A Rosemead man is the new owner of an unusual home on a bridge that overlooks a concrete flood control channel in Alhambra.
Dwain Carlo Crum is 67 years old and still living in the Rosemead home he grew up in, but last month he bought the Alhambra home on bridge, aka the Troll House.
“I’m very overjoyed that I got it,” Crum said. “I know some people call it a troll house, I don’t mind, but trolls have different connotations, but I want to call it the bridge house of LA,” Crum said.
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It’s only 14 steps to Crum’s new purchase. When you step inside, it looks like any other place, until a glance out the window with a view of the curving flood control channel that winds through the San Gabriel Valley community about 10 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
“There are many, many bridges, but as far as I know this is the only one with a house on the bridge,” Crum said.
One month ago Monday, he toured the 462 square foot one bed, one bathroom home that overlooks the Alhambra wash. He knew then that he wanted to buy it.
“I really want it. More than anything I’ve ever wanted,” Crum said.
He quickly found himself in the middle of a bidding war.
“It was constantly being shown, it was crazy,” Douglas Lee, the listing agent, said. “I got calls from people out in Missouri, I got calls from people in Nevada, I got calls from people in Washington. It was listed for $249,950, so just $50 less than $250,000 and it sold for $430,000 even."
Now that the deal is done, Crum is thinking about the possibilities for his new place.
“I’ll listen to any idea there is,” Crum said. “I could be the next Walt Disney or Walter Knott. I could have an amusement park with bungee jumping and zip lines and all that.”
After spending his life in the home he grew up in, and 29 years as a teacher in the same classroom, Crum is ready for a change.
“It was never something I dreamed about when I was a kid right,” Crum said. “The bridge house of LA. And it’s mine.”
The bridge is owned by the city of Alhambra, so he just owns the home on the bridge.
Crum is not sure if he’ll live in it permanently or maybe make it an Airbnb. He said he plans to fix the roof, address possible mold issues, then the possibilities are endless.
