As I write this, a famous Malibu landmark, Castle Kashan, is burning to the ground. My fellow SoCal natives will remember the castle that sat on the crest of a hill above Pepperdine University overlooking the Pacific as a kind of fairytale vision seen from the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)...I can't say that I liked the castle; I remember that when it first appeared in the late 1970s I thought it was kind of tacky in that southern California too-much-damned-money kind of way. But it became a landmark and obviously held some beautiful furnishings and extraordinary gardens. The 10,000sf home was built by a Dr. Thomas Hodges and was used in telly shows such as The Rockford Files. It had just sold for a cool $17 million, a sale that was set to close in a few days. Hm.
Crazy Malibuans. I love 'em. Every Fall the Santa Ana winds create wildfires that burn all of the natural ground cover, then in the Spring the rains create mudslides. Still, the people of Malibu return year after year to rebuild. I really respect that spirit of defiance, probably because I don't possess enough of it to enjoy risks like they do.
If I know my southern Californians, the castle will be rebuilt. Let's hope that this time they'll install an outside emergency sprinkler system. Duh!
More info about the estate, including pre-fire pictures, can be found here.
