Single-Family Residence 2323 5Th Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report
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Single-Family Residence 2323 5th Street Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report Evaluation Report Building Permit History City Directory Research Tax Assessor Map Sanborn Maps Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California April 2006 Single-Family Residence 2323 5th Street City of Santa Monica APN: 4289-007-012 City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation BACKGROUND INFORMATION Description of site or structure, note any major alterations and dates of alterations The subject property is situated on the west side of 5th Street between Strand Street on the north and Hollister Avenue on the south. The property faces west and occupies Lot 2 of Block 4 of the Highland Tract in the City of Santa Monica. The lot size is approximately 50 feet by 140 feet and contains a large, one-and-one-half/two story single- family residence and a small one-story combination apartment and garage. The main residence is situated towards the front (west) of the parcel while the rear (east) double-car enclosed garage/apartment is accessed from a narrow driveway near the property’s south boundary. The subject property is located in a mixed single- and multi-family residential neighborhood. This property has not been previously identified in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory nor in the Ocean Park Historic Resources Survey Update completed in 2004. Tax assessor records indicate that the subject property was constructed in 1930, although the current owner, who has lived there since 1937, states that the residence was constructed in or before 1925. The property was originally located at 562 Ocean Front (later Palisades Beach Road) along the City’s “Gold Coast” and was relocated to its current location at 2323 5th Street in 1936. Rectangular in plan and of wood frame construction, the residence is reflective of the Colonial Revival architectural style and is capped by a steeply pitched, front-gabled roof. Roof elements include shallow eaves, a mix of hipped and gabled dormers, and triangular vents punctuating gable peaks. The majority of the dwelling’s exterior elevations are sheathed in wide clapboard siding while the dormers are clad in wood shingles. Fenestration consists of large wood-frame, six- over-six double hung sash windows along the primary (west) façade, multi-pane French doors on second story elevations, and a mix of multi-pane casement and sash windows of varying size on north, east, and south elevations. The primary (west) elevation that originally faced the Pacific Ocean reflects the Colonial Revival style in its six-over-six, double hung sash windows; bracketed balconet with decorative wrought iron railing that is surrounded by squared pilasters surmounted by a broken pediment centered by a decorative urn. Additionally, the Colonial Revival style is especially pronounced near the center of the north elevation surrounding what was once the dwelling’s main entrance when the house was located at the beach. At this entrance, 2323 5th Street City Landmark Assessment Report page 1 squared fluted pilasters crowned by a formal entablature embellished with dentils surround the paneled and glazed entry door. A similar pilaster configuration adorns many of the corners on the dwelling’s secondary elevations. Following the building’s relocation, its main entrance became the entry located near the west end of the north elevation. This entrance is characterized by a paneled wood door with wood-framed, multi-pane sidelights topped by a multi-light transom. A non-original shed roof shelters the entry door. Centering the rear (east) second story elevation is a wood-framed, multi-pane Palladian entrance fronted by an ornate wrought iron porch supported by scroll-like iron brackets. A metal staircase leads from the driveway to the upstairs porch. An exterior chimney clad in wood shingles that centers the south elevation replaced a brick masonry chimney that was removed following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. According to the current owner, the combination garage/apartment was relocated from its original Palisades Beach Road location to its present site at the same time as the residence. The wood frame structure, which is rectangular in plan, consists of an enclosed double-car garage sheathed in wide clapboard siding and capped by a flat roof. Both of the structure’s original wooden garage doors have been replaced with metal doors. The apartment portion is located at the structure’s rear (east) with its main entrance located on the unit’s south elevation. Landscaping consists of a small grassy lawn fronting the main building and low shrubs and other vegetation in ground-level planters surrounding the dwelling on all sides. During the current survey process no original permits for the subject property were located. Additionally, only one building permit for this property is on file with the City. Dated 1994, the permit is for the replacement of the dwelling’s masonry chimney noted above. Historic photographs and visual inspection of the subject property reveals that the main residence has experienced few alterations over the years. The most significant alteration involves the replacement of the French doors near the west end of the dwelling’s north elevation with a paneled wood door to serve as the dwelling’s new main entrance; however, the entrance’s multi-pane sidelights and transom lights have been retained. Additionally, a shed roof sheltering this entrance is not original. At the rear (east) elevation beneath the second story entry porch, an attached wooden planter has been removed. Metal mesh screens fronting fenestration throughout the residence are not original. In terms of the subject property’s overall integrity the dwelling’s mass, scale, and overall design were intimately tied to its original location on a narrow beachfront parcel. As such, its primary (west) elevation was designed to face the Pacific Ocean with the 2323 5th Street City Landmark Assessment Report page 2 garage/apartment facing Palisades Beach Road. Upon its relocation to its current location the primary elevation was positioned to retain its westerly orientation, however, its large windows now face 5th Street. In addition to the loss of the property’s setting and location, its feeling as a “Gold Coast” beach house and association with the Pacific Ocean has been significantly compromised. Statement of Architectural Significance The property at 2323 5th Street is a typical example of the Colonial Revival architectural style as applied to a single-family residence erected in the late 1920s. However, the dwelling’s atypically elongated footprint corresponds with its original placement on a narrow 30-foot by 190-foot lot facing the Pacific Ocean on the west side of Palisades Beach Road (with the address 562 Ocean Front) prior to its relocation to its current site. The Colonial Revival style resulted from the desire of architects and builders to evoke America’s own past. The name Colonial actually encompasses several styles, all loosely associated with the revival of American and Old World building traditions. Features that characterize the style include a simple rectangular volume covered by gabled or hipped roofs with boxed eaves; symmetrical, balanced distribution of windows and doors; surfacing of clapboard or brick; classical, colonial detailing such as columns, pilasters, cornices, pediments, and shuttered windows; and double-hung, multi-paned windows. The Colonial Revival style was popular throughout the country and examples can be found today in all regions, including Southern California. In Santa Monica, elements of the Colonial Revival style appeared in the massed plan vernacular cottages that were popular throughout the City around the turn of the twentieth century. Following the 1905-1920 period of the Craftsman architectural style’s dominance throughout the region and City, the Colonial Revival style, among other revival styles, reappeared in the 1920s as applied to residential and commercial properties. The features of the property at 2323 5th Street, which are typical of the style and period, include the overall massing and scale; front gable roof; shallow eaves; dormers; wide clapboard siding; wood-framed, six-over-six, double-hung sash fenestration; squared, fluted pilasters; dentiled entablature; and broken pediment centered by a decorative urn. In contrast, the west-facing bracketed balconet with wrought-iron railing and ornate rear second story wrought iron entry porch are more reflective of the French Eclectic or Renaissance Revival style architectural styles. The garage/apartment structure is utilitarian and vernacular in its design and style. In sum, the subject property includes common elements of the Colonial Revival style as applied to a single-family residence that exhibits a high level of physical integrity from the late 1920s. 2323 5th Street City Landmark Assessment Report page 3 Statement of Historical Importance 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. Between 1893 and the 1920s, the community operated as a tourist attraction, visited by mostly wealthy patrons. Those areas just outside of the incorporated city limits were semi-rural in setting and were populated with scattered residences. After the advent 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. The Gold Coast.1 The so-called “Gold Coast,” stretching along the beach north from Arizona Avenue to the city limits, was developed in the 1920s and 1930s with elegant beach homes, mostly for entertainment industry luminaries, and with exclusive beach clubs. The architectural aristocracy of Los Angeles as well as the art departments of the movie studios were called upon to provide many of the designs, mostly in revival styles such as the Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, and French Eclectic, that were popular among the industry’s wealthy clients.