Freeway house going, going gone....
The saga of the Hollywood Freeway house ended Tuesday night when movers hauled it away to Santa Clarita.
Owner Patrick Richardson tried to move the house on his own from Santa Monica to Newhall on Sept. 15 but didn't get further than the Cahuenga Pass after the house clipped the Western Avenue overpass. Wheels on his vehicle also became disabled during the extreme moving nightmare, causing the 45-year-old to abandon the home on the northbound shoulder of the Hollywood Freeway.
Meanwhile the house sat on the freeway for 10 days.
Caltrans hired a moving company to get the house off the roadway and is sending Richardson the tab. On KFI radio last night, Richardson's fiancee Kim Bigman of Tarzana told radio hosts that the house was slated for demolition before they took ownership and had planned to move it to Newhall where it would serve as a homeless shelter.
I have lived in back of this lovely house in Santa Monica for 20 years. I was sad to see this cute 30’s-style home surrounded by a white picket fence go in lieu of ugly new condos being put in its place.
But I was glad knowing it was being moved, rather than being trashed.
I feel sorry the folks that were moving it. SMPD was called as they were initially hauling it away, being called by ugly neighbors that hated the original owners. SMPD sited the move as a public safety issue, impounded the towing vehicle and the house stayed in the street at the end of the block for over a week.
When I saw the house dry-docked on the Hollywood freeway, I freaked, knowing what the people had already gone through trying to get it moved.
I’m glad the home is finally going home.