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The owner of the controversial 'Flintstone House' in Silicon Valley says the city discriminated against her after they called her house a 'public nuisance,' and now the case is going to trialhttps://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/miscellaneous/the-owner-of-the-controversial-flintstone-house-in-silicon-valley-says-the-city-discriminated-against-her-after-they-called-her-house-a-public-nuisance-and-now-the-case-is-going-to-trial/slidelist/71482474.cms2019-10-07T21:27:55+05:30

The owner of the controversial 'Flintstone House' in Silicon Valley says the city discriminated against her after they called her house a 'public nuisance,' and now the case is going to trial

Oct 7, 2019, 21:27 IST

Hillsborough, California is a wealthy town in the San Francisco Bay area with a median home price of over $4 million. Local zoning laws only allow large single-family dwellings, and because of minimum lot sizes, there are no apartments or townhouses in the town, according to local media.

Architect William Nelson designed the now-called "Flintstone House" — a 2,700 square foot dwelling constructed in 1976 as part of an experiment with domed buildings.

The house was originally off-white, with orange and purple added after 2000.

The house has been known as "the dome house," "the bubble house," and other names throughout its history.

It has three bedrooms, and all interior areas are rounded.

By the 1980s, the home had fallen into disrepair. San Francisco architect Eugene Tssui partially remodeled the home.

In 2017, Florence Fang purchased the house at 45 Berryessa Way for $2.8 million.

Fang installed dinosaur sculptures, a woolly mammoth, a giraffe, and Fred Flintstone figures. "I see any dinosaur, I buy it," she told the Guardian in May.

In March 2019, Hillsborough filed a complaint against Fang, alleging that she did not have proper permits for her additions to the property, and calling it a "public nuisance."

On May 8, Fang filed a counter-suit alleging that Hillsborough discriminated against her.

The suit claims that Tim Anderson, a Hillsborough building official, has a history of discrimination against people of color, especially people of Asian descent. "He has told at least one individual of Asian origin that 'You have to speak English when you are in Hillsborough,'" according to the suit.

The suit also alleges that Anderson performed an illegal, warrantless search of the property, upon which the stop-work order was based in December 2017.

Fang's lawsuit also claims that Anderson spoke to contractors on a list she was given by the town and that as a result none of them would work with her.

In September, the court overruled Hillsborough's demurrer on the point of discrimination, meaning that the case will proceed to trial. Attorney Angela Alito told Business Insider "the case is moving along."

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