Statement:

The Los Angeles neighborhood I live in was designed and built in 1948 by a mid-century architect named Gregory Ain.
The 52 houses are all classic examples of midcentury-modernism and the neighborhood itself has been declared a Historical
Protected Overlay Zone (HPOZ). This means that the houses cannot be altered in any major way, except for upkeep and
repairs. You can add on in the back, but have to go through the HPOZ/City council first, and it takes a lot of time and planning.
This makes for a small "slice of the past" in the heart of Los Angeles where architecture fans can appreciate the timeless beauty
of the neighborhood.

For many years the home across the street from us, once the residence of famous Mexican movie star Jose Gonzales-Gonzales,
had sat vacant and empty, the widow Gonzales having long since moved to an assisted-care facility. Finally in 2011, a probate
sale was arranged, but the house had also been condemned by the city with numerous code violations due to years of vacancy
and neglect. Paying for basically the land value, a buyer would have to rebuild a 1948 Gregory Ain house essentially to plan
from the ground up using modern materials, due to the restrictions surrounding the property as part of the greater HPOZ.

Enter Sagiv Oren. Sagiv is that buyer, the man who saw the potential and rose to the challenge. Over the course of a year he and
his team built a new Gregory Ain Mar Vista Tract Home c.1948 with modern methods and materials across the street from me,
and I am pleased to now call him my neighbor and friend.

The initial dismantling of the original structure revealed some surprises, not the least of which was a massive beehive which had
been growing for years behind a large wall facing the front of the house. A specialist was called in to dispose of the large hive,
which construction workers reportedly claimed two 1-gallon buckets of honey from before it was removed. Much of the original
frame of the house had also been reduced to spongey wood by termites, and a reframing of the entire structure was eventually completed.

There were innumerable other challenges, but through it all Sagiv was able to maintain a commitment to Ain's original vision, and to the
quality and workmanship which went into this unique residence. I was fortunate enough to be able to document some of the milestones
in this Herculean effort, and present them here in a photograph narrative.