Taking a U-Turn on Neutra - Page 2

"What message is sent to the community and to the world at large if the sponsors be rewarded with a project four times the size of the original house?" demanded artist Stephanie Peek, one of several Hopkins Avenue neighbors to oppose the project at the hearing. Representatives from the San Francisco Land Use Coalition and the Dolores Heights Improvement Club also spoke in opposition to the staff recommendation for approval.

Dismayed San Franciscans testifying August 30 reeled off the addresses like casualties from a fire-breathing dragon attack: 655 Alvarado, 1068 Florida, 1221 Funston, 310 Montcalm, 214 States.

One of only five homes designed by Neutra in San Francisco, the concrete block house at 49 Hopkins was originally two stories and about 700 square feet. It was 1,312 square feet, featured a larger pool house outside, and had lost most of its architectural integrity by the time it was sold in 2014 and to Johnston's 49hopkins LLC in 2017.

The planning commission's 6-0 vote on a motion by Commissioner Rich Hillis removed a proposed roof deck and cut about 300 square feet from each of the two units, bringing the project to a total of 3,280 square feet plus a 355-square-foot garage.

Some commissioners sought clarification on city code regarding demolition, with staff responding that this case fit the definition in the planning code, but not the building code because of the remnants. City law allows a five-year moratorium on larger replacements of illegally demolished dwellings, but the Largent House falls through a loophole.

Supervisor Aaron Peskin proposed a Housing Preservation and Expansion Reform Act last year to increase fines, resolve contradictions, and halt a parade of illegal demolition of historic homes. Buhler said it is currently being broken up into several legislative items.

Conceding that historic demolition is "certainly not a problem limited to San Francisco," Buhler concluded. "Basically, this decision by the planning commission is consistent with their past decisions, which have not been a sufficient deterrent."

Contacted by email, the master architect's two sons, Dion and Raymond, are predictably disappointed, with Dion, the master architect's former business partner, commenting that it's a "terrible shame they backed off."

"When a scofflaw violates an historically significant property, he or she needs to suffer some consequence," writes Raymond Neutra. "I would favor some time in jail. It is the only thing that would get the attention of wealthy miscreants for whom a financial fine is no deterrent."