'Phonehenge' Creator Guilty of Outlaw Building

Alan Kimble Fahey could get years in prison for wacky structure
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 8, 2011 3:00 AM CDT
'Phone-henge' Creator Guilty of Outlaw Building
   (Facebook)

The druids of Stonehenge never had to worry about construction permits. But now the creator of a modern-day Phonehenge West has been found guilty of violating California building codes and could face years in prison. Alan Kimble Fahey has been found guilty—so far—of nine misdemeanor violations, and the jury is still considering another five charges, reports the Los Angeles Times. "It's what I expected," said Fahey, 59, who plans to appeal. The retired phone company technician will likely be ordered to tear down his rambling art house, a habitable mishmash of 20,000 square feet of colorful buildings, stained glass, and a tower siting atop modified phone utility poles and connected with bridges and ramps that took him three decades to build.

Several members of the Mojave Desert town of Acton north of Los Angeles have fought to save the structure. "Somebody needs to stop LA County BS," snipes one fan. The structure "is something interesting the public can look at," said a local advocate for code reform. "It's something special that shouldn't be demolished." (There's also a henge-like phenomenon in Manhattan, which you can check out here.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X