It’s been more than a year since the fire changed everything. Like so many others, Julia and I found ourselves displaced, adjusting to a version of life we never expected. What we thought might be a temporary chapter stretched into months, and then into more than a year. Along the way, we learned to adapt, but we never stopped knowing – we would come back. Now, we are. Coming home, however, doesn’t mean returning to our home. Not yet. For now, we’re moving to the Highlands, while our home will be rebuilt in Marquez Knolls. Julia continues to serve as the area representative for Marquez Knolls, and our connection to that neighborhood – and to the broader Palisades community – has never wavered. If anything, it has only deepened.
My own roles as 2nd Vice Commander of the Palisades American Legion and Vice Chair of the Pacific Palisades Long Term Recovery Group have kept me closely tied to the heart of the recovery effort. Both organizations are headquartered on La Cruz Drive, on either something we needed in that moment: stability and convenience. Within minutes, there are seven grocery stores. Errands are easy. Everything is accessible, efficient, predictable. After the chaos of the fire, that kind of order had real value. But convenience, as it turns out, is not the same as home.
Life along Admiralty Way comes with a constant soundtrack – traffic moving at all hours, punctuated by the frequent wail of fire truck sirens. Day and night, the noise rarely stops, and even inside there’s a sense of motion that never quite settles. At the same time, the apartment complex next to us never truly goes dark. Bright exterior lighting spills into our space, turning what should be night into something closer to perpetual dusk.
Because what we missed most about the Palisades wasn’t convenience – it was quiet. In the Highlands, the streets are still, and night actually feels like night. There’s a calm that isn’t manufactured or managed – it simply exists. And beyond that, there’s something harder to define but impossible to ignore: connection. In the Palisades, you know people, you share experiences, and there’s a familiarity that comes from years of living side by side. That sense of belonging doesn’t disappear when you leave – but you feel its absence. So yes, we are coming back with a deep sense of purpose, but also with clear eyes. This is not a return to the Palisades we left. Rebuilding is underway, but it is far from complete. There will be construction, disruption, trucks, noise, and delays, simply part of the process.
Part of our decision is practical. Being closer to our property in Marquez Knolls matters. Rebuilding a home is not passive; it requires presence – meeting with contractors, coordinating with architects, navigating city processes, and making decisions in real time. Proximity allows us to move from waiting … to participating. But, the larger reason is simpler: we want to be here. Marina del Rey offered ease. Pacific Palisades offers meaning. There may be fewer conveniences, errands may take longer, and life may be more complicated for a while, but it will also be more grounded, more connected, and more aligned with who we are and where we belong. And, we are not alone in this. Across the Palisades, families are making similar decisions – returning not because it’s easy, but because it matters. There is a shared understanding that what we are rebuilding is more than individual homes; it’s a community. Home, it turns out, isn’t defined by convenience – it’s defined by connection. While we are not yet returning to the home we lost, we are returning to the place that still feels like ours. We’re not just coming back – we’re coming home.
Richard Lombari is a Pacific Palisades resident, Real Estate
Wealth International Realty, and 2nd Vice Commander of American Legion Post 283.