Coastline Pilot

27 May 2005

 

Chasing the Muse

Catharine Cooper 

 

I wonder if Laguna can be loved too much?

 

I say that, of course, with tongue in cheek.  Our seaside village has a citizenry devoted to its waters, its open space, its heritage, its art, and its charm.  We have council members, commissions/committees and staff committed to maintaining and improving the quality of our lives.  We have the Surfriders, the Greenbelt, the Conservancy, the Village, and the Chamber – all focused on preserving the unique character that makes of our city a shimmering jewel.

 

In my travels, it is rare to spend a day without someone making comment on the distinctive qualities of Laguna.  They speak of the eclectic character, the wonderful downtown shopping, and of course, the beaches.

 

The recent Charm House Hour, sponsored by Village Laguna, provided a re-visitation of the historical roots that set the framework for our current city.  To paraphrase from their writings, Laguna, south of the canyon, was never part of the original Spanish or Mexican land grants, and so large landholders never owned the property.  In 1848, when the United States bought Alta California, Laguna became eligible for homesteading.  This led to a kind of ‘anything goes’ architecture, with less controlled development, streets at odd angles, and neighborhoods that didn’t look much like one another.

 

It was to this kind of helter-skelter meandering street layout that my family moved here in the late fifties.  My father bought a vintage Cape Cod farm house built around the turn of the century by a gentleman from Connecticut.  It was a whopping 4000 sq ft (yes, there were large houses ‘back’ then) on several acres.  On the corner below the house was a stark contemporary built by Bonzo Ziernedan.  Even as a child, I adored the eclectic nature of our neighborhood and relished the contrast between our two homes.

 

I was admonished by several and supported by many when in 2000 I sought Design Review approval to remodel a 1932 cottage.  The plan was to strip it to its roots and replace its lines with a stunning contemporary by architect, Walter Metez.  I called it, the cottage for 2050.  The design review process was difficult, even though I live on a street of mixed architecture. 

 

The original house had been built as a weekend retreat by a Hollywood maven.  Subsequent owners had added bits and pieces to stretch out the clapboard, but in the end, the wood had rotted, the foundation was inadequate and the structure had outlived its usefulness.  My detractors would have forced me to keep the original architecture while shoring up the footings, fattening out the walls and updating plumbing, electrical and fixtures. At one of the DRB hearings, I asked if I must also drive a car built in 1932, wear clothing from the period, and hang my laundry on a line?

 

While I support wholeheartedly the regulation of lot coverage and view protection, this is to insure that we are not overcrowded and closed off to vistas of our canyons and the sea.  But when it comes to the color and/or style of our homes, I cringe each time I hear mention of neighborhood compatibility, or that someone thinks the exterior needs more texture.  It is by our choices that we express our tastes and preferences.  Our homes - for most of us our greatest asset - are also the greatest opportunity to communicate our individual style.

 

The gift of not living in a planned community is just that - not planned. This means that there will be architecture that does not please me.  This means that there are colors that are not those I would place on my own palette.  But freedom of expression is one of the greatest gifts we have given to one another.

 

We live in a colony grown on its art and artists. Can you imagine if our artists were allowed to exhibit only plein air paintings?  Can you imagine a Festival of Arts of only one medium?

 

Even the press of weekend traffic and the crowded summer beaches do not diminish my joy for living in Laguna. I am grateful to all those who devote countless hours to insure that our ridgelines remain undeveloped, that our beaches remain open, we have places to park, and that somehow, with the press of development all around us, we are able to maintain our village atmosphere.

 

Yes, you can love Laguna – but never too much!

 

Catharine Cooper can be reached at 949 497 5081 or ccooper@cooperdesign.net.