Native Stone Used in Old Homes
My last Jose Mier post was about statues so it makes sense of this post is about stone. Longtime residents of Sun Valley will be familiar with the century-old houses in the Stonehurst neighborhood that were built using natural stones from the area. It’s hard to miss these homes since they are so unique and stick out when compared to more modern structures. Even some newer homes have used this same type of construction as a nod to the past.
Some of these rock homes have been designated historical landmarks. The most famous of these was built just about a century ago and as I just mentioned, using native stone from the area. California State University at Northridge actually makes note of such houses in their digital collection online. It was from there that I found that many of these stones used at the time we are in plentiful supply due to the great flood that occurred about 10 years prior in 1910.
This flood caused a shift in the Tujunga Wash channel and a lot of the stones used in these houses construction were unearthed as a result. You can read more about this flood on the Gen Disasters website.
The most interesting thing about these types of buildings that are unique to Sun Valley is that they seem to weather earthquakes better than more modern construction. Indeed the Stonehurst stone house survived both the large 1971 and 1994 earthquakes that rocked Southern California and caused a tremendous amount of damage. It’s something to think about.
