Crime of the Week

There oughta be a law.

But this is America, where, by God or Allah, you can build anything you damn well please to puff up your ego, neighbors and neighborhood be damned.

Wapello Street, Altadena.

If this naïve disaster were on a street composed of nothing but similar architectural schlock (Encino comes to mind), one wouldn't mind quite so much. But, alas, it's on a quiet, quaint, semi-rustic side street in upper Altadena that hosts an array of modest—and quite often charming—cottages, small mid-century ranchers, and the occasional bungalow.

The cottage directly across the street (from Google Earth).

This behemoth not only dwarfs nearby houses, but is entirely out of character with the surroundings, eclectic though they may be.

The behemoth from above.

Like I say, there oughta be a law.