As a former longtime resident of Malibu, my heart is broken to see so much of my beloved mountains reduced to ashes. Though a lot of attention has been given to the homes of celebrities, two places of significant historical value are lost without anyone’s attention. They were located on the Malibu Golf Club upper property. The small house was homesteaded by the Kester family in 1914 and was, I believe, the last standing homestead in Malibu. Below was a 16-room mansion of redwood with fireplaces in each room and incredible woodwork. All the materials for that home were brought up by mules before Mulholland Highway existed. It also had a beautiful courtyard with a fountain made of Malibu Tile. The builder was George Montgomery. The Golf Club did not have much respect for either and they were stuccoed over and “modernized,” and subsequently abandoned. I am pretty sure that all was incinerated. Though structures are not forever, history is.
Christa Romppanen