San Francisco man who demolished landmark house ordered to build replica

SAN FRANCISCO � A man who illegally demolished a San Francisco house designed by the modernist architect Richard Neutra has been ordered to build an exact replica.

The city planning commission also last week ordered Ross Johnston to add a sidewalk plaque telling the entire saga.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Johnston had received permission only to remodel the 1930s home, known as the Largent House, with a design that would have largely kept the first floor intact.

Instead, everything but the garage door and frame of the two-story home was knocked down.

Johnston later applied for a retroactive demolition permit and for permission to construct a new home that would expand the size from 1,300 to nearly 4,000 square feet.

Johnston said he wanted to move his family of six into the larger home.