This remarkable home has been wildfire-mitigated for many years. The house is in Codornices Canyon (right below the Ridge), which was already ravaged by fire in the 1923 fire, and where evacuation is difficult. The owners decided, early on, that they would focus all their efforts on the house and the landscape to harden them against wildfire.
The owners purchased the home when it was still sided with wood, and have been mitigating it for wildfire ever since. They changed the siding to stucco early on, and landscaped with stone and concrete as they were working on their yards to create firebreaks throughout.
There are three decks, each with noncombustible furniture. Tall trees surround both sides of the home, at a safe distance. The trees are limbed to 6 feet with no understory beneath them.
The fences attached to the home are all metal.
Wherever possible, the owners have added small, safe plant beds within the hardscape.
The owners believe that each homeowner has a duty to the neighborhood to contribute to everyone’s safety. They are highly conscious of the nefarious role of wood fences towards wildfire propagation in a block. They made the decision to convert to all-metal fences early on. These outer fences, furthest from the home, and also all-metal. At the instigation of the owners, the hill path, alongside the house, also has an all-metal galvanized steel rail.
With the exception of a couple of rosemary bushes that are coming out in the next months, this house and yard are fully Zone 0, Zone 1 and Zone 2 compliant. We have not met, so far, a house and landscape that are as fire-hardened. Congratulations to the owner: they have set the odds in their favor!
Cost of defensible space
Because wildfire mitigation was such a core concept for the owners, it has been a part of every remodel and landscape project since the purchase of the house. It is therefore not possible to get a good estimate for the cost of wildfire mitigation alone for this property.