Back around 2005, I appraised a house in Orange County, CA. It was a two-story McMansion in an area with 1950s ranch homes. This home was two-stories plus a GIGANTIC attic. The house was over 3,000 SF plus the attic space, and just didn’t fit at all with the neighborhood. Like any home inspection, I do my routine measuring, photographing and make comments and observations. I ask if I can take a quick photo of the attic space and the owner looks at me, smiles and asks, “You cool?” I didn’t really know what he meant but said, “Yeah, I’m cool.” He leads me up the stairs to the attic and shows me inside. The entire attic is filled to the ceiling with pot plants in 5-gallon buckets. The plants were 5-8 feet tall and looked like small trees. It was the most pot I had ever seen in my life. He had a lighting system, drip/irrigation, air circulation and a generator running. This was an impressive and shocking operation he had going. I took my pictures and explained that they would be in the appraisal report. The owner didn’t seem to care at all so I’m guessing it was a legal operation? Who knows. I alerted the client and made a report to the local PD. I have no clue what came of it, as I never followed up with the client, owner, or the police.
