Lauren Martinez and Morgan Sykes Jaybush, creative director of the architectural firm Omgivning, at Martinez’s relocated home. Image Credit: Gary Leonard/ Omgivning
What happened to the Martinez family’s original home
The Martinez family had lived in their Altadena home for 8 years and were raising their children, when the Eaton fire destroyed it in January 2025. The Los Angeles Conservancy reports that three early relocations include the 1911 Chambers Residence, the 1910 Duntley-Blackburn Residence and the 1926 Martinez Residence. Omgivning has helped three families relocate homes so far, while around 200 people are on its waiting list, according to Realtor. The project’s organisers estimate that the approach can be about 20% cheaper than constructing a new home on average, while also saving older houses from demolition.
Martinez said insurance would not have provided enough money to recreate the home they had lost at the same size, according to Realtor.
Many older homes in LA face demolition as neighbourhoods change and redevelopment takes place, according to the Los Angeles Conservancy. Lauren Martinez was eight months pregnant with her third child when she received messages warning her to stay away from the neighbourhood. The following day, her husband saw the smouldering rubble of their family home. The family later found themselves living in a rental while considering how to rebuild. But the financial reality made a traditional replacement difficult. Building again would have meant accepting a smaller, simpler house. That pushed the family to consider a very different option of moving an existing historic house onto their land. The project is tackling two problems at once. At the same time, families affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires need ways to rebuild without losing the character of their communities. The relocation project connects those two needs. Rather than allowing an older house to disappear, it gives the building a new site and a new family.
Instead of constructing a new house, it bought a nearly 100-years-old historic home for just $1 and moved it to the burned property. The 2,500-square-foot Tudor Revival home was divided into two sections, transported 26 miles by truck and placed on the family’s empty lot. Martinez purchased this 100-year-old home in Hollywood for $1.
A California family has found a unique way to rebuild after losing its Altadena home in the devastating Eaton fire. This remarkable move is part of the ‘Historic House Relocation Project,’ an initiative designed to preserve older Los Angeles homes while helping families displaced by wildfires. For the Martinez family, this solution offered a larger home filled with historic character, while giving an endangered house another chance to become part of a community again. Image Credit Omgivning
The house, nicknamed ‘Pinky,’ was facing demolition in Hollywood before the family stepped in to save it.
What happens to ‘Pinky’ next
Martinez expects the entire project to cost between $900,000-$950,000. the work is far from finished Although the house has reached the Martinez family’s Altadena property. The building is currently resting on temporary supports while a new foundation is prepared. The kitchen will also be renovated. Even so, she believes building a new house from scratch would have taken longer and potentially cost considerably more. Most importantly, the relocated home gives the family the character of an older house. After watching their old home disappear in the fire, they are now waiting for a house with its own history to become their new beginning.
Plumbing and electrical systems must be installed, the two sections need to be joined, and the roof, which was removed before the move, must be rebuilt.