If your house were severely damaged in the landslide at Laguna Beach and dangled over a cliff, but you were allowed 15 minutes to venture inside under the supervision of emergency workers to recover keepsakes and valuables, what would you take?
Albert Trevino, 74, got his passport, some documents, and his wife's favorite painting of the Mission San Juan Capistrano that he bought for $50 at a garage sale some 25 years ago. His son said, "The only reason I grabbed it was because my Mom loved the Mission so much. At least that way they'd always have something they love if they move into a new house."
The Trevinos took the painting to the home of Pat Hagen, a family friend and artist, for safe-keeping, who said, "I stepped out, around the corner and said, 'Oh my God, that's so beautiful'."
Then she noticed the artist's signature, Joseph Kleitsch, a pioneer of the California plein-air movement, who lived and painted in Laguna Beach before his death in 1931.
A Laguna Beach art dealer appraised "Evening Shadows" at $500,000.
Albert Trevino said, "Isn't life just a series of twists and turns? You never know what can happen."
With no insurance coverage for landslides, the Trevinos plan to use the money to build a new house.
For twenty years, the painting hung on the living room wall, but two months before the slide, the painting was moved to another room, and a lucky thing too since no one could have ventured into the living room dangling off the cliff.
Posted by Jill Fallon at June 30, 2005 2:22 PM | Permalink