BACKGROUND: Catherine Gallagher was sufficiently intrigued by...

BACKGROUND: Catherine Gallagher was sufficiently intrigued by an April article in View that she went to take a look at Sierra Madre’s “glass pyramid.” The 3,000-square-foot house is built to the exact dimensions of the ancient (2680 BC) Pyramid of Cheops, near Cairo. She had no intention of moving, but right away she knew: “I’ve just got to have it.” The asking price was $499,000; she offered $450,000.

UPDATE: Four weeks to the day after Gallagher moved in, the June 28 earthquake struck Sierra Madre. She reports happily that there wasn’t a crack: “The house is as solid as a rock.” Amenities include a panoramic view clear to downtown Los Angeles. At night, she can “almost reach out and touch the stars.” By morning’s mist, she says, “it’s like being inside one of those ethereal clouds. You have the feeling you are one with the world.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Gallagher, who works with emotionally disturbed children, hopes to open the pyramid to nonprofit organizations for fund-raisers. She says others may enjoy seeing it “even though they wouldn’t want to live in it.”