Malibu fire ‘07 devastates people, homes, community

If you haven’t heard yet, there is yet another devastating fire in the Santa Monica Mountains that is ripping through homes, churches and even historic compounds.

I’m very saddened to find out that the Malibu Castle has been burned completely to the ground.

Growing up in Topanga and Malibu I always loved that castle since I was a little girl. While I’ve never been there, every time we would drive by (the castle sits a top a high mountain in Malibu canyon but you can easily see it from PCH at Cross Creek) I would find it such a treat to even just see the castle from afar. Now after this happening, I’ve looked into more info about the castle and its owner, Lilly Lawrence.

More about Lilly after the jump…

The castle was built in the 1970’s by Dr. Thomas Hodges and purchased by Lilly in 1998 for $3 Million and in January of this year the castle was appraised at $17 million. (According to a article on Luxist.com) Lilly is the daughter of the former Iranian oil minister and is apparently a huge philanthropist who has done many great things for not only Malibu and its community but also for lots of other places and people around the country and the world. While there isn’t too much information on her, you can read a little more about her here.

Again, I’m very sad to see it go and my deepest sympathy to Lilly. My heart also goes out to the other families in Malibu who lost their homes from this fire–or any other fire in Malibu in previous years. I hope my friends and family in Topanga, Agoura and Malibu stay safe…I remember those days nearly 14 years ago when we’d wake up every morning for a week and look out our kitchen window to watch the flames coming toward our house on the other side of the mountain. Scary shit.

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