By Linda Taaffe

The new owners of the Winbigler estate allegedly illegally razed the historic Los Altos Hills landmark from the hill where it has perched for nearly 80 years overlooking Fremont Road last week. Los Altos Hills city officials put a stop work order on all construction on the property.

Owners, Gordon Campbell and Maria Ligeti, were in the midst of a massive construction project on the property that was to include a five-car underground garage; a caretaker’s residence; a studio-workshop with decking; a swimming pool and a tennis court.

Part of the conditions of approval for the project, which includes height and size variances, was that the house would not be removed, relocated or demolished without prior notification of the city’s planning commission.

City Clerk Pat Dowd said Ligeti and Campbell did not notify the city.

Officials discovered the house’s condition after a neighbor called town hall. By the time city officials arrived at the property, just down the road, the house was already destroyed.

Although the cream-colored, two-story French Provincial home was not an official historic site, the 1926 house was recognized in the town’s general plan as being of local historic significance.

The Winbigler family lived in the home until 2000, when their heirs sold it to Ligeti and Campbell.

Ligeti and Cambell’s architect assured residents in a 2001 Town Crier interview that “the uniqueness of the landmark home will be preserved.

“The overall goal is, when it’s done, it looks like it’s always been there.”