Friday, January 16, 2026

West Hollywood Home Travels Overnight to Fire-Scarred Altadena Lot

[Photo: RMG News]

A 1926 residence becomes the third house relocated through a project with 180 families waiting

A nearly 100-year-old house crept through downtown Los Angeles before dawn Friday, its sectioned pieces riding flatbed trucks past Los Angeles City Hall and through the sleeping streets of Lincoln Heights.

By daybreak, the four-bedroom West Hollywood home had reached its destination: a fire-scarred lot on West Pine Street in Altadena, where the Martinez family lost their residence of eight years in the Eaton Fire.

The overnight journey—the third completed through the Historic House Relocation Project—offers another test of whether an old practice can help rebuild a community where more than 9,000 structures were destroyed in January 2025.

With 180 families now on the project’s waitlist, demand is outpacing supply.

“It feels like a lifetime, but it also feels like yesterday,” David Martinez said of the fire that took his home. He and his wife Lauren have three children; the youngest was born just one month after the flames swept through.

The house that will become their new home was built in 1926. For more than 80 years, it belonged to the Lynch family, who raised eight children within its walls. Una Lynch, an Irish immigrant, lived there until her death at 98 last December. Her son Colum grew up in the home.

“I think we were all pretty thrilled,” Colum Lynch said when he learned the house would be salvaged. “Just the notion that it was going to be preserved in some form kind of blew us away.”

Morgan Sykes Jaybush, creative director of the Los Angeles architecture firm Omgivning, manages the relocation project. He connects families who lost homes to houses slated for demolition elsewhere—sometimes acquiring the structures for as little as one dollar.

“We’re connecting with the families, connecting them together, helping broker the deal with the property owner,” Jaybush said. “And then we’re organizing all the construction crews to get the house out there and permitting the new foundation.”

The overnight transport followed a route through Santa Monica Boulevard, Western Avenue, and Olympic Boulevard before threading through downtown on Main Street and Alameda Street.

A police escort accompanied the oversized load, which moved at roughly 20 miles per hour to avoid bridges and underpasses.

Once on site, the house sections will be placed on temporary supports while a new foundation is built beneath. Utilities will be connected. The entire process, including permits and inspections, typically takes nine to 12 months, according to Omgivning.

The cost is lower than new construction, though estimates vary. Martinez said the last two families to complete relocations found it “on par or maybe like 25% less” than building from scratch. Omgivning has estimated relocations cost “half to two-thirds” of new construction.

The project is open to anyone who lost a home in the Eaton or Palisades fires and has an empty lot. Interested parties can reach Omgivning at HouseRelocation@Omgivning.com or 213-596-5602.

“I want it to be something that’s viable for everybody else,” Martinez said. “There are so many other people that need a home.”

The trucks rolled through the night, carrying one family’s history toward another’s future.