th Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report. Evaluation Report Parcel Map Sanborn Maps Photographs

Transcription

1 th Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report Evaluation Report Parcel Map Sanborn Maps Photographs Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division October 5, 2009

2 th Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING The subject property located at th Street was constructed circa 1923 in the American Colonial Revival architectural style. The three detached Bungalow residences are situated on the eastside of 9 th Street, between 10 th Street to the east, Lincoln Boulevard to the west, Washington Avenue to the north, and California Avenue to the south. The subject property is bordered by multi-family housing to the north and south, 9 th Street to the west, and an alleyway to the east. The Pacific Ocean is approximately one-quarter mile to the west. The legal description of the subject property is Town of Santa Monica Tract Lot O, Block 67. REGULATORY SETTING The subject property was surveyed during Phase III ( ) of the Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Survey and was determined eligible for local listing as a Structure of Merit property and assigned a National Register Status Code of 5S3. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The three detached dwellings on the subject property were all listed in the 1925 Pacific Ready-Cut Catalogue, with the two smaller identical residences listed as Style 44 and the larger streetfronting residence listed as Style The two smaller rear residences, which face north, are located along the walkway running west to east on the north side of the lot. Both have cross-gable roofs with exposed eaves and rafter tails. The exterior is wood horizontal clapboard siding with a central wood door and three operable multi-light windows on each side and two operable windows on their secondary elevations. The arched frontispiece surrounding the front doorway has American Colonial Revival style fluted wood pilasters. The larger street-fronting residence, Style 84, has a narrow paved walkway that leads from 9 th Street to the front entrance. The roof is a cross-gable with exposed eaves and rafter tails. The exterior is wood horizontal clapboard siding with a central wood door between multi-light sidelights and three operable multi-light windows on each side of the primary elevation. There are original windows on the three secondary elevations of the streetfronting dwelling. The American Colonial Revival style one-bay front porch has a broken pediment supported by Tuscan wood columns. 1 Ibid. 27 & Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 130, Santa Monica, CA INTERNET TEL FAX

3 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND SANTA MONICA In 1875, the original townsite of Santa Monica was surveyed, including all the land extending from Colorado Street on the south to Montana on the north, and from 26 th Street on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Between 1893 and the 1920s, the community operated as a tourist attraction that was visited primarily by wealthy patrons. Areas located just outside of the incorporated city limits were semi-rural in setting and populated with scattered residences. Following the widespread acceptance of the automobile in the 1920s, Santa Monica experienced a significant building boom, with numerous homes constructed in the tracts north of Montana and east of Seventh Street for yearround residents TH STREET WITHIN THE TOWN OF SANTA MONICA TRACT The three detached Bungalow residences situated on the subject property were originally constructed in 1923, according to Los Angeles Tax Assessor records. They currently retain the same multifamily residential use. The development history of the 9 th Street neighborhood is as follows. Residential development along 9 th Street in north Santa Monica was sparse before According to the 1918 Sanborn Map, there were three residences on the west side of the 1000 block of 9 th Street, and only vacant lots on the east side of the block. The 1920s was a period of burgeoning growth for Santa Monica. The area north of Wilshire reflected that growth with increasing numbers of multi-family homes. Although these residences ranged in size from two families to eight or more families, the neighborhood remained modest in scale primarily because of the uniform size of the lots, which were, approximately, 50 feet by 100 feet. During the early 1920s, preference for wood sided buildings in the Craftsman or American Colonial Revival style continued to predominate. During the mid- 1920s the stucco and red tile of the Spanish Colonial Revival style dominated new construction. Two examples remain extant from the early phase of residential building in the 1000 Block of 9 th Street, including the subject property, and th Street, the La Mirada Apartment Court, which are both examples of courtyard housing from the 1920s. By 1950, only one lot was unimproved on the 1000 block of 9 th Street. There is at least one Pacific Ready-Cut residence located within a few blocks of the subject property, a craftsman single-family residence located at 908 California Avenue. It is unclear how many other Pacific Ready-Cut residences were constructed in the Santa Monica Tract, although based on historic Sanborn maps it appears that bungalow courts were once prolific in the Santa Monica Tract neighborhood around the subject property. The once ubiquitous bungalow court has been largely replaced with low-rise multi-family housing. Although a few representative examples of Bungalow courts are extant within the tract, it appears that they were not fabricated by Pacific Ready-Cut Homes. Therefore, it appears that examples of both bungalow courts and Pacific Ready-Cut residences are increasingly rare in the north of Wilshire Boulevard and south of Montana Avenue neighborhood in the City of Santa Monica.

4 PACIFIC READY-CUT Based on County of Los Angeles Tax Assessor records, the subject Bungalow Court was constructed on an unimproved lot in No original building permits exist for the three detached dwellings; however, based on California s Kit Homes: A Reprint of the 1925 Pacific Ready-Cut Homes Catalog, 2 it appears that all three residences were ordered directly from Pacific Ready-Cut Homes, a mail order home manufacturer located in the City of Vernon. The manufacturing site was centered on over 20 acres near the intersection of Boyle Avenue and Slauson Boulevard. Pacific Ready-Cut constructed a variety of single-family homes, multi-family homes, and commercial buildings, which one could order and have delivered to their construction site. The building materials arrived in wood crates and could be assembled in a few weeks according to the mail order catalog. Pacific Ready-Cut manufactured over 40,000 homes and commercial buildings between 1908 and Pacific Ready-Cut was one of many ready-cut companies selling prefabricated homes in the United States during the early twentieth century. The largest mail-order house fabricator was Sears, Roebuck, and Company located in Chicago, Illinois. In Michigan, the national, re-fabricated home builder, the Aladdin Company, became popular by selling California-themed bungalows with names that evoked images of California including the Pomona, the Sunshine and the Pasadena. In Southern California, Pacific Ready-Cut and California Ready-Cut Bungalow Company, were the primary ready-cut manufacturers. Architectural plan books including "Ye Plenary" Bungalows and the "Draughtsman" Bungalows, also provided a convenient method for builders and developers to construct bungalows quickly and efficiently. AMERICAN COLONIAL REVIVAL The subject property s architectural style was derived from the American Colonial Revival style which was popular from 1910 through the 1940s. The American Colonial Revival style drew heavily upon American Georgian and Adamesque precedents. During the twentieth century, architectural publications focused upon early American Colonial buildings, such as the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs (1915), and widely disseminated photographs and drawings illustrating the Colonial Revival style. As a result, American Colonial Revival style architecture during the late 1910s was accurately based upon early American prototypes. The architecture was defined by classical symmetry, front doors with classical surrounds and fan lights or side lights, double-hung sash windows with multiple lights, wood shutters and gabled roofs. 3 2 Rosemary Thornton, ed., California s Kit Homes: A Reprint of the 1925 Pacific Ready-Cut Homes Catalog, (Alton: Gentle Beam Publications) Virginia McAlester and Lee McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990), pg. 322.

5 Occupancy History City directories indicate that Mr. Evan Brown, a dentist, resided at th Street from 1923 to In the city directory lists occupants at all three houses: Don Wood at 1047, F.J. Smith at 1047a, and Mrs. Jeffery Hope at 1047b. In 1933 the occupants remained unchanged, except Mrs. C.C. Joslin was listed at The occupant for 1047 changed again in 1936, listing H.M. Dewart as the new resident. In 1940, 1047b was listed as vacant. In all of the occupants changed, Ando Sando was listed at 1047, J.J. Hoover at 1047a, and Jack Brown at 1047b. In , the occupants changed: Edew K. Turnour was listed at 1047s, and Mrs. M. Bessie Shoup was listed at 1047b. EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE PERSON(S) OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE Records do not indicate the name of the original architect, builder, or owner associated with the subject property. City directory research over a 45-year period indicates numerous tenants/owners have occupied either the primary residence at th Street. (See City Directory Research page for occupant listing). In concluding the background research, none of the occupants of the property appear to meet the level of significance necessary for City Landmark eligibility. In addition, a review of city directories to identify occupants of the subject property did not locate any persons of significant historical importance (see Appendix). STATEMENT OF OTHER SIGNIFICANCE No evidence was discovered in current research of the property that indicates other significance. IS THE STRUCTURE REPRESENTATIVE OF A STYLE IN THE CITY THAT IS NO LONGER PREVALENT? The subject property is an excellent example of an American Colonial Revival style bungalow court constructed using the prefabricated building system developed by the Los Angeles area Pacific Ready-Cut. The small modest cottages are significant representations of early twentieth-century working- and middle-class housing. Furthermore, the three detached residences document the development of mass-produced housing in Southern California. With their exceptional integrity, the three dwellings serve as increasingly rare examples of a once ubiquitous housing type. The property is therefore representative of a style that is no longer prevalent in Santa Monica. DOES THE STRUCTURE CONTRIBUTE TO A POTENTIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT? The subject property, situated within the original Santa Monica Townsite, has not been previously identified in the City s Historic Resources Inventory or in subsequent survey updates and evaluations as being a contributor to a potential historic district within the City. The area in which the subject property is located does not possess a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of buildings that are united historically or aesthetically by plan, architectural style, or physical development. Additionally, the surrounding area does not reflect a unifying entity that conveys its

6 overall historic context. Specifically, the area s setting, feeling, and associations have been substantially altered over the decades by the appearance of numerous postwar apartment buildings and condominiums, which, in turn, have negatively affected the design, materials, and workmanship associated with single- and multi-family residences of similar mass and scale associated with the years prior to World War II. Because of compromised integrity issues, there appears to be no identifiable district with which the subject property would be associated as a potential contributor. CONCLUSION In applying the City s significance criteria for individual recognition as a proposed City of Santa Monica Landmark, the subject property appears to rise to the threshold of significance for Landmark designation. As an individual resource, the property possesses sufficient historical importance or architectural merit to warrant designation. The manufactured home building type played an important role in the architectural development of the City of Santa Monica. Although there are other examples of Pacific Ready-Cut homes throughout Santa Monica and Southern California, groupings such as these with high integrity are becoming increasingly rare. This property is an unusual example of two styles of Pacific Ready-Cut homes that were built as depicted in the Pacific Ready-Cut catalogue--not customized or modified by the owner or builder as was common practice at the time. In summary, based on current research and the above assessment, the property located at th Street appears to meet several City of Santa Monica Landmark criteria. The property was evaluated according to statutory criteria as follows: LANDMARK CRITERIA (a) (1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City. The residence located at th Street is an excellent example of an American Colonial Revival style bungalow court constructed using the prefabricated building system developed by the Los Angeles area Pacific Ready-Cut. It retains sufficient contextual and architectural integrity to represent the residential development and architectural history of Santa Monica. The subject bungalow court is a significant example of early twentieth-century working- and middle-class housing, which was a highly important building type that provided housing for Santa Monica s work force. Furthermore, the three detached residences document the development of mass-produced housing in Southern California. The subject property manifests the cultural, economic, and social development of the north of Wilshire Boulevard and south of Montana Avenue neighborhood. Therefore, the subject property appears to satisfy this criterion (a) (2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value. The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. The building lacks the sufficient aesthetic or artistic interest or value necessary for this designation.

7 (a) (3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history. Historical background research did not reveal any information on the property s owners and/or occupants that indicates historical significance or notability. Therefore, the subject property does not appear to satisfy this criterion (a) (4) It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study. The three detached residences located at th Street are excellent examples of the American Colonial Revival style as applied to working- and middle-class housing. The modest residences embody many of the style s character-defining features including classical symmetry; front doors with side lights; double-hung sash windows with multiple lights; gabled roofs; columns, and overall high level of craft. Furthermore, the subject property s high integrity allows this increasingly rare building type to serve as an excellent example of its style and type. Therefore, the property appears to satisfy this criterion (a) (5) It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect. The subject property was designed and fabricated by Pacific Ready-Cut, the largest and most prolific prefabricated kit home company in the west. This property is an unusual example of two styles of Pacific Ready-Cut homes that were built as depicted in the Pacific Ready-Cut catalogue--not customized or modified by the owner or builder as was common practice at the time. Therefore, the property appears to satisfy this criterion (a) (6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City. The subject property does not appear to meet this criterion.

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY Basten, Fred E. Santa Monica Bay The First 100 Years. Los Angeles: Douglas-West Publishers, Santa Monica Bay: Paradise By the Sea. Santa Monica: Hennessey + Ingalls, City of Santa Monica. Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update: Prepared by Jones and Stokes Associates, Inc., March Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory, Phase I: Prepared by Paul Gleye and Leslie Heumann, Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory, Phase II: Prepared by Johnson Heumann Research Associates, Historic Resources Inventory Update: North of Montana Area Prepared by Historic Resources Group, March Historic Resources Inventory Update. Prepared by Parkinson Field Associates, September City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Department. Building Permits. Gebhard, David and Robert Winter. Architecture in Los Angeles. Salt Lake City, Utah: GibbsSmith Books, Ingersoll, Luther A. Ingersoll s Century History: Santa Monica Bay Cities. Los Angeles: Luther A. Ingersoll, Los Angeles County Tax Assessor. Property Information Records. McAlester, Virginia and Lee McAlester. A Field Guide to American Houses. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, National Park Service. National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation. Washington DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Park Service, Interagency Resources Division, Polk. Polk s Santa Monica City Directory. Los Angeles, (various years). Polyzoides, Stefanos. Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1982.

9 Robinson, W.W. Santa Monica: A Calendar of Events in the Making of a City. California Title Insurance and Trust Company, Rosemary Thornton, ed., California s Kit Homes: A Reprint of the 1925 Pacific Ready-Cut Homes Catalog, (Alton: Gentle Beam Publications) Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, City of Santa Monica. Santa Monica Public Library, Santa Monica Index. Santa Monica Public Library Image Archives. Storrs, Les. Santa Monica, Portrait of a City, Santa Monica: Santa Monica Bank, Warren, Charles S., ed. History of the Santa Monica Bay Region. Santa Monica: Cawston, Santa Monica Blue Book. Santa Monica: Cawston, Santa Monica Community Book. Santa Monica: Cawston, 1944 White, Col. Carl F. ed. Santa Monica Community Book (Fifth Edition). Santa Monica: Cawston, 1953.

10 City Directory Research th Street Year Occupant Brown Evan A (Cora B) Dentist Brown E A Brown E A Brown E A Wood Don 1047a Smith F J 1047b Jeffery Hope Mrs Joslin C C Mrs. 1047a Smith F J 1047b Jeffery Hope Mrs Dewart H M 1047a Smith F J 1047b Jeffery Hope Mrs Dewart H M 1047a Smith F J 1047b Jeffery Hope Mrs Dewart H M 1047a Smith F J 1047b Vacant Sondo Ando 1047a Hoover J J 1047b Brown Jack Sands Anton 1047a Turnour Edew K 1047b Shoup Bessie M Mrs.

11 ATTACHMENTS Current Photographs Assessor s Map Sanborn Map 1918 Sanborn Map 1950 Pacific Ready-Cut Catalog Extant Bungalow Courts (Not Associated with Pacific Ready-Cut or Prefabricated Housing) Location of Bungalow Courts circa 1950 in the Subject Property s Neighborhood

12 Current Photographs Primary (west elevation) of street-fronting dwelling, view east

13 Court walkway and street-fronting dwelling windows, view east

14 Entry of middle dwelling (north elevation), view southeast

15 Entry of rear dwelling (north elevation), view southeast

16 Middle and rear dwellings along court walkway, view southwest

17 Assessor s Map

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19 Sanborn Map 1918

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21 Sanborn Map 1950

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23 Pacific Ready-Cut Catalog

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26 Extant Bungalow Courts (Not Associated with Pacific Ready-Cut or Prefabricated Housing) th Street

27 th Street

28 Location of Bungalow Courts circa 1950 in the Subject Property s Neighborhood

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