Blogus Defunctus

I took a hiatus of sorts, maybe a little tired of the writing grind, distracted by social media; and, cured of the insomnia that facilitated so many two am postings.

Stumping for preservation doesn't always make for joyous rallies either. Developers are seldom opposed by indentured city council persons; and only the wealthiest, most resourceful neighborhoods are spared the threshing machine.

I'm not opposed to contemporary architecture in principle. In fact, there's a many a Corbusian crib, in Venice and environs, I admire. Still, it's enthusiasm dampening when so many folksy Tudors are obliterated for 'builders cubes.'

1759 S. Bronson Avenue

Airplane bungalow with "Japo-Swiss" flair in Arlington Heights

De Vaux Family Residence. Built and designed by Emil Gross in 1913

Stately public rooms embellished with pristine, golden mahogany woodwork. Three bedrooms (plus study), including commodious master (18.5 X 12) with gargantuan closet (11 X 6.5), windows on three sides.

Detached garage with second-story office/guest quarters (replete with kitchenette and bath).

Multiple systems improvements, including freshly rendered exterior (paint and stain).

Period details, including fixtures, built-ins, oak and maple flooring.


Offered as a fully cooperating pocket listing and shown by appointment

3 beds, 2 bath; 1,947 sq. ft. (not including detached space); lot size: 6621

Price: $650,000.00

Thomas Guide: 633 F5
[Editor's note: withdrawn from market]

Spanish Revival Retreat in Wilshire Vista

Atop a gentle rise, a masterfully re-worked Spanish Revival with contemporary scale and light-gathering capability awaits.

Open kitchen outfitted with upscale appliances, cork flooring, and custom maple cabinetry.

Sophisticated period details remain including art tile, flooring inlays, and multi-light casement windows.

Voluminous living room with barrel vault ceiling.
Spectacular master suite with two sets of french doors, ample closets, and bonus meditation space.

One block North of a revitalized Pico Blvd. strip featuring Sky's Taco's, Pico>Modern Furnishings, Whole Body Gallery, Chic Restaurant, and Bloom Cafe, amongst others.
Detached garage, well suited for office conversion or creative space.

Sweeping system upgrades including electrical, plumbing, heating/cooling, tankless hot water.

1306 Hauser Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019-2521

2 beds + 2 baths
1,421 square feet (per public records)
Year built: 1925
Lot size: 5,270
Thomas Guide: 633-C4
$679,000.00
Shown by appointment gladly and enthusiastically.
Sale is subject to lender approval; negotiated by seasoned agent. Seller has complete lender package ready.


Co-listed with Kristine Halverson of Prudential California Realty.

More images, information available.
[Editor's note: sold]

2158 W. 24th ST.

2158 W. 24th ST

Does anybody remember this listing? It's baaaaccccckkkkkk! After a couple of false starts, we're finally marketing in earnest.

Kinney Heights Craftsman Retreat

A broad, recessed dormer and a bold two-story bay punctuate this dynamic early Craftsman form, with generous, extended eaves and supple rafters. The delightful complexity continues inside with substantial, successive, detail-rich rooms, each with dual exposure. Dramatic interplays of volume persist on the second floor with soaring, lancet-shaped cove ceilings, and an intimate, tree top sleeping porch. Sophisticated kitchen, with pantries, recycled glass tile backsplash, and superb linoleum inlay floor, opens onto a mature acacia tree, providing beautifully filtered ambiance, and picturesque sightline.

An unusually generous lot size, bolstered by an exceptionally wide frontage, is made even more pronounced by a relatively small building footprint. An unrivaled, outdoor life inducing green space results. The front garden is landscaped with live oaks, toyon, coral bells, lilacs and a host of California natives and climate-suited Mediterranean plants. Gravel mulch gives way to thick shows of wildflowers in spring. Stonework and a dry-stream bed by Pasadena firm Urban Organics capture and keep rainwater. The rear garden boasts a second arroyo, an Italian fountain, and meandering paths dividing beds stocked with apple, apricot and plum trees underplanted with roses, sage and lavender. At the rear is a raised bed for vegetables and a two-story carriage house with room for dirty play downstairs and a studio above.

2158 W. 24th ST 90018
3 beds, 1.5 baths
1,712 square feet
Year built: 1906
Lot size: 58 x 150
Lot Area: 8,700
$690,000
[Editor's note: sold]

West Adams' Creative Canvas

West Adams Heritage Association Spring Tour

A doozy, entitled Art in Historic Places: West Adams' Creative Canvas, this year's tour showcases the work of West Adams resident artists.  Ten architecturally diverse venues are on tap, including those pictured, single family homes, a 1920's fourplex, a carriage house turned studio, and an early movie theatre.

Featured artists include: Rob Remer, Marina Moevs, Max Miceli, Sue Ann Jewers, Jenny Hager, Steven Irwin, Tom Lazarus, Taidgh O'Neill, Tolanna, Shelly Adler, Dianne Lawrence, Art Curtis, David Pacheco, Rory Cunningham, Susan Arena, Art Tobias, Mas Ojima, Donald Ferguson, Aaron Morse, Kim Lee Kahn, and Fredric Booker.

This self-guided, drive--or bike--yourself, tour is scheduled for 

Saturday, June 5th, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.  Tickets are $30 on the day of the event, at the check-in: 1824 S. 4th Avenue (at Washington Boulevard).

For more information, call 323-733-4223, or write tours@westadamsheritage.org; and, as always please wear shoes that won't mar hardwood surfaces.

America's Second Most Famous Architect?

In January, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) nominated ten Frank Lloyd Wright designed structures for inclusion on its list of world cultural heritage sites, an unparalleled honor. Wright is doubtlessly America's most famous architect. But who is number two?

I surveyed ten "archiphiles," a group of architects, planners, 

architectural historians, and authors. Responses varied, from Canadian born Frank Gehry to Chinese born I.M. Pei, from Thomas Jefferson to modernist mad men.

The consensus number two with a whopping two votes: Henry Hobson Richardson (or H.H. Richardson), a giant of late 19th century architecture, progenitor of the Richardsonian Romanesque Style, which loosely reinterpreted Medieval characteristics.

Is there another American cultural form so beholden to the legacy of a single practitioner? Who would vie for the mantle of America's greatest painter, film director, fiction writer? Miles Davis, Ansell Adams, Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, Elvis Presley, Fred Astaire, none seem as peerless as Mr. Frank Lloyd Wright.

(Images are of FLW's Hollyhock House)

No More Apologies

Despite a plethora of celebrated Mexican and Salvadorean eateries, barbecue and soul food spots, the restaurant scene in West Adams has seldom been trumpeted; and, the question--oft asked is, 'Does one have to leave the neighborhood for a decent meal?'

As it happens, the previously under-served USC area is exploding with new options, including a fleet of gourmet loncheras, mostly stationed along Jefferson and Hoover. Greek, Korean-Mexican fusion, Vietnamese, pizza by the slice, and desert trucks, an ever changing roster, have enlivened these bustling corridors.

Adjacent to the events center on Figueroa, the USC hospitality folks have assumed control, replacing a tired Sizzler with a gastropup (The Lab), replete with firepits and flatscreens, added an upscale surf-n-turf (McKay's), and a pizzeria.

At Grand Street and 37th, Mercado La Paloma, a former warehouse, hosts six restaurants and a couple handcraft vendors, sprinkled about communal space. Amongst the food choices: noted Peruvian-Japanese establishment Mo-Chica, and a satellite location of Westlake's legendary Yucatanean hot spot, Chicken Itza.

A veritable restaurant row is in the making, making my response easy.