The Mt. Washington cottage that was due to be knocked down until it was discovered to be stuffed to the gills with maps has a new lease on life. The LA Times brought a little seasonal cheer when they checked back in on the house, the real estate agent involved in the sale, the librarian who's overseeing the map haul, and the house's happy new owner. Back in October, broker Matthew Greenberg was supposed to empty out the house, which had been occupied by one John Feathers until he passed away in February. The plan was to tear down the 948 square foot house, subdivide the property into two lots, and sell it on behalf of the owner's two surviving siblings. But when Greenberg arrived at the house with a dumpster, he found a collection of maps so large it would eventually fill more than 200 boxes. Feathers, it seems, had been collecting maps of all shapes and sizes nearly his whole life. Instead of dumping the trove, Greenberg called the LA Central Library's Glen Creason, who agreed to add the maps to the library's archive, making it one of the largest map archives in the country. Both men say that the whole experience has been "really positive" and "life changing."
All the publicity surrounding the discovery in October attracted the notice of a neighbor who had known the owner and been looking to buy in the area but kept getting priced out. She and Greenberg struck a deal at the asking price of $450,000, and the house closed escrow last month. "Without sounding too out there, I'll say that how this turned out feels amazing," she says. She plans to move in after renovations are finished in the spring. We'd be curious to know what she does with the old funicular remnant that sits on the property.
·Maps alter the course of several lives [LAT]
·Buy the Mt. Wash House Where They Found Thousands of Maps [Curbed LA]
Loading comments...