Like the phoenix, Castle Kashan will rise from the ashes of the Oct. 21 blaze in Malibu, pledges its owner, Lilly Lawrence, a philanthropist and international socialite.
Lawrence, a fixture in this seaside enclave for decades, has temporarily leased a Santa Monica beachfront house while she oversees the rebuilding of her castle on the hilltop. The castle was a local landmark, and Princess Lilly -- as she is known -- has no intention of leaving Malibu on a permanent basis.
She not only will rebuild, she said, but will build another castle. She is leaning toward modeling her next home after the style, if not the size, of the Chambord Castle in France. Chambord is the largest of the Loire castles -- 440 rooms -- and was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci.
Although she hasn't settled on an architect yet, one candidate for the job is Taylor Louden, a historical preservationist who worked on the restoration of Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Calif., and the Will Rogers estate in Pacific Palisades.
"First we will rescue what we can," she said, while surveying the castle ruins on a recent visit, pointing to two towering urns from a villa in Italy and a 4-foot-tall antique porcelain Chinese vase covered in soot. Next, the debris will be removed and the ground leveled. "And then," she said, "we will move forward with a new castle."
The Castle Kashan had been on the market for $17 million at the time of the fire. It had fallen out of escrow a few weeks earlier, Lawrence said. The property was featured in The Times' Real Estate section as a Home of the Week in February.
When the castle burned to the ground, Lawrence, the daughter of an exiled Iranian oil minister, lost centuries-old chandeliers and Persian rugs that had been in her family for generations. She managed to rescue her late husband's ashes and a handful of jewels -- but not her mother's jewelry, a collection believed to have been second only to Queen Elizabeth II's. She also saved Elvis' Army fatigues -- Lawrence is a die-hard fan -- and her two cats.
Other items lost to the fire were priceless antiques, irreplaceable artworks and family photos as well as memorabilia from her world travels. Lawrence was in residence that morning and recalled being awakened twice in the pre-dawn hours by the smell of smoke. Both times she peeked in the courtyard and saw nothing amiss -- a houseguest's car was still parked there and all was quiet -- so she returned to sleep. An hour later, the fire department banged on the gilded entry gates, waking up the household and evacuating the castle.
