Colby Fire Burns Glendora's Other Incredible Singer Mansion

The out-of-control Colby Fire in the San Gabriel Valley foothill community of Glendora has burned more than 1,700 acres of the foothills (sending smoke wafting all the way to Manhattan Beach), including some of the 5.7 acres that are home to one of two Singer Mansions. The guesthouses and garage have reportedly been destroyed. The Singer sewing machine family clearly liked Glendora, because there are two houses there that bear their name: the Wallace Neff-designed, Georgian-style Singer Mansion, and the other Singer Mansion, also called the Kregolo Estate, which was built in 1924 as a replica of the Mission San Miguel in San Luis Obispo. According to an old listing, the historic 14-bedroom, 12-bathroom house also has "a large ball room with cathedral ceilings adorned with frescoes painted in the 1920's by two European artists - which alone was appraised by art collectors for over $400,000." Rooms in the house were up for rent on Craigslist for a time, which is how a local news anchor (audio) came to live in one. He says that the house also had some very cool features, like a hidden Prohibition-era wine cellar and a secret tunnel leading to a mansion across the street. The fire isn't contained yet, but the most recent reports continue to indicate that the house is still mostly intact.
· 1150 Kregmont Dr, Glendora, CA 91741 [Zillow]