Crime of the Week

There are some places where people should not build houses. Especially ugly houses.

472 Thompson "Avenue," Chatsworth

This canker of a house is perched high in the Simi Hills of easternmost Ventura County, just across the L.A. County line and well above the agglomeration of Chatsworth Lake Manor. Its builder probably thought of the isolated dwelling as an idyllic aerie amid the rattlesnakes. Now it's on the market for an asking price of $799,000.

Getting away from it all.

The façade, although naive, is far from the worst example of do-it-yourself design, but the awkward site means that a good portion of the house is below street level, perched clumsily on the hillside rather than integrated into it.

The above-ground hot tub and Flintstones picnic table don't help matters in the twee, tawdry, and ill-considered back yard.

Hot tub with a view.

Here's what the landscape looks like without the disastrous intervention of would-be urban escapees.


Some jurisdictions prohibit building on certain sites. Perhaps Chatsworth and/or Ventura County should consider such legislation . . . or would that be un-American?