Home Moved 39 Years Ago, But City Still Calls Lot Historic

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – There's a vacant dirt field with weeds, old cars, and a chain link fence, but on paper. It's considered a piece of Sacramento history.

For decades, the lot has been listed on the city's register of historic landmarks and now some are saying that's a mistake. Turns out it's on the list because the house originally built here had historical value but it was removed in 1979.

We tracked down the house and the man who moved it.

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"I like it and I'm comfortable in it," said Peter Manaton.

Manaton wanted the house and the owner gave it to him for $1.

"[He] said, 'I own the house and I want to tear it down and the city won't let me because it's historic. Do you want it? Because I'll give it to you, but you will have to take it away,'" Manaton recalled.

So he moved the house three blocks away, and in so doing, it lost its historical value.

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"I think probably it's not a historic lot like this isn't a historic house anymore," he said.

Meanwhile, the now-vacant land sat for nearly 40 years and is used for parking by the auto shop next door.

No one really gave it much thought until a developer purchased the property.

"It doesn't surprise me in the least," he said.

It was bought by HK3 development company, a business known for infill housing like three-story brownstones built recently in downtown Sacramento.

The city says the company bought it not knowing it was still on the historic register -- something that adds layers of bureaucracy and could jeopardize any development proposal.

"Why [they] didn't take it off 39 years ago I'll never know," he said.

City leaders are being asked to remove it and make way for Sacramento's future now that this land's history is gone.