At the end of September, a group of historical preservationists, historians, church members and journalists from all over Orange County and from as far away as San Luis Obispo went out to see the remaining buildings of the historic Wintersburg Japanese Presbyterian Church and adjoining Furuta family property in Huntington Beach. The idea is to save these buildings by moving them to another site, and this was sort of an exploratory field trip. Those less familiar with restoration/preservation work were a bit daunted by graffiti and broken windows, but those who have worked on restoration projects were impressed by the overall integrity of the buildings. The image above shows the Furuta house.
This second image (above) shows the 1908 church complex, along with part of the 1930s church from the back side of the building. The image below shows before and after images of the Furuta House. The older photo shows the Furutas out front, while the new photo shows Chris and Charlie Epting in their place. (Click any image to enlarge it.) Chris' article about this field trip is posted on the Huntington Beach Independent's website. (Thanks to Dann Gibb and Chris Epting for these photos.)
Speaking of historical preservation and restoration: Do you have a project or two of your own? Then you'll probably kick yourself if you miss the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society's Architectural Salvage Sale, Nov. 11 & 12, 11am-5pm, at All-Aboard Mini Storage, 1030 E. 4th St., in Santa Ana.
They're offering, "a wide selection of architectural elements salvaged from Victorian-through-1930s structures, including doors, windows, molding, picture rail, kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Some hardware, claw foot tubs, sinks, a unique fireplace,and a full staircase, circa 1900." They want all this cool stuff OUT of their storage unit and INTO your historic home, so it's very reasonably priced. (Cash or check only.) For more information email them at salvage@sahps.org.
The 25 spaces available for the first History Hike sponsored by the Orange County Historical Society have been filled. But fear not! If enough people continue to have their names added to the list, they'll start looking into a second hike to San Juan Hot Springs. So get in touch with them anyway and put your name and contact info on the standby list.