They’re filming in Mentryville again. This is a long-term shoot, and folks are being asked to not walk in areas where they might be seen on-camera.

Only problem is, they are filming inside the Pico Cottage, on the second floor. Cameras and lights are attached in some way to the eves of the upper roof. It also looks like the film crew is walking on the porch roof.

Who is going to pay for the damaged roof? Don’t forget, this building is part of a California Registered Historical Landmark.

The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is a state agency that appears to have no real oversight by Sacramento.

Try as I might, I’ve not found a financial report showing what it costs to use any filming sites within the jurisdiction of the MRCA. We don’t know what the agency charges, where the money goes or what it is used for after the MRCA gets it.

When the MRCA took over Mentryville in 1995-96, it was agreed the buildings were to be restored so the public could tour them and they would be protected from the ravages of misuse and decay. So now, two decades later, we are still waiting to get those tours started, and instead of preserving the historic character of the buildings, the MRCA is allowing them to be damaged by film crews.

Understand that I know the Pico Cottage and indeed many of the building in Mentryville have been used for filming since the early days of Hollywood. If it weren’t for a couple of those really early flicks, we wouldn’t know many of the details about the structures. The filming now is being done by folks who don’t necessarily know or care about the historical significance of the little village west of Newhall.

If they knew about the history of the cottage, they would treat it with a lot more respect. Climbing on the roof and attaching lights and stuff to the eves is not showing any respect to the historic building.

I also want folks to know the utter lack of respect the film “security crew” showed to folks passing by the place as they used the road and trails of Pico Canyon. Of course, this is the same “security crew” that had to report missing film equipment to the LASD.

Not long ago, I was able to get into the house and see the results of filming. There were nail and screw holes in the walls and floors, missing plaster, and in the one small bedroom upstairs, there were extra layers of plaster and a paint job that defies description. Blues and yellow and reds all mixed up to form an ugly montage of bad set design. It made me sick.

I know of another building of the same vintage located in Newhall that has also suffered at the hands of some sort of the theater “arts.” In the case of that building, it is estimated that $70,000 to $100,000 in repairs are necessary to return the structure to a condition in which it will be ready for full restoration.

What is with folks who want to use and, in turn, destroy history? I think in the case of both buildings, it was for the simple purpose of making money. No other reason at all. Just follow the trail and we’ll know where to look for the folks who are doing the “dirty deeds.”

I keep trying to find out just how much it costs to use Mentryville as a film site. I can tell you the costs for using Heritage Junction, and I know it isn’t cheap. But how much is the MRCA taking in for the using Pico Cottage?

We have seen so many of our SCV historic structures be forgotten and destroyed. The early adobe buildings from the San Fernando Mission were known into fairly modern times and the remains of those were destroyed by folks looking for treasure and the rain. In more recent times, we have some pictures, and that is about it.

We could list many scores of homes and buildings that would have historical significance, had they survived the march of progress. What really gets to me is when such buildings are declared historic and then used in a manner that does not preserve and protect them.

Under state law, “no state agency shall alter the original or significant historical features or fabric, or transfer, relocate or demolish” any state-owned historical resource. That includes the buildings in Mentryville.

State law calls for listed historical properties to be treated “in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.” They’re pretty simple and common sense, but apparently that’s too much for the MRCA to handle. The standards say things like this:

“The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.”

And this: “Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.”

And this: “Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials.”

And this: “Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.”

If our reps in Sacramento really knew what was going on, maybe they could stop it. But they don’t know and don’t seem to want to learn about it. They seem more worried about keeping the image of a Confederate flag out of state park gift shops. I would bet most of those folks wouldn’t know where the Civil War began or that the flags they banned were not the national flags of the Confederacy.

As our history gets knocked down and built into a vast high-speed rail boondoggle, remember: What is lost cannot be recreated. It is one of a kind. Anything new to replace it makes it new, not better.

It makes me sick to see the Pico Cottage being used like it is today.

Now ponder that for a little while.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].