IRVINE : ‘Castle’ Owners Need to Finish by May 19

City officials say they are satisfied that “sufficient progress” is being made on the correction of safety code violations at the castle-like home of Haym and Fern Ganish.

But a Superior Court judge who visited the Kron Street home last week encouraged a contractor to speed up the work, giving the Ganishes until May 19 to finish.

After battling with the Ganishes during the last 13 years over the remodeling of their three-story, stone-covered home, the city was poised to demolish the structure. But a last-minute deal in March gave the Ganishes more time to eliminate building and safety code violations.

Mark Bailey, owner of a Lake Forest topless dance club, came forward a few hours before the Ganishes were to be evicted and offered to post a bond required by the city to guarantee completion of the work.

As it turned out, Fern Ganish posted the $65,000 bond after receiving a loan from her mother, who lives in Canada. Bailey has provided a builder to oversee the remodeling of the home. Fern Ganish said Thursday that she is optimistic her house will not be demolished and declined additional comment.

After Superior Court Judge Frances Munoz inspected the Ganish home last Friday, the deadline for correction of building code violations was extended.

“As long as reasonable progress is being made, we’re going to be reasonable,” said Irvine City Manager Paul O. Brady Jr. “We’re taking it on a week-by-week basis.”