The House on Valido Road: Farm on Fire
By Lee C. Hanson, Ph.D.
With historic descriptions from Esther Egan, daughter of the Egan Homesteaders
A strange fact: Restaurants seek out dry-farmed tomatoes for high-end dining. Using less water means these little tomatoes have a more rich, intense flavor.
Click on photo for a larger image
Courtesy of First American Title Company
Dry farming on land cultivated by William Egan and James Shrewsbury
Will Egan didn’t have gourmet dining in mind when he decided to use the dry-farming system at his homestead. When rainfall is erratic and water is scarce, the dry farming method is the obvious choice. Esther jotted down a note saying:
My father William used “dry farming” and raised melons, string beans and loma beans.
Beans and melons, with their deep root systems, were the most common crops for farmers who practiced dry farming. As you can see in the photo, the plants were placed far apart to prevent competition for water. The field was kept weed-free for the same reason. Working the soil at just the right time is an essential part of the method. This meant long hours in the fields for both Will Egan and his uncle, Jim Shrewsbury.
The conditions that force dry farming – uncertain water supply and drought conditions – can also lead to wildfires. Flammable native chaparral and rugged canyon terrain add to the problem.
Six years after Will Egan received his homestead patent, the conditions were right. Around two or three in the afternoon, in the late summer of 1916, Will and Bertie saw smoke and fire come billowing over the hills. They feared everything would be lost.
From the Hanson files
Wildfire!
Here is the story as told in Esther Egan’s own words:
In about 1916, a man burning brush let the fire get away and it spread over what is now Coast Royal and South Laguna. Only about four houses were there then, and no fire department. We just had a cistern for water with a pump. Our dad had beehives up on a hill, and the fire burned the hives and bees, causing honey to run out and down the hill.
Our house roof was in danger of catching fire, so our dad went up a ladder and mother pumped water and handed buckets of water up to him. The roof did catch in spots, but it was saved. Francis and I were told to stay inside and pray that God would keep us safe and not let the house burn. We also kept wet cloths over our mouths. That was something neither of us will ever forget. Small animals came out of the hills down to the house, hoping to find shelter; many of them with fur on fire. It was a terrible time.
Finally, when the house was safe, our dad set backfires and turned the fire from us, but everywhere you looked it was all black, no vegetation left. We had some pups at the time, and I went out and covered them up with wet gunny sacks, so they could breathe, and they were saved.
Next morning, several of our friends from Laguna came and expected to find us burned out and staying on the beach, but thanks to our Heavenly Father and the efforts of our parents, it turned out we were all right. Course there was much to be done to get back to “normal living.”
Much of Egan’s farm was lost in the disastrous fire. Esther was particularly saddened by the loss of wildlife:
Our house was surrounded by singed animals, even a deer which broke our hearts. To look out at all of the hills blackened was heartbreaking but we were so thankful.
From the Hanson files
A fawn peeking out amid the blackened underbrush
Many years later, in a newspaper article published by the South Coast News, a mother-daughter exchange about the fire was quoted. Esther asked her mother why the great fire didn’t burn them out; Bertie replied:
“It was your prayers – yours and Frances’. I was too busy helping your father that afternoon and evening to mind you children, so I told you to stay in the house and keep all the doors and windows shut and to ask God to help us not to lose our home. I worked outdoors all that day. Your father tried to make a backfire. I helped, but sometimes the smoke was so thick, we bumped into one another going back and forth.
I pumped bucketsful of water for your daddy to use on the roof. Whenever I glanced in the windows, I could see you two down on your knees praying. Your prayers certainly were answered, for the next morning everything around us burned except our house.”
Esther’s notes concluded:
It took years for the growth to come back on the hills and all the lovely wildflowers and ferns to reappear.
The wildfire that the Egans bravely fought destroyed their fields and beehives as well as the surrounding hills and the canyon below. Only their home remained.
Like many of the survivors of the recent Palisades and Eaton fires, the family faced the hard work of restoring their homestead. From the little house they had saved, they started over, slowly regaining all that they had lost.
As Esther predicted, it took many years to get back to “normal living.”
Courtesy of Deborrah Allen, representing the Egan family
Back to normal living
This photo of Frances and Esther Egan was taken a few years after the fire. The hillsides are recovering and the Egans were getting closer to “normal living.” Does anyone wonder if the dog in this photograph was one of the “pups” that Esther covered up with
wet gunny sacks?
• • •
Previous installment: Dwelling, House, Home
Next installment: See How It Grew
• • •
The words of Esther Egan (Will Egan’s daughter) are part of a record buried in the files at the FamilySearch Library in Los Angeles. Over the years, Esther documented historical and family events, writing on a series of index cards which were passed down to her granddaughter, Deborrah Allen. It was Deborrah who included the cards – her grandmother’s words – in the tribute: Our Family Heroes – My Grandmother Esther Egan Hind.
Researcher/author Dr. Lee Hanson taught in the Art Department at San José State University for several years; she moved to Southern California and retired while serving as associate director of Arts Education, Art Department, School of Arts and Architecture, UCLA.
Editor’s Note: The Egan Homestead property includes the original historical one-story homestead house, started in 1909 and completed in 1928, and the adjacent building which was used as a stable and for equipment storage, and it housed Kirke Thompson, their farm hand.
A proposed development would demolish these buildings to make way for a new 3,811-sq.-ft. residence, decks and garage. The Design Review Board approved the demolition and new construction at their meeting on September 25. Chair Gibbs stated that this was the hardest decision he has had to make since he has been on the board. The city-commissioned historical resources report found that the property is eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources and the National Register of Historic Places for its association with the Homestead Act signed by President Lincoln in 1862.
The Egan Cottage is the only surviving homestead house in Laguna Beach and the only known example in all of Orange County. The approval has been appealed by neighbors, the South Laguna Civic Association and Village Laguna. The appeal will be heard at the Council meeting on January 13, 2026.
