When I went back to visit my house last March after the Palisades Fire, it looked like an empty lot. Only the front steps, the back driveway, a fence and a telephone pole remained where my home used to be. It almost felt like my home never stood there or could stand there. 

Immediately after the fires, my family reached out to our contracting company, Structure Homes, which built our house 12 years ago. Back in March, the local government issued an executive order called “like for like [rebuilds].” This order allows families to rebuild their homes in a streamlined manner as long as the house remains 90% the same as it was before. Since my family is rebuilding the exact same house with some minor changes, this executive applied to us, as we were waiting to receive our building permits. However, the city modified the zoning codes in 2022, and since we built our house in 2012, we needed to modify our plans slightly to meet the new guidelines. 

After my parents worked for weeks to get our building permits, which we submitted last May, the city finally approved the permits in September. That period of waiting has been one of the most stressful parts of our rebuilding process so far. Multiple times, we were told the permits got approved, only for a few days later to find out they were missing something. We were all tired of waiting and just hoping they would get to it, and after three long months, they finally did approve our permits. 

About a week later, the first construction trucks arrived at our property to begin the early stages of construction, which include breaking ground, grating and early plumbing. On Sept. 16, the foundation was poured. This was a huge milestone for us. 

On Sep. 29, the first wood was placed, and the house finally came out of the ground. Though it did not feel like home at the time, it sort of resembled a house. 

After about two and a half months, the first floor of the house was finally done. On Oct. 2, I was able to walk into the house with the first floor all finished. I was so happy to be able to go into the house and see the rooms where I had spent so much time. Many of them I recognized immediately, but in some rooms I had to ask my parents where I was standing because the size did not feel like it did before. 

About a week later, the construction of the second floor began, but it was impossible to get up, as the construction of the stairs takes much longer. 

Along the way, my family and I have encountered many challenges from emotional to slow construction from the rain. For me, making our inventory list for the insurance company has been very difficult. We are told to make a list of everything we had in the house. It is much harder than you would think. I feel like I do not think of things until I realize I need them because there were just so many things in my house that I just never really appreciated were there so I did not really pay attention to them.

Looking forward, I am excited to go back to the Palisades even if it is not the same. At the moment, there are approximately 500 houses in various stages of construction. For a while, when we do move back, there will still be many empty lots, but it will be hopeful to see new houses and be surrounded by a lot of my old neighbors that are rebuilding. 

I am excitedly counting down the days until the fall, when I get to sleep in my own room again and just be in my own and familiar house.