The fate of the historic P.G. mansion that burned is yet to be determined.

The 128-year-old LaPorte Mansion in Pacific Grove sits at the top of its nearly two-acre lot, its white walls charred on at least three sides, the roof mostly gone. Almost two weeks after a fire gutted the historic home that once housed a P.G. mayor and was the location for the 1959 film A Summer Place, it’s encircled by a temporary fence, with “Keep Out” signs tacked to trees around the property. The day after the fire on May 26, so many onlookers were approaching the home that P.G. Police Department issued a warning that trespassers could be cited.

The cause of the fire is “undetermined, accidental,” according to Monterey Fire Chief Gaudenz Panholzer. The damage is extensive enough they may never find the actual cause and the structure is so unsafe he doesn’t want to send investigators inside. “I don’t want to take the risk when we may not get anything from it,” he says. The home was built using balloon-framed construction which left a gap between the exterior and interior walls allowing the fire to quickly spread up the walls and into the attic.

What’s next for the eight-bedroom, six-bathroom, 6,000-square-foot home is still being sorted out. Owner William Turrentine declined to be interviewed. P.G. City Manager Ben Harvey says a city building official is currently working with Turrentine as he determines if the Victorian home can be rebuilt. If a structural engineer can come up with a plan there may be hope, but if not the city will red-tag the structure, meaning it’s not safe for habitation.

P.G. Realtor Molly McGee estimates that before the fire, the property might have sold for roughly just shy of $3 million.

If the house cannot be saved, the family could rebuild another home, or, based on the lot’s high-density residential zoning, consider building other housing units, a hotel, motel or senior living community – but nothing above two stories.