We visited Laurel Avenue in West Hollywood last night and happened to pass an endangered building that has gotten some press lately. “Tara” is the name given to a historic home that was built in 1914 and is now destined to be destroyed.

An eccentric and delightful group of tenants has been living here for many years in a home that is reminiscent of an old New Orleans boarding house–full of books, history, music and characters. Slightly decrepit, it contains mature and wonderful old trees, servants quarters, and a tough but friendly guard dog.

The house was donated to the city of West Hollywood, which in its liberal cruelty has enacted laws protecting pets from being declawed, but allows longtime human tenants to be thrown into the street. Rather than respecting this shady old enclave, with its wonderful mystery and beauty, the “doo-gooders” of the local government are selling the home and property to developers who will build something modern and soulless with the politically noble mission of assisted living for the elderly.

Homes like “Tara” were once part of the fabric of Los Angeles and other American cities. Long before “assisted living”, these communal arrangements helped single people of all ages adjust to the often brutal demands of urban living in a kind and tolerant manner. Now the “gay capital” of the world is demolishing one of the beautiful,non-conforming jewels of area, and replacing it with corporate architectural mediocrity disguised as beneficent kindness.

Its very oddness makes it special and the people who lived and visited “Tara” will miss the tears and laughter that once echoed within these grounds.