Log Cabin From Film In Jeopardy

Wednesday, January 10th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) â€” The owner of a Pacific Palisades log cabin built for the 1923 silent film ``The Courtship of Miles Standish'' wants to tear it down, but preservationists argue the Rustic Canyon lodge is a roughhewn treasure that deserves landmark status.

``It's not a Frank Lloyd Wright house. It was built by a bunch of guys on a movie set,'' owner Larry Butler said. He wants to demolish and replace it.

``I believe Rustic Canyon is a special place. I want to build something that fits in with the area; a log cabin that has plumbing and electric that works and meets the code,'' Butler said.

But neighborhood preservationists want to thwart those plans by getting the place named a historic-cultural landmark. The city Cultural Heritage Commission endorsed landmark status for the cabin in October.

The City Council's Arts, Health and Humanities Committee must consider the idea, and its recommendation will go to the council for a final vote.

Before Butler purchased the cabin 18 months ago, actress Daryl Hannah owned it. Butler is chairman of Alpha Technologies, a company that makes thermal cooling devices for electronic equipment.

Butler originally was going to restore the cabin. But consultants discovered it was sinking into a pair of cesspools, the plumbing leaked, termites infested the place and its 75-year-old electrical wiring was dangerously substandard.