PRESERVATION FIGHT LOOMS 1928 FAUX CASTLE IS FLASH POINT IN BATTLE OVER DEVELOPMENT.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

TUJUNGA - The developer who plans to demolish a faux castle so he can build homes on the site says he will fight efforts to designate the 1928 house as a historical monument.

Scott Anderson recently returned from a five-week vacation to find a community effort under way to block his project and preserve the home, called Weatherwolde Castle.

Now his plans are on hold while the City Council considers whether to preserve the castle as a historic home, and city inspectors decide whether he broke the law by razing a small stone enclosure without a permit.

Anderson said Tuesday that he made sure the house had no historic protections before he bought the property for $580,000 in June, and later when he sought a demolition permit to tear down the house and build three homes on the large property.

``As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing historic about it,'' Anderson said, adding that nobody has consulted him about the future of the home, modeled after a French-Norman castle.

``It's costing me money and it's costing me time, and somebody will pay for this in the end.''

The city's Cultural Heritage Commission plans to visit the home in early September to assess its architectural and historical value.

Tujunga resident and local historian Mary Lou Pozzo has pushed for preservation.

``There is obviously not that kind of craftsmanship today, and I believe it can be restored.''

The Department of Building and Safety is investigating whether Anderson needed a permit when he tore down a stone enclosure and a carport. The department initially said workers had demolished a carriage house, but Anderson said there never was a carriage house on the land.

``Something was demolished. The question is whether it had legal status,'' said Dave Keim, who heads the city's code enforcement bureau.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com