Heath v. Kettenhofen

236 Cal. App. 2d 197, 45 Cal. Rptr. 778
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 30, 1965
DocketCiv. 21487
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 236 Cal. App. 2d 197 (Heath v. Kettenhofen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Heath v. Kettenhofen, 236 Cal. App. 2d 197, 45 Cal. Rptr. 778 (Cal. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

SALSMAN, J.

Plaintiffs Heath and defendant Kettenhofen are owners of adjacent parcels of land. Each party has filed an action against the other. Their dispute concerns the existence, extent and proper use of an easement across the northerly 40 feet of defendant’s land. Plaintiffs’ action sought declaratory relief, to quiet title and an injunction. Defendant’s action sought reformation of the deed by which the common grantor of the parties granted the disputed easement to plaintiffs. Although each party, is both a plaintiff and a defendant, for convenience the Heaths will hereafter be referred to as plaintiffs and Kettenhofen as defendant, unless otherwise noted.

*200 The plaintiffs purchased their property from the common grantor, a Mr. Wilson, in 1953, and defendant purchased his property in 1958. Wilson’s deed to plaintiffs contained the grant of an easement, 40 feet in width, “for roadway and utilities” over a portion of the land later granted by Wilson to defendant. The defendant has attached to his brief a diagram showing the disputed easement and its relationship to the property of the parties. A copy of the diagram * is attached to this opinion as an exhibit. It corresponds to the testimony taken at the trial and reflected in the record before us on this appeal.

In 1960 plaintiffs filed an action against defendant to prevent the erection by defendant of a fence along the common boundary, and to enjoin defendant from interfering with plaintiffs’ use and enjoyment of the easement. Later, the defendant Kettenhofen filed an action against plaintiffs Heath, seeking reformation of their deed from Wilson, alleging that the scrivener of the deed had made an error by including a greater easement than that intended by the grantor. The actions were consolidated for trial.

At trial there was evidence that in 1953 when plaintiffs purchased their property from Wilson, a building was located on the southeastern portion of the property. This building had formerly been used as a firehouse. It had a large swinging door that faced to the south, opening on to the easement. This large door contained a smaller door, used by personnel to gain access to the firehouse without the necessity of opening the larger door. A fence, located approximately along the common boundary line, ran east from the southwestern corner of plaintiffs’ property to a point about 15 feet west of the firehouse.

The evidence is in some conflict concerning the grant of plaintiffs’ easement. The grantor Wilson testified that the only easement he ever discussed was one that would give plaintiffs access to the railroad to the west. Brian Heath acknowledged that he had not discussed the disputed ease-main entrance to the firehouse gave on to the easement he assumed that it “went as part of the land use that we were buying at the time.” The easement for access to the railroad was discussed by the parties, but Brian Heath stated that his impression was that this discussion related to the 55-foot ment with Wilson. He testified, in effect, that because the *202 strip between the westerly line of plaintiffs’ property and the railroad.

*201

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Clement v. Jaworski CA1/5
California Court of Appeal, 2024
Romero v. Shih
California Supreme Court, 2024
Yamamoto v. Brown CA4/1
California Court of Appeal, 2014
Frankel v. Geier CA4/1
California Court of Appeal, 2013
Blackmore v. Powell
59 Cal. Rptr. 3d 527 (California Court of Appeal, 2007)
Scruby v. Vintage Grapevine, Inc.
37 Cal. App. 4th 697 (California Court of Appeal, 1995)
Wal-Noon Corp. v. Hill
45 Cal. App. 3d 605 (California Court of Appeal, 1975)
Insurance Co. of North America v. Bechtel
36 Cal. App. 3d 310 (California Court of Appeal, 1973)
Goodman v. Community Savings & Loan Ass'n
246 Cal. App. 2d 13 (California Court of Appeal, 1966)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
236 Cal. App. 2d 197, 45 Cal. Rptr. 778, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/heath-v-kettenhofen-calctapp-1965.