2 bid for Huscroft House

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- At the end of a two-month open bidding process for the

historic Huscroft House, only two formal bids were received.

One came from Jane Altman-Dwan, who has expressed interest in the old

Craftsman-style house since the city first announced it was up for sale,

and another from an undisclosed party.

The city will not release the name of the other bidding party until

the staff report becomes available before the Nov. 5 City Council

meeting, when the council is scheduled to decide the fate of the Huscroft

House, said Bill Morris of the Public Services Department.

Altman-Dwan was the first person to get her formal bid in. The Newport

Beach resident said she wants to put the house in Fairview Park as a

museum and reception hall.

Altman-Dwan said she would fund the renovation of the house and open

it to the public in exchange for permission to add a ballroom, designed

to host a variety of social engagements. She said she wants to make the

house a community building open to all, especially children.

“I can see people holding quilting meetings there. And children

learning to can their own vegetables. And teaching little girls about the

suffragettes,” Altman-Dwan said, her voice quickening in tempo as she

spoke excitedly about the house’s prospects.

The addition of the ballroom would be unobtrusive and closed off from

the rest of the facility, she said. She hopes it would make the site

popular for weddings and create supplemental income to operate the free

museum aspect of the facility, she said.

Because of the house’s deteriorating condition, Altman-Dwan said she

hopes to get to work on the house as quickly as the City Council makes

its decision. The roof may not last another winter, she said.

“Once they make their decision -- if it’s in my favor -- I would want

to start work on it that week,” Altman-Dwan said.

If all goes according to plan, Altman-Dwan said the house could be

ready for summer weddings.

Originally built in Santa Ana, the 1915 Craftsman-style house was

moved to Costa Mesa in the 1950s and occupied by the Huscroft family. In

1998, the city accepted the donation of the house with the intent of

restoring it, moving it to Fairview Park and using it as a museum.

In July, the council voted to sell the house or demolish it if a buyer

could not be found.

At that time, two Newport Beach residents expressed interest in saving

the Huscroft House -- Altman-Dwan and Chad Ware. Ware, owner of Pacific

Sales and Leasing in Costa Mesa, said he planned to make a formal bid to

move the house next to his recent restoration project, the Old Pink House

-- which is now white. But Ware could not be reached Friday for comment.

Morris said he was surprised that only two bids were received,

considering the city advertised the sale of the house and was in contact

with a dozen prospective buyers, he said.”We had three different groups

take a walk through the house,” Morris said.

The home is now on blocks and being housed on Arlington Street.

City staff is still contacting the other interested parties, Morris

said, to give the City Council as much flexibility as possible.

“Just in case we get to the meeting and the council is hesitant to do

either of the two options,” Morris said.

-- Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .