piece gives you an idea what the high-schoolers think -- or think not -- of the adobe. (Although, if you read through the whole thing, you'll see that at least a handful do care about preserving its history.)

"Which way to the Michael White Adobe?
'The what?'
'Is that, like, a classroom or something?'
'I have no idea.'"

The 164-year-old adobe has gone without much care or attention by the school and school district. Last year, school officials proposed removing the adobe so that they might expand the swimming pool that, literally, butts up against it.

"It would cost more than $1 million to move the house and roughly the same to make it fit for campus use, environmental documents show.

"Knocking down the adobe, the only option covered by the school district's insurance, comes with a much lower price tag: $176,000. The school board is expected to decide the house's fate Oct. 27 and is taking public comments through (today)."

You can see from the photos taken early this year how the adobe is enmeshed with the campus in a rather awkward way. (Photos by Walt Mancini / Staff)

RELATED: There will be a story by Janette Williams in tomorrow's Pasadena Star-News about another historic adobe -- this one in Arcadia -- that has been crumbling while preservation plans were bogged down for years. The future looks brighter for that structure, the Hugo Reid Adobe, and the push is on to get a restoration underway.