‘There’s a Heartfelt Sense of Wanting Preservation’ : Tides of Change Go Against Landmark

The tides of change may tear down the aging walls of the China House, the pagoda-style summer home that has stood at the mouth of Newport Harbor for more than half a century.

Instead of displaying the intriguing Oriental jewel box of a home, the site may soon be bulldozed to accommodate two homes--a Cape Cod-style for Martha and James Beauchamp of Corona del Mar and a country French home for Donna and Ernest Schroeder, also of Corona del Mar. The property, which is now in escrow, was listed at $1.5 million. The buyers would not disclose the actual selling price.

Though the China House is not officially recognized as a historic home, many Newport residents regard the well-maintained 1929 replica of a Chinese pagoda, complete with ornate gold-leaf dragons and other ornamentation, as a local treasure.

“By land and sea it’s a house of historic significance,” said Jill Halley, who lives near the home in the tiny China Cove community in Corona del Mar, which most residents say derived its name from the novelty house. “There’s just a heartfelt sense of wanting preservation,” she said.

Halley said she and many other residents will voice their concerns at a public hearing at 7:30 tonight before the Newport Beach Planning Commission.

Redevelopment of the site follows three years of unsuccessful attempts to find a buyer for the home, said Robert Newell, great-grandson of the original owners. Newell said the house is no longer convenient as a vacation home for family members who live in different cities across the country.

“We would have been delighted to sell it to someone who wanted to keep the China House and restore it,” Newell said. “We even listed it with a brokerage firm in Hong Kong for a while.”

Brion Jeannette, architect for the Beauchamp and Schroeder families, said the site will be completely cleared to make way for the two homes, each with about 4,000 square feet of living space. The homes, expected to cost $1 million each, will be built side by side on the site, which now encompasses four lots.

Despite the “palatial appearance” of the China House, it is in fact architecturally “awkward,” according to Jeannette, who said, for example, that the bedrooms are accessible only by an outdoor staircase.

Beauchamp had originally considered refurbishing the China House but said he decided that it would be “too tough to live here, and if you’re paying this kind of money for a property, you need to have a decent house.”

The Beauchamp and Schroeder families have circulated a letter in the China Cove community stating their “intentions to do everything in our power to enhance the property while respective of the rights of others.” Nonetheless, some neighbors say they have concerns about the redevelopment.

“The universal sentiment is that no one wants it to see the China House torn down, but the economics don’t support it,” said Jerry Thompson, who has lived next door to the China House for 24 years.