4.Edinburgh Bungalow Court Final.Pdf
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EDINBURGH BUNGALOW COURT 750 – 756 ½ N. Edinburgh CHC-2015-3386-HCM ENV-2015-3387-CE Agenda packet includes 1. Final Staff Recommendation Report 2. Categorical Exemption 3. Director's Initation of Nomination 4. Nomination 5. Information Submitted by Property Owner 6. Letters in Support of Designation Please click on each document to be directly taken to the corresponding page of the PDF. Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION CASE NO.: CHC-2015-3386-HCM ENV-2015-3387-CE HEARING DATE: November 19, 2015 Location: 750 – 756 ½ N. Edinburgh Avenue TIME: 10:00 AM Council District: 5 PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 Community Plan Area: Hollywood 200 N. Spring Street Area Planning Commission: Central Los Angeles, CA Neighborhood Council: Mid City West 90012 Legal Description: TR 4891, Lot 101and 102 PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the EDINBURGH BUNGALOW COURT REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument OWNER(S): BLDG Edinburgh, LLC c/o Guy Penini 755 N. Laurel Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90046 APPLICANT: City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning 200 N. Spring Street, Room 559 Los Angeles, CA 90012 PREPARER: Katie E. Horak and Jennifer Trotoux Architectural Resources Group, Inc. 8 Mills Place, #300 Pasadena, CA 91105 RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission: 1. Declare the subject property a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.7. 2. Adopt the staff report and findings. MICHAEL J. LOGRANDE Director of Planning [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Shannon Ryan, City Planning Associate Office of Historic Resources Attachments: Historic-Cultural Monument Application CHC-2015-3386-HCM 750 – 756 ½ N. Edinburgh Avenue Page 2 of 4 FINDINGS The Edinburgh Bungalow Court “reflects the broad cultural, political, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community” for its association with the rapid development of Hollywood and its surrounding areas in the early 1920s. The Edinburgh Bungalow Court "embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural-type specimen, inherently valuable for study of a period, style or method of construction” as an example of the bungalow court multi-family housing type in Hollywood. CRITERIA The criterion is the Cultural Heritage Ordinance which defines a historical or cultural monument as any site (including significant trees or other plant life located thereon) building or structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles, such as historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified, or which are identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history or which embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. SUMMARY The subject property is a 1923 Spanish Colonial Revival bungalow court located on a corner double lot at Edinburgh Avenue and Waring Avenue in the Beverly Grove section of Los Angeles. The property is made up of four one-story residential buildings and one garage building that form a U-shaped plan. Each building contains two, one-bedroom apartments. A shared central courtyard runs through the middle of the property providing circulation access as well as open space. Six of the units face the courtyard and two of the units face Edinburgh Avenue. Each unit has an individual porch entrance with concrete stoop and arched hoods or pent roofs. Secondary entrances are located at the rear of the units from the kitchen. Each bungalow has a flat roof bounded by a stepped parapet with clay tile coping. The facade along Edinburgh Avenue features a connecting wing wall that creates an arched gateway to the interior courtyard and connects the street-facing bungalows. The wing wall features a wide central archway flanked by narrow, arched openings. The primary bungalow façades are asymmetrical, with the entrances located off-center. Fenestration consists of mostly original wood frame casement and double-hung sash windows. The main windows on the front façade and courtyards are paired, large, marginal nine-light windows of threequarter length. They are located next to the glazed main entry doors, which also have marginal ninelight muntin patterns. Smaller windows are single light double-hung windows. Windows and doors have broad wood casing with a raised wood molding at the outer edge. Character-defining features of the complex include: U-shaped configuration and one-story massing Main apartment entrances opening onto courtyard Concrete pathways and planting areas CHC-2015-3386-HCM 750 – 756 ½ N. Edinburgh Avenue Page 3 of 4 Garage building, with stucco walls, flat roof with stepped parapet with clay tile coping, and original barn-style wood doors Rectangular plan of each bungalow Stepped parapet roof and clay tile coping Arched hoods and bracketed pent roofs over entrances Exterior sand-finish stucco walls Connecting wing wall with arched gateway façade, connecting the two front bungalows Concrete entrance stoops Glazed doors with marginal nine-light muntin patterns The Edinburgh Bungalow Court retains a number of original interior features including hexagonal and subway tile finishes in the kitchen and bathroom, fireplaces with glazed tile work surrounds, original refrigeration/ice box units, and wood built-ins. Some of the units have experienced alterations over time to the kitchens, bathrooms, and some windows have been replaced. Many of the wooden carriage doors remain on the rear garage building. This building was designed with practicality in mind. Instead of a series of 90 degree, head on stalls, the garage was designed with car stalls at an angle to allow for easier entry and exit from each garage. DISCUSSION The Edinburgh Bungalow Court successfully meets two of the Historic-Cultural Monument criteria. The property “reflects the broad cultural, political, economic, or social history of the nation, State, or community” for its association with the rapid expansion of Hollywood and its surrounding areas in the early teens and 1920s. With the boom of the film industry came new jobs and an influx of people employed to support all aspects of film production. Between 1910 and 1920 the population in Hollywood grew from 5,000 to 36,000. The increase in population lead to an increased need for housing and the bungalow court became a popular alternative to single-family houses. As such, bungalow courts were once prevalent throughout Hollywood and are associated with its early expansion. A remaining example of early Hollywood development, the Edinburgh Bungalow Court, built in 1923, represents the rapid growth of Hollywood in the early part of the twentieth century and reflects the economic changes occurring in the community at the time. The property “embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural-type specimen, inherently valuable for study of a period, style, or method of construction” as an example of bungalow court multi-family housing in Hollywood. Bungalow court apartments are one of four multi-family housing types that became popular during California’s population boom after World War I. Bungalow courts are distinguished by their U-shaped plan of one-story detached bungalows with a central courtyard. Most units are entered through private porches or stoops from the courtyard and implement similar features of single-family dwellings but on a more modest scale. The Edinburgh Bungalow Court is a good example of bungalow court housing. The Edinburgh Bungalow Court includes the following character-defining elements of the housing type: a U- shaped plan; detached bungalows; private entrances; central open space; garages at rear; interior features characteristic of single-family house; arched entrance; and rectangular interior floor plans. The footprint of the subject property has remained the same since 1923 and retains integrity in its site plan, orientation, and interior configurations. Minor cosmetic changes to the property include alterations to windows, kitchens, and bathrooms. Despite these alterations, the CHC-2015-3386-HCM 750 – 756 ½ N. Edinburgh Avenue Page 4 of 4 overall plan is unchanged and the subject property continues to reflect its bungalow court building type. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (“CEQA”) FINDINGS State of California CEQA Guidelines, Article 19, Section 15308, Class 8 “consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment.” State of California CEQA Guidelines Article 19, Section 15331, Class 31 “consists of projects limited to maintenance, repair, stabilization, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, conservation or reconstruction of historical resources in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for