As the community of Altadena looks to rebuild, a long-time resident of the San Gabriel Valley town said she wants to be an example of how quickly a home can be built.
After Margot Stueber’s 100-year-old Altadena cottage burned down in the Eaton Fire in January, she is working with architect Trinidad Campbell to take in both the aesthetic and the practical learning from the fire while designing her new home.
“I'm doing everything out of cement blocks,” Campbell said. “It's important not to build in wood anymore, so this one is totally in blocks with a cement pan on the floor, cement ceiling and roof.
Her property was the first to be cleaned by the Army Corp of Engineers last month, and Stueber reviewed the plans for her new home on Monday.
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“It’s a little bit like a German castle,” said Stueber, who lived in Altadena for nearly two decades. “I see this as a radical renewal for myself.”
Steuber said that she received an email from EPIC-LA that they received her application.
In February, Governor Gavin Newsom and others visited her property on West Palm Street in Altadena as part of phase two of debris removal.
Stueber's property was the first to undergo Army Corp of Engineer debris cleanup, and Campbell said she made a promise to Newsom that day.
“They're streamlining the permits and so between four and six weeks, I think who would be able to do it,” Campbell said. “I did it.”
The expedited turnaround has given the 68-year-old energy.
“This would be difficult for me to bridge like three, four, five years internally because in five years I'm already really older,” Stueber said.
She said that her new home being completed in a year to a year and a half is something that she can internally manage.
Stueber said she is using her insurance reimbursement and a disaster relief loan.
“If I can do it, people in Altadena can do it,” she said.
Stueber said that she can already envision what will be on her lot, an open space to meditate and dance in her beloved Altadena.
She said that although her neighbors are all in different locations, they still talk, and many plan to rebuild.
