SHAKE AND REMAKE IN THE VALLEY.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

The 6.7-magnitude Northridge Earthquake that jarred the Southland at 4:31 a.m. 10 years ago today left San Fernando Valley residents with a massive cleanup of their homes and their lives. Some replaced broken dishes and patched cracks, while others walked away from houses, abandoned half-paid mortgages and left swimming pools to turn into concrete-lined swamps.

The insurance industry estimates the quake caused more than $15 billion in private-property damage. Some 2,700 houses and other structures in Los Angeles were red-tagged, meaning unsafe for occupation, and 28,000 had yellow cautionary tags.

Many homeowners found a silver lining in a cloud of plaster dust, turning a devastating event into an opportunity for home improvement. Here are three stories.

Saving a piece of history

Georgina and Abel Zamora, parents of four young sons, bought a spacious five-bedroom 1913 home on San Fernando's historic Brand Boulevard in 1991, knowing it was going to take some effort to rejuvenate it after years as a rental property.

``It reminded my husband and myself of 'The Money Pit,' '' Georgina said. In two years they had done some painting and improved a half bath by adding a shower. They were considering what to do with the aging hardwood floors when the quake hit.

The house was red-tagged, needing a solid foundation and other structural repairs. They had written a note on their January calendar to look into earthquake insurance but had not yet purchased a policy.

Abel was less sentimental about the house and was pulling toward rebuilding on the lot or buying another house.

``I told him if we tear it down, we'll never be able to build anything as big as this,'' Georgina said. ``We're going to be lucky if we end up with a three-bedroom home. And he and I are very much into historical preservation.''

She said they sought advice from a real-estate lawyer.

``To him, it was like, 'I can't make the choice for you,' '' she said. ``That's what we wanted: Is this a good choice or a bad choice? (He said), 'It's up to you. What does your home mean to you?' OK, that didn't help us any.''

It was the home's history that enabled them to save it. Georgina said the house had been in the family of John Brooks, the Valley's first optometrist, who was related by marriage to the Lopez family of San Fernando's historic Lopez Adobe.

After settling into a duplex, the Zamoras explored their funding options. They received some aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Small Business Administration took over their mortgage, lowering the rate from 9 percent to about 3 1/2 percent, and gave them an additional loan.

Further investigation led them to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which issues ``bricks and mortar'' grants for repair and restoration of landmark properties.

That money came with strings attached. With the exception of the kitchen and baths, any changes to the home must be approved by the trust and in keeping with its period. For instance, the Zamoras installed a skylight in the rear slope of the roof but could not in the roof's front slope.

``The architect gave us a list of colors and their numbers and said, 'These are the colors you have to choose from,' '' Georgina said. `` 'When your home was built, these were what was available to you.' ''

But they had enough funds to raise the house and lay a proper foundation, rewire, replumb, refinish hundreds of feet of woodwork, update the kitchen and expand some bedroom and bath areas on the second floor into largely unused attic space.

The damage to the pool and the detached garage were not covered by the grants, so those repairs are still under way.

``To this day we don't know if we made the right choice because it cost us,'' Georgina Zamora said.

``There's probably no way we could have done half as much on our own had it not been for the quake. But then again, we probably wouldn't be in so much debt if it hadn't been for the quake,'' she added with a laugh.

Plumb fortunate

After sunrise on Jan. 17, Kathy and Howard Cryer of North Hills thought they had fared pretty well. There were broken dishes and collectible porcelain dolls Kathy makes as a hobby, but the stone fireplace survived, and cracks in the walls and ceilings were not gaping. The city gave them a green tag.

It was when they began making their 1958 house inhabitable that they discovered more troubles. The water heater had broken, and Kathy found a new one at a Glendale store and brought it home.

``Then Howard started installing it, and all the pipes in the walls started breaking apart because they were just so corroded,'' she said. ``They just started falling apart in our hands.''

The Cryers also discovered seven cracks in the foundation and a fissure in the chimney inside the attic. Without earthquake insurance (which they have now), they applied for an SBA loan and hired a contractor for six months' worth of repairs, including copper plumbing.

They were back in their home in time for a 25th wedding anniversary party in 1996 and were enjoying their kitchen and bath updates and other improvements, thinking the quake was nothing more than history.

Then in 2002, breaks in the pool's water lines became apparent and were attributed to the quake. Those repairs led to redesigning the pool and deck, incorporating a spa, a gazebo and raised planters for Kathy's tomatoes, lettuce and peppers.

Spanish to bungalow

Sam and Paula Hefter were asleep in their 1968 Spanish-style Northridge home, along with their 7-year-old daughter and a friend visiting from Pittsburgh, when the quake struck. Their two older children were staying overnight with friends.

The temblor caused large sections of ceiling and some roof beams to drop, sent roof tiles airborne like tiddlywinks and left yawning cracks in outside walls.

``We're sitting in the car, and I'm thinking to myself, are my parents OK, are my kids OK, will we meet the deductible?'' Sam recalled. Meeting the deductible was not a problem. In fact, adjusters from 20th Century knew after a cursory examination that this claim would reach the policy's full value.

Their friends across the country contributed to a Red Cross fund in the Hefters' name, giving them access to extra cash for living expenses and other needs. A year later, they repaid their friends, sending along a heartfelt thank-you letter from each family member.

``We said, 'We're all recovered - and please donate this money to somebody else who needs it,' '' Paula said.

They both praised 20th Century, not only for its prompt, compassionate assistance with living expenses and other resources (``couldn't have been any nicer if my relatives owned the company,'' Sam said) but also for pushing them toward a quick decision on rebuilding.

``I think they just didn't want people dragging their feet,'' Paula said. ``Because we got into motion so quickly, we probably had an easier time.''

The Hefters had six weeks in which to settle on the style of their new home, hire an architect, approve plans, seek zoning variance approvals and get the building permit process started. Sam, a teacher, and Paula, a landscape designer, drove around neighborhoods taking pictures of houses they found appealing.

The family moved seven times while the house was under construction, counting two rental houses and three stays in the Clarion Suites. Paula remembered one time when she broke down in front of her children and wailed, ``We're homeless!'' She knew immediately it was a mistake. Her children lashed back. ``They said, 'We're not homeless! We're the home.' ''

That sweet, mouths-of-babes utterance aside, their new house is a terrific home. It's a Craftsman-style bungalow with late 20th-century design improvements such as vaulted ceilings and a roomy chef's kitchen. Sam's sculptures, made of rocks, metal and found objects, adorn several rooms.

The living room's fireplace facade is a custom clay-tile image of one of their favorite places, Yosemite Valley. The master bedroom fireplace is framed in handmade clay tiles patterned with calla lilies.

Homebuilding was an education itself. For instance, they learned it was cheaper to buy 40 light fixtures - most of them Craftsman-style mica lantern sconces - direct from the manufacturer in a custom order than to go through a high-volume retailer.

Lessons from the quake were applied as well. Their foundation is beefy enough to support a two-story house, but they built only one level. Nearly all the tall furniture is built in, from cabinets in the living room and den to dressers in the walk-in closets.

``Two years later, I remember this one weekend when we kind of looked at each other and melted down and cried and just realized it was all of this two years of putting our lives back together and trying to make sure the kids were OK,'' Paula said.

They kept up their insurance coverage for years, but recently joined the 85 percent of Southern California homeowners who don't have earthquake policies. They decided that the house's solid construction would help it withstand another jolt, and the premiums and high deductible were not cost-effective for them.

Sam, talking about their shattered dish set and the hodgepodge of odd collectible plates they now use, said the family has been drawn closer by the quake and the recovery and is less concerned with material possessions.

``It alters your value system, obviously,'' he said. ``All these things come and go, but you stay. We really think it was probably the best thing that ever happened to us. Isn't that wild?''

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

10 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- cover -- color) Paula and Sam Hefter's Craftsman-style remodel rose from the wreckage of their 1968 Spanish-style Northridge home.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Sam Hefter and daughter Sarah look over the plates they've purchased at garage sales. Since losing all their dishes in the Northridge Earthquake, the family has decided to go with a mishmash of dishes instead of a single pattern.

(4 -- color) - Sam Hefter, homeowner, on the clock that stopped at 4:29 a.m. when it was thrown across the room but suffered only a broken cord.

(5 -- color) HEFTER HOME AFTER

(6 -- color) ZAMORA QUAKE-DAMAGED HOME

(7 -- color) ZAMORA HOME NOW

(8 -- color) ZAMORA HOME BEFORE

(9 -- color) CRYER POOL BEFORE

(10 -- color) CRYER POOL AFTER

David Sprague/Staff Photographer