The Story of one of the most unique houses in the imperial Valley known as “The Smurf House”
Brawley CA - In the heart of Brawley, California, lies a house that could be called an art piece, known as “The Smurf House,” or “the Smurfette house” a well-known and unique landmark. Originally, the house used to be blue, which is how it got its name. The owners, Olivia Lopez and Rudy Lopez, have a remarkable story behind its creation. Rudy, a Vietnam War veteran, built the house as a way to keep busy and cope with his experiences from the war. Reflecting on his time after returning from Vietnam, Rudy shared, "When I came back from Vietnam, I was not the same… I was not the same no more."
Rudy has always had a fondness for unique and different structures. "I’ve always liked the shape of something like this, you know… I’ve always liked something different, I’ve always been a different guy… I’ve never been a standard guy," he explained. His desire to build the house stemmed from his changed mental state after the war. "When I came back from Vietnam, I was a different person. I was mentally messed up in the brain," he admitted.
Rudy fondly remembered his childhood in Brawley, saying, "I was a happy guy before I was in the Vietnam war. When I was a kid I had nothing but fun here in Brawley." A year after returning from the war, Rudy purchased the property in 1971 for $2500, around $20,000 in today’s market which was coincidentally right next to the house, he grew up in,. Initially, it was an old single-bedroom, one-bathroom home that Rudy states was falling apart. Rudy essentially transformed every corner of the original house, turning it into the castle-like structure it is today. "I’ve always liked castles, and the house was meant to look like a castle," he said. When asked how much he would estimate the value of the house, including materials and labor Rudy astutely noted that he feels the house is worth $3 million, but the market value according to Zillow is valued at an estimated market value of $330,000, note that this may not be accurate.
Consequently, the house was constructed around those initial handmade elements. Rudy meticulously framed and sculpted the walls, designed windows and doors to mimic the portals of a pirate ship, and infused every corner of the interior with his craftsmanship. Through this process, he evolved into a master craftsman and skilled welder. For the next 25 years, the couple resided in a perpetual work-in-progress, passionately attending to each detail of the house themselves. Sadly, their time enjoying the finished masterpiece was brief before the fire in 2008.
One of the lesser-known features of The Smurf House is the car on top of it. "There’s a car on top of the house," Rudy mentioned. "It used to be a race car look, but I changed it ever since the fire in 2008." Unfortunately, on June 4, 2008, tragedy struck, and the house burned down due to an electrical fire. “Let me tell you the weirdest thing happened man, my dad died uhh… before the fire, My dad died 10 days before the fire, I made a model of this house before I built it, it took me about a year to make the model you know… when my dad died. I got the model and threw it in the fire huh, you wouldn’t know it, but a week later the house caught on fire, isn’t that weird” said Rudy, some may call it a coincidence and some may believe it happened because he burned the model, but to this day, we will never truly know.
The rebuilding process took another six years, and the finishing touches inside are expected to be completed within the next few months. In a more recent development, the house was just repainted, and I added a fence to the front of the house with solar panel lights.
Rudy bought the house in 1971, right before he and Olivia got married. Rudy met Olivia while walking down Main Street in Brawley, and their first date was going to Calexico to see a Wolfman Jack show. "It took us about 25 years to build it the first time, and we lived in a finished house for about 9 years before it burned down. The second time, it only took 6 years," Olivia recounted. Rudy's uncle helped him build the house, but most of it was built by Rudy himself, who has a shop in the back where he welds things together and makes items for the house. “my uncle, yeah he was a good carpenter, He did most of the framework.” Rudy states.
In the first construction of the house, Roberto Rudy’s uncle helped significantly. However, the second rebuilding was a community effort involving many people. "Our son, Stefan, our oldest, was not working at the time, along with James Armstrong, our cousin. They helped tremendously. Marco, who lived in San Diego, would help on weekends. Yes, Rudy was the designer and brain behind the rebuilding, but it truly was a family and community effort," Olivia emphasized.
The Smurf House stands as a testament to Rudy's resilience and creativity, embodying his journey of healing and self-expression through architecture and a historic landmark in Brawley that will hopefully stay around for generations.