A man who illegally demolished a San Francisco house designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra was ordered this week to rebuild it exactly as it was. The city Planning Commission also ordered Ross Johnston to add a sidewalk plaque telling the entire saga of the house's origins in the 1930s, its demolition and replication. However, as neighbor Cheryl Traverce discovered, Johnston had a much more elaborate modification in mind. Traverce filed a complaint to the city over the demolition out of concern for what a larger remodel would do to the neighborhood. “We’re finding there’s an epidemic of these kinds of things happening.”The city believed Johnston wanted to build a 4,000-square-foot mansion and flip it for a profit in the red hot San Francisco real estate market.

Source: Fox News December 16, 2018 21:31 UTC