OPEN HOUSE

I’m compelled to respond to “Open House,” by Michael Webb (Jan. 7). I live across the street from this concrete bunker, and if I thought putting up with the construction for 1 1/2 years was bad, now I have it as part of my view every day. Its massive, fortresslike exterior is an insult to the calm environment into which it has forced itself.

To set the record straight, it was not a remodel of a “fake Spanish” “warren of dark rooms.” Rather, a beautiful, custom-built Mediterranean-style home only 12 years old, which I watched being constructed, was completely demolished except for the garage and the chimney. We have some million-dollar architectural atrocities being built in Manhattan Beach, but this one takes the prize.

SANDRA SERRA, Manhattan Beach