City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report Miramar Hotel 101 Wilshire Boulevard/1133 Ocean Avenue (APN: 4292-028-001) Santa Monica, California Prepared for City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by Margarita Wuellner, Ph.D. Amanda Kainer, M.S. Jon Wilson, M.A., M.Arch. PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California December 2012 Table of Contents Environmental Setting ............................................................................................................ 1 Regulatory Setting .................................................................................................................. 1 Previous Reports ..................................................................................................................... 1 Historical Context ................................................................................................................... 1 1. Early Settlement in Santa Monica ................................................................................ 2 2. Miramar Residence (1888-1924) ................................................................................... 3 3. Renaissance Revival Style (1918-1935) ........................................................................ 4 4. Apartment Hotel Property Type and Landscape ....................................................... 5 5. Destination Hotel Architecture and Landscape .......................................................... 6 Architectural and Landscape Description ............................................................................ 7 1. Palisades Wing ................................................................................................................ 7 2. Bungalows ....................................................................................................................... 8 3. Administration Building ................................................................................................ 9 4. Ocean Tower.................................................................................................................. 11 5. Existing Landscape ....................................................................................................... 12 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................... 17 Newspapers and Periodicals............................................................................................. 18 Appendix Miramar Hotel City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page i Environmental Setting The Miramar Hotel located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard, and also identified by the address of 1133 Ocean Avenue, occupies an entire block, 600 by 300 feet in size, bounded by Ocean Avenue to the West, 2nd Street to the east, Wilshire Boulevard to the south, and California Avenue to the north. The legal description of the subject property is Block 98 of the Town of Santa Monica Tract. Regulatory Setting In June 1976, the Landmarks Commission of the City of Santa Monica initiated proceedings for the designation of the Moreton Bay fig tree (the “Ficus”) at the Miramar Hotel (the “Hotel”) as a landmark, and in August of the same year approved the designation based on the following findings: “the Ficus is identified with an historical personage of local, state, and national history in that it was planted by members of Senator J.P. Jones’ family; it symbolizes elements of the cultural, social, economic, and political history of the city in that it is located on the former estate of Senator Jones, one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica; and it has aesthetic interest and value in that it is a fine botanical example of its species.” The subject property has been identified and assessed under the City’s ongoing survey process on multiple occasions. 101 Wilshire Boulevard, the Miramar Hotel, was first surveyed in 1985-1986 during Phases 1 and 2 of the City’s Historical Resources Inventory and assigned a 5 status code, “appears to be individually eligible for local designation.” During the 2006-07, Citywide Historic Resources Inventory Update, 1133 Ocean Avenue was resurveyed and the status code was changed to the California Historical Resources Status Code 5S1, which indicates the individual property is listed or designated locally. Previous Reports PCR Services reviewed both the previous Landmark Application for the Moreton Bay Fig and the Historic Resources Assessment report on the Miramar Hotel prepared by Chattel Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Inc., June 10, 2010. Other relevant reports reviewed included the Embassy Apartment Hotel, 1001 3rd Street, Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report (September 2003); Palisades Park Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report (August 2007); Ficus Trees, Fourth Street between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report (November 2007); Ficus Trees on 2nd and 4th Streets between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard Supplemental Information Memorandum (January 2008); and Shangri-La Hotel Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report (October 2009). Historical Context The landmark application requested that both the Palisades wing and the Site (full city block parcel) be added to the existing Moreton Bay Fig Tree Landmark Designation. In accordance with federal and state guidelines for evaluating resources, PCR evaluated the property as a whole to fully evaluate the property’s eligibility and identified which contributing features of the site are character-defining and should be included in the Miramar Hotel City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 1 Landmark Designation Amendment. PCR determined that the Moreton Bay fig tree, an aesthetically interesting botanical specimen planted by the Senator Jones family, should remain a contributor to the Landmark, situated on the former estate of Senator Jones, one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. The property boundaries of the estate, which remain unchanged, and the Palisades wing along with palms remaining from the historic period (Jones occupation and Apartment Hotel landscape) should be added to the Landmark Designation Amendment. While the Apartment Hotel landscape has been altered and the Destination Hotel landscape has been compromised by the remodeling of the Ocean Tower and removal of much of the landscape features, the existing Palisades wing and the existing palms adjacent to the corner of California Avenue and Ocean Avenue, are an established and familiar visual feature of the City and should be included in the Landmark Designation Amendment. The below context provides historic background for the Moreton Bay fig tree, the Palisades wing and its associated landscape features, and the remaining landscape features associated with the Resort Hotel era. 1. Early Settlement in Santa Monica The area that includes the property at 101 Wilshire Boulevard, the Miramar Hotel, was part of the original town of 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 26th Street on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. The original townsite, belonging to two ranchos, San Vincente and San Vicente y Santa Monica, was sold to Senator John P. Jones and Colonel Robert S. Baker in 1872 by Jose del Carmen Sepulveda.1 In 1875, the town was platted by Jones and Baker. Blocks were originally 320 by 600 feet in size and lots were 150 by 50 feet. The long strip along the palisades was reserved as open space for Linda Vista Park (Palisades Park). Ocean Avenue was made wider than the other streets for a promenade, and a public plaza was planned for 7th Street and California Avenue (now Christine Emerson Reed Park). J. W. Scott, builder of the Arcadia Hotel, contributed the funds for the planting of rows of eucalyptus and cypress trees bordering Ocean Avenue along the park. Jones and Baker even reserved the block of the current Miramar Hotel for hotel use, as noted on the original platting map, but instead Senator John P. Jones constructed his private residence there.2 Between 1893 and the 1920s, the community operated as a tourist attraction, visited mostly by wealthy patrons. Those 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 homes being constructed in the tracts north of Montana and east of Seventh Street for year-round residents. Commercial buildings, primarily one- or two-story in height, were initially concentrated along Second and Third Streets between Colorado Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. The open area of land on the western edge of the City offered 1 Luther Ingersoll, Ingersoll’s Century History, the Santa Monica Bay Cities (Los Angeles: Luter A. Ingersoll, 1908): 142. 2 Luther Ingersoll, 147. Miramar Hotel City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 2 picturesque views of the Pacific Ocean and played a major role in the recreational life of the community. Ocean Avenue Ocean Avenue was once a eucalyptus-lined street of late nineteenth and early twentieth century residences which faced Linda Vista Park, later known as Palisades Park, and the Pacific Ocean. It was dominated near its southern end by the Arcadia Hotel, opened in 1887 at the height of the Los Angeles “boom” and promoted Santa Monica