BREA : 2 Historic Homes to Find New Home

Two houses in the old downtown area that the Brea Historical Committee selected for preservation will be relocated to Redwood Avenue within a month, officials said.

Assistant City Engineer John Hogan said Tuesday that the Blue House at 200 S. Brea Blvd. will be moved to 101 S. Redwood Ave. and the Box House at 103 Walnut Ave. will be moved to 107 S. Redwood Ave.

Hogan said the Blue House is used as a field office of the Redevelopment Agency and the Box House is unoccupied. Both houses are owned by the Redevelopment Agency and will be moved to agency-owned lots on Redwood Avenue. The houses and lots will then be sold, he said.

Last week, the City Council hired Snow House Movers Inc. for $69,992.

The Blue House, a Colonial Revival bungalow, was built in 1919. At one time it was the residence and office of a Brea doctor, W.W. Davis. The structure has a “T” plan, a small front yard and a series of windows at either side of the doorway.

The Box House, built in 1911, is one of the few remaining examples of the Craftsman bungalow, which was popular in the early 1900s. It has a simple square plan with a gable facing the front and a porch. At the front of the gable are wood brackets and venting.

In 1989, the city designated Redwood Avenue as a historical street featuring various types of houses that have been popular in the city. Instead of tearing down historic homes in redevelopment areas, the city relocates them to Redwood.

Several historic houses have already been moved there, including the Casner House, which was moved from Madrona Street almost a year ago. It remains boarded up, and some Redwood Avenue residents have complained about that.

Hogan said that two weeks ago, another historic home, the White House at 133 S. Madrona, was moved to 116 S. Redwood, near the house of John Mynes, a critic of the relocation program.

Mynes and members of his family have complained to the City Council, saying that their street has become the dumping ground for dilapidated structures, which invite rodents, vandals and sometimes homeless people.

City officials have asked for patience, saying that it will take some time to find buyers who are willing to renovate the houses. They said it will be unwise for the city to do it because the city is not in the real estate business.

Moving Blue and Box Two houses relocated to historical site