House Museum

The alternative preservation agency that utilizes conceptual art methods to reimagine historic sites. House Museum is a 501c3 nonprofit organization.

House Museum is a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve historically significant landmarks through the integration of site-specific art installations and community activations. House Museum reimagines the function of vacant and abandoned properties, in order to transform them into culturally rich and productive spaces. Each installation, interior or otherwise, beco

mes an access point that connects the public to a constellation of city-wide exhibits. All donations are tax-deductible and contribute to raising awareness of historical landmarks and support their revitalization and programming. To learn more, visit http://www.house.museum or contact [email protected].

06/01/2026

One year ago today, we began salvaging 6 historic chimneys that would become parts of the Palisades Fire Memorial.

Teams from Association of California began with the Erdley Family’s chimney located on El Medio Ave.

We worked just hours ahead of the US Army Corps of Engineers debris removal process, gathering what we could before the land was scraped clear.

Now with 6 saved chimneys, we’ve entered the fundraising and conservation phase, with a target memorial completion date set for 2028.

The Palisades Fire Memorial will be a permanent site of remembrance and a home for the displaced residents who are not rebuilding—a place that they can always return to.

Support at www.house.museum

04/24/2026

This Summer! Apply for Site-Based Art Learning: an educational program that invites Palisades Charter High School School students to engage with local preservation work through the Palisades Fire Memorial.

This specialized program brings students to the Chimney Yard, where six historic chimneys salvaged from homes lost in the 2025 Palisades Fire, are being stored for the forthcoming memorial.

Through hands-on material engagement, collaborative group work, and reflective discourse, students will learn firsthand how art, architecture, and history intersect.

House Museum opens this opportunity to 12 students free-of-charge, with meetings every Wednesday in June.

For a generation of students who lived through the fire, this is an urgent and meaningful way to process loss, build collective understanding, and advocate for the recovery of Pacific Palisades.

Partially sponsored by Palisades Recovery Coalition, Art for Healing.

Apply by May 1 and learn more at www.house.museum

Cohort selection will be announced in early May 2026.

04/20/2026

This summer we’re hosting Chimney Yard tours and conversations around the in-process Palisades Fire Memorial.

Thank you to our new friends at the California Garden and Landscape History Society for listening today and deepening your connection to the land, sea, and bricks.

With each visit, the chimneys will continue to tell their stories of resilience.

Learn more and inquire about scheduling a guided group visit at www.house.museum.

04/13/2026

amplifies .Hall’s story on the making of the Palisades Fire Memorial—a forthcoming installation of 7 salvaged chimneys from the 2025 .

It locates multiple points of significance of the chimney—from the Erdley family’s history, to the architectural legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, to its relationship with the California landscape and Sol Lewitt’s concrete block structures.

The story was written in honor of Hal Erdley, who passed away at age 99 on February 21, 2025—six weeks after losing his home to the Palisades Fire.

Read the full story at https://www.getty.edu/news/ray-kappe-fireplace-my-research-project/

03/25/2026

🐬 We gathered for the Palisades Renewal Celebration! The embrace of the fire-affected community is worth fighting for.

Thank you to the many volunteers, organizers, sponsors, and students for keeping the heartbeat of the Palisades alive.

Pictured:
Evan Hall - Founding Director of House Museum
Marian Ensley - Office of Mayor Karen Bass
Christina Spitz - Pacific Palisades Community Council
Arus Grigoryan - LA City Council District 11
Marisa Murrow - Local Artist

03/24/2026

🎙️[SOUND ON]: Chimney “Tombstones” Rise In Memoriam On a Palisades Bluff.

As tens of thousands of homes burned during last year’s LA fires, there was a catastrophic irony: a whole lot of fireplaces, chimneys, and fireboxes survived.

Soon some of those chimneys will serve the purpose of remembrance and memorial.

Historic preservation agency House Museum, which uses conceptual art methods to revitalize historic landmarks, has a new initiative: relocating chimneys - some of which were designed by well-known architects - to commemorate the people and places lost to the .

LISTEN to the full conversation between reporter Steve Chiotakis and artist/director Evan Hall .hall: https://www.kcrw.com/shows/kcrw-reports/stories/chimneys-house-museum-palisades-fire

03/19/2026

We brought to Napa!

We joined for their inaugural Resilience and Recovery Symposium which included historic tours, wine tastings, and presentations on the importance of preservation in times of disaster.

We presented Project Chimney: Emergency Heritage Preservation in a Declared Disaster Zone—sharing how the Memorial is pioneering a new preservation model: one that salvages and distills meaning from devastation, transforming it into places of lasting community importance.

We shared our journey from post-fire grassroots meetings, to aerial surveys with LARIAC, to 3D laser scanning each structure, to ultimately transporting the 9,000+ lbs chimneys.

Speakers included Evan Hall, Founding Director of House Museum, Alan D. White, President of Western Chapter Association for Preservation Technology, and Ean Frank, President of Significant Structures.

Honoring past landmarks matters. So does building emergent ones.

Through our work, House Museum is committed to centering people, histories, and encounters with the sublime.

03/16/2026

Conservation Institute recently developed a priority and action list for our salvaged materials—including large chimney stacks, palletized red clay bricks, concrete blocks, sandstone, and firebricks.

Top priorities include stabilizing two chimney stacks (Neutra & Higgins), which show urgent structural stress. Conservation of fire-damaged masonry includes techniques such as structural shoring, grout stabilization, consolidation, and surface cleaning.

Our goal is to preserve as much original fabric as possible for the forthcoming Palisades Fire Memorial: a commemorative place to learn and experience architectural heritage, construction history, fire resilience, and more.

Huge thank you to the Getty team: Susan Macdonald, Benjamin Marcus, and Elena Macchioni

Learn more and support at www.house.museum

03/09/2026

Getty Conservation Institute visits House Museum’s Chimney Yard 🧱🕊

Susan Macdonald, Elena Macchioni, and Benjamin Marcus generously shared their expertise on conserving 6 heritage chimneys while they await installation in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Two chimneys — Neutra and Higgins — present structural concerns, while others show signs of post-fire and weather-induced deterioration. Immediate stabilization efforts are soon underway.

The chimneys are emergent symbols of and greater Los Angeles. We’re honored to preserve them and the legacies they carry.

Join us as we advance to build the Memorial and support by ordering locally-produced Rebuild Bricks at www.house.museum

03/01/2026

Frieze Los Angeles includes a special edition of The Art Newspaper: Palisades Fire Memorial Rises From the Ashes by Laura Hertzfeld 🔥 .official

Thank you for including and our fire recovery efforts during the swell of arts and cultural activities across Los Angeles.

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Pacific Palisades, CA
90272

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http://www.house.museum/

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