The memorial features six salvaged chimneys tied to homes designed by prominent architects Richard Neutra, Eric Lloyd Wright and Ray Kappe
One year after the Palisades Fire tore through coastal Los Angeles, a new memorial is taking shape from the remnants left behind: freestanding masonry chimneys that survived the blaze.
As smoke cleared on Jan. 7, 2025, lone chimneys stood where homes once did, becoming stark markers of loss in a permanently altered landscape. Those structures now form the basis of the in-progress Palisades Fire Memorial, unveiled by House Museum on the fire’s one-year anniversary.
The memorial features six salvaged chimneys tied to homes designed by prominent architects Richard Neutra, Eric Lloyd Wright and Ray Kappe, as well as residences connected to Hollywood actress Beryl Mercer, writer Louise Randall Pierson, the Higgins Brick family and other longtime residents. The homes spanned more than 90 years of architectural history, from Spanish Colonial Revival to Midcentury Modern design.
“These chimneys carry the architectural DNA of Los Angeles,” said Evan Curtis Charles Hall, artist and founding director of House Museum, who organized the nationwide effort to preserve them. “They also hold the memories of generations who gathered around their hearths and may never return to rebuild.”
Hall mobilized architects, preservationists and masonry experts beginning in early 2025 to save the chimneys from demolition. Each structure required a custom salvage strategy developed between February and May. From May through August, volunteer masonry teams from the Mason Contractors Association of California worked in active debris zones to dismantle and transport the chimneys ahead of cleanup crews.
The effort was led by Ean Frank of Significant Structures. The salvaged chimneys are now stored at House Museum’s Chimney Yard while organizers seek funding and approvals for a permanent memorial site in the Santa Monica Mountains.
