Burch

HAERLE, Acting P.J.

Appellants Roger and Michele Burch appeal from a judgment of the Mendocino County Superior Court which held, on facts stipulated by the parties, that an easement by necessity existed across property owned by them in favor of plaintiff and respondent Cheryl Murphy (as trustee of the "Murphy Children Education Trust"), the owner of neighboring property which lacks access to a public road. We disagree and hence reverse.

As already noted, the parties stipulated to the facts in this case. As pertinent here, they are as follows: Prior to 1876, all of the properties involved in this case were owned by the federal government. In that year, the first of several parcels now making up the Burch property was deeded, by federal government patent, [1] to one of the several predecessors in interest to the Burches. Between then and 1929, all the remaining properties now comprising the Burch property were likewise deeded to private owners by the federal government; by 1929, the Burches' predecessors in interest owned all the property the Burches presently own. The other property, the parcel now owned by respondent Murphy, was still owned by the federal government.

However,…