Margaret is a residential real estate agent and George is a custom cabinet maker and finish carpenter. They’ve lived in Malibu since 1976 and raised four children in their unique pyramid-shaped home until they downsized and started renting out the property. (Margaret’s brother, Dennis Duran, lived on the same property in a mobile home just below the main house, and his story is told separately.)
In 1976, the Hauptmans bought their plot in the Trancas Highlands area above Broad Beach and finished building their dream home ten years later. George built most of it himself with help from his brother-in-law, Dennis. It was built a little at a time until they finally took out a loan to finish the rest of it once and for all.
After the last of their children had grown and left home, George and Margaret moved nearby and made the house available as a rental.
According to George, the house should have been fireproof. “The roof was made of concrete tiles, concrete blocks made up the bottom eight feet, and earth was up against the lower part of the house to provide thermal insulation,” George described. He speculated that the fire could have gotten into the house through windows which may have been left open by the tenants.
Around 7:00 am the day of the fire, George and Margaret called their renters along with Margaret’s brother, Dennis, warning them to evacuate.
The renters, actor Rodger Halston and his two children, evacuated with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Driving down Trancas Canyon Road, Rodger noticed three horses the owner had left in a corral down the canyon – so he got out of his car and led them to safety down to Zuma beach. He also helped a hysterical woman in her car behind a gate, because the gate wouldn’t open. Eventually, the Halston family ended up staying in Venice Beach (just south of Santa Monica). Once the schools were finally reopened, Rodger drove the children back and forth to Malibu schools every day.
At 5:00 am the following morning, George, Margaret, and a group of family members met up and prepared to drive up to the pyramid house. “We didn’t know if our place made it or not, and we were also worried about neighbors we hadn’t heard from, “George said.
Everyone had shovels, gloves and masks, and everyone happened to have badges or identification cards that allowed them to get past the Sheriffs roadblock. As they approached the neighborhood, they discovered that they weren’t able to drive very far up Trancas Canyon Road before being blocked by downed telephone poles – so they had to park the cars and hike uphill about 1½ miles to the house.
“We wanted to check on our neighbor, Dick Martin, because no one had heard from him and his wife was out of town and freaking out,” George said. “We banged on his front door, and finally his head popped up and he answered the door. We called his wife, Mary Lynn, to let her know everything was okay.” Martin had stayed to protect his home, but hadn’t been able to contact anyone because all communication services were out.
George and Margaret also called some of the neighbors whose houses had burned down to let them know. (Editor’s note: We were among the people they called that day. Margaret had been the real estate agent who listed our home 18 years prior, and it clearly pained her to tell us it was now gone.)
Along with the main house, the Hauptmans also lost many of their personal possessions. After moving out, they rented a storage unit where they kept boxes of family photos, Christmas decorations, the kids’ art and many other personal things. Just prior to the fire, they decided to save money on storage unit rental by moving everything to the empty second bedroom of Dennis’ mobile home. Unfortunately, everything they had just moved back burned up along with Dennis’ home.
While the Hauptmans are planning to rebuild, George says he has mixed feelings about it. “The house served us really well and provided a place for all our kids to grow up, but now they’re gone and we don’t need a place that big. We loved it, but it served its purpose.
“On the upside, the City is expediting fire rebuild permits right now – which may not always be the case,” George explained. “Right now, the City is sympathetic, so maybe they’ll be able to waive some of the requirements. We also have enough insurance to rebuild, so that part is good.” Margaret then added that, “The kids all feel really bad about it, like their childhoods have gone up in smoke – and they want us to rebuild.”
