Historic Resources Group 1 238 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach | Revised ADU Review MEMO
TO: CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH
ATTN: SHAVETA SHARMA, SENIOR PLANNER
FROM: LAURA JANSSEN, SR. ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN
DATE: JANUARY 26, 2026
Introduction
At the request of the City of Laguna Beach, Historic Resources Group (HRG) was asked to review a revised design for a proposed accessory dwelling unit (ADU) at 238 Chiquita Street in the City of Laguna Beach. In 2023, HRG provided a peer review to the City to address a Memorandum for the Record (MFR) prepared by Sapphos Environmental that analyzed the proposed ADU for compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (Standards).1 The peer review included an examination of the Sapphos MFR, review of the proposed project drawings by Keary & Associates, observation of the site, and additional review of building permits and property files, Sanborn fire insurance maps, historic aerials, and other primary and secondary sources.2
The proposed project consists of adding an ADU to the property. The proposed ADU would be located at the east end of the parcel between the east (primary) facade of the subject property and the street. HRG found the Sapphos MFR provided insufficient information for an adequate project review, and HRG reviewed the project and found it would not comply with the Standards.
HRG has reviewed the revised ADU design, which appears very similar to the 2023 ADU design.
It will be placed in the same location, the volume and height are very similar – the 2023 design measured 16 feet in height, 32 feet in width, and 22 feet in depth, and the revised project 1 “Design Review for the Project Located at 238 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach, CA 92651,” prepared by Sapphos
Environmental, Inc., January 6, 2023.
2 HRG conducted a site visit on June 1, 2023.
556 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Suite 101-514
Pasadena, CA 91105
Attachment 9
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Historic Resources Group 2 238 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach | Revised ADU Review measures 16 feet in height, 31 feet in width and 25 feet in depth. The square footage is less (799 sq. ft. down from 999 sq. ft.) because the living space on the interior has been reduced, but the exterior dimensions are the same, give or take a foot or two. Because the two designs are very similar and the volume and location of the ADU has not changed, HRG concludes this revised design will not meet the Standards.
Property Information
The subject property is a two-story Craftsman style single-family residence located in McKnight’s Addition of the Hillcrest neighborhood north of the village of Laguna. It was constructed in 1925-26 by owner-builder Nils Anderson. Anderson and his wife Anna purchased the property in 1925 and the residence was completed by 1926. Anderson’s obituary in 1950 noted he was born in Sweden and was a retired contractor and rancher. He built some of the first houses in Arch Beach and built the house on Chiquita Street when he and his wife moved to Laguna Beach permanently after living in Alta Loma and Pasadena.3 The property was sold to husband and wife Richard and Mary Rogan in 1963, and in 2007 the property was sold to current owner Jonathan Lukoff.4
The property was identified and evaluated as part of earlier historic resource survey efforts conducted by the City. The residence at 238 Chiquita Street was included in the City’s 1980-81 historic resources survey and was identified as a potential heritage property. It was listed in the Laguna Beach Historic Resources Inventory, adopted in December 1982, with a “K” rating.5 At the time the property was surveyed and added to the Inventory it was considered eligible for listing in the City’s Historic Register. In 2008 the property was listed in the Laguna Beach Historic Register, and in 2009 the property owner entered into a Mills Act historic property contract with the city, which is an economic incentive program for the restoration and preservation of qualified historic buildings by private property owners. Listing in the local historic register qualifies the property as a historical resource in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).6
Because the property is listed in the Laguna Beach Historic Register and has a Mills Act contract it is a presumptive historical resource and the impacts from a proposed project must be reviewed for compliance with nationally recognized preservation standards. The Standards provide guidance for reviewing proposed projects that may affect historic resources.7 Revised Proposed Project
HRG reviewed the revised plans provided by Sunset Coast Remodels of San Juan Capistrano, dated October 1, 2025. The proposed project consists of adding a two-story detached ADU to the property. No work is planned for the existing historic residence. The existing residence on the property is located at the rear of the parcel and the ADU is proposed to be located at the 3 “Nils Anderson, 82, Pioneer Builder Here, Dies Friday,” South Coast News, January 24, 1950.
4 Chain of Title for 238 Chiquita Street prepared by Orange County Archives.
5 “City of Laguna Beach Historic Resources Inventory”
(Resolution No. 82.111), adopted December 21, 1982.
6 CEQA Guidelines, Section 15064.5(a)(2),
https://www.califaep.org/docs/CEQA_Handbook_2021.pdf
(accessed June 2023).
7 U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Technical Preservation Services,
https://www.nps.gov/tps/standards/rehabilitation/rehab/ stand.htm. Accessed June 2023.
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Historic Resources Group 3 238 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach | Revised ADU Review front of the parcel between the residence and the street.
The project data indicates the revised ADU will be 799 square feet, however the total volume and dimensions will remain the same as the previous design. The total volume of the ADU is 31 feet in width by 25 feet in depth and 16 feet in height. The ADU will be placed 3 feet from the front porch of the existing residence and will be approximately 10 feet total from the east (primary) façade of the existing residence. The east (primary) facade of the residence is approximately 20 feet wide at the east end and the new ADU will be 31 feet wide, so this indicates the ADU will be 11 feet wider than the existing residence. The existing residence is 25 feet in height and the ADU will measure 16 feet in height. The ADU will be set back 4 feet from the north property line, 6 feet from the south property line, and 20 feet from the east property line (Chiquita Street); these are required setbacks.
The ADU will have horizontal siding and a flat standing seam metal roof. The material of the siding is not indicated on the drawings. There will be single light casement, fixed, and horizontal sliding windows. The material of the windows is not indicated on the drawings. A portion of the second story will overhang the first story leaving an open void under south end of the second story. The first story will measure approximately 21 feet x 22 feet in plan and the second story, which will measure 31 feet x 25 feet in plan and will overhang the first story by 9 feet towards the south and four feet to the west.
The project proposes to remove the existing driveway at the north side of the parcel and replace it with a 4 foot wide walkway, and the curb cut of the existing driveway will be retained to access a new carport.
COMMENTS ON DESIGN:
From a preservation perspective, design is evaluated as it relates to the existing historic resource. The revised design of the ADU is similar in size and materials to the design from 2023.
The living space was reduced by 200 feet; however, the volume and dimensions are the same as the 2023 design. The horizontal siding is a compatible material with the existing residence; the flat roof and window geometry is differentiated from the gable roofs and the fractional windows of the existing residence. These design elements are differentiated yet compatible and are in compliance with the Standards. However, because the revised design is similar in size and placement to the design from 2023 its size and scale will impair the view of the primary façade of the historic resource and is not compliant with the Standards.
COMPATIBILITY:
This residence is not in a historic district; it is single historic resource on one parcel. In this instance, the ADU is not considered infill to a district but is “related new construction” to a single historic resource on a single parcel as noted in Standard 9 below. As such, the design and scale of the ADU must be compatible with the existing resource on the parcel and not the neighborhood in order to comply with the Standards. The design is compatible as noted above, but the size is not compatible and will negatively impact the spatial relationship that characterizes the property.
Standard 9: New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy 222
Historic Resources Group 4 238 Chiquita Street, Laguna Beach | Revised ADU Review historic materials, features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.
Conclusion
The single-family residence at 238 Chiquita Street was constructed in 1925 and is listed in the Laguna Beach Historic Register. Listing in the local Historic Register qualifies it as a historical resource in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the impacts from a proposed project must be reviewed for compliance with nationally recognized preservation standards. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation provide guidance for reviewing proposed projects that may affect historic resources.
The project consists of adding a detached two-story ADU to the property in the existing setback between the residence and the street.
HRG reviewed the revised design of the ADU and found the design is compatible with the existing historic residence; however, the size and massing have not changed. It does not comply with the Standards because there is not enough room on the property to accommodate the ADU as designed without impairing the view of the historic resource and negatively impacting the spatial relationship that characterizes the property. 223