Los Angeles City Planning Department
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JOHN O’HARA TOWNHOUSE 10733-10735 ½ Ohio Avenue CHC-2015-1979-HCM ENV-2015-2185-CE Agenda packet includes 1. Final Staff Recommendation Report 2. Categorical Exemption 3. Letter from John O’Hara’s daughter, Lylie O’Hara Doughty 4. Under Consideration Staff Recommendation Report 5. Nomination 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-2015-1979-HCM ENV-2015-2185-CE HEARING DATE: August 6, 2015 Location: 10733-10735 ½ Ohio Avenue TIME: 9:00 AM Council District: 5 PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 Community Plan Area: Westwood 200 N. Spring Street Area Planning Commission: West Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Neighborhood Council: Westwood 90012 Legal Description: TR 7803, Block 28, Lot 14 PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the JOHN O’HARA TOWNHOUSE REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument OWNER(S): Thomas Berry 986 La Mesa Terrace Unit A Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Caribeth LLC c/o John Ketcham 626 Adelaide Drive Santa Monica,CA 90402 APPLICANT: Marlene McCampbell 10634 Holman Ave. Apt 1 Los Angeles, CA 90024 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 PlanningN1907 [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-2015-1979-HCM 10733-10735 ½ Ohio Avenue Page 2 of 5 FINDINGS The John O’Hara Townhouse "embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural-type specimen, inherently valuable for study of a period, style or method of construction,” as an intact example of the Spanish Revival style applied on a multi-family residence in Westwood. The subject property is “identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history,” as the extant residence of best- selling novelist and writer John O’Hara. 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 property at 10733 – 10735 ½ W Ohio Avenue is comprised of two buildings in the Spanish Revival style built in 1929 with a total of four units and a two car garage. The property retains character defining features from the period in which it was constructed and is a good example of early multifamily Spanish Revival architecture in Westwood. It also is identified with a historic personage, writer John O’Hara. A narrow concrete path leads into the property from Ohio Avenue and opens into a large lawn surrounded by trees. Each unit is accessed from this shared open space. Typical of the Spanish Revival style, both buildings have hand-troweled stucco cladding painted white, Spanish clay tile gabled roofs, and wrought iron railings. The majority of windows appear to be original wood casements with an original stucco return or deep recession into the exterior wall. The entry doors appear to be original and are a mix of rectangular or rounded doors, also either with a stucco return or deep recession into the wall. The front building faces Ohio Avenue with a two-car garage at grade set back from the property line with a unit above. The front unit is reached by a set of concrete stairs running perpendicular to the building. It is the only unit directly visible from the street. It appears to have had some alterations to the roof, though only window changes are specified in the permit history. The roof is a parapeted gable with narrow eaves only a few inches wide. There are also overhangs above the entrance and side balcony that do not appear original. Though there are alterations to this unit, the footprint, garage, and original side windows remain intact. The second building appears to be unaltered and contains three units. It has an articulated massing that distinguishes one unit from the other though shifts in plane, with one unit projecting slightly forward or back from the other. The rear units have variations in front entrances, some at grade and others reached by a short staircase. The Spanish tiled gabled CHC-2015-1979-HCM 10733-10735 ½ Ohio Avenue Page 3 of 5 roof has deep eaves with exposed rafter tails. The front of the building contains a one-story studio unit and has a two-story massing behind it that contains the townhouse unit where John O’Hara lived and another apartment. There is a terrace off of the second story of the townhouse unit. Some of the units have fireplaces. Inside, the units retain original detailing such as hardwood floors, crown moldings, built in bookcases, and decorative niches. The townhouse unit is associated with writer John O’Hara who lived there from April 1936 to the following spring. O’Hara wrote for the New Yorker and the Saturday Evening Post and was a bestselling novelist. He wrote 18 books, nearly 400 short stories, one libretto, and many screenplays. At the time of his death in 1970 over 40 million of his books had sold. Some of his well-known titles are Appointment in Samarra and BUtterfield 8, which was later adapted for film and starred Elizabeth Taylor. His plots often centered on socially ambitious characters. Writer Fran Lebowitz called him “the real F. Scott Fitzgerald.” In 1962 O’Hara believed he would win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but it was awarded to John Steinbeck. O’Hara originally moved to Los Angeles in 1934 to write dialogue for Paramount Pictures. While living at the townhouse he wrote Hope of Heaven and three stories for the New Yorker. A Los Angeles Time article from 1976 reaffirms O’Hara’s connection to the Ohio Avenue townhouse. The article, titled “A Map to the Stars (Literary) Homes,” states that “[O’Hara] could be found relaxing at the Westside Tennis Club, not far from a pleasant Spanish building on the north side of Ohio Avenue. There, from his two-story studio apartment overlooking a green- lawned courtyard, O’Hara contributed short stories regularly to the New Yorker.” Based on research conducted by the applicant, John O’Hara resided in the following places in the Los Angeles area, some which have been demolished. It appears that O’Hara moved around frequently, staying between one and three months in most of his accommodations. However, he resided at the townhouse on Ohio Avenue for the longest period of time, one year. YEAR ADDRESS WORK PRODUCT STATUS 570 N. Rossmore June – Ave, Ravenswood August Paramount Pictures dialogue writer HCM #768 Apartments, Los 1934 Angeles 520 N. Canon Drive, March 1936 Extant Beverly Hills Wrote film treatment of Murder in Massachusetts for MGM; wrote film treatment for Jean Arthur or Miriam Subject Hopkins picture for MGM. Contributed property – April 1936 – 10735 Ohio Avenue, three stories to The New Yorker. Wrote HCM Spring 1937 Los Angeles two Hollywood articles entitled "Cesar application in Romero and the Three Dollar Bills" process and "Movie Fans Like Me Should Know All!" Bit part in movie The General Died at Dawn as a corrupt newspaperman. 196 N. Carmelina Demolished 1938 Ave, Los Angeles in 1966 CHC-2015-1979-HCM 10733-10735 ½ Ohio Avenue Page 4 of 5 Worked on script for RKO, In Name March – 471 ½ Landfair Only, Carole Lombard/Cary Grant Extant May 1939 Avenue, Los Angeles romance. March – Likely somewhere in Writes Moontide screenplay, starring July 1941 Beverly Hills Ida Lupino, for Twentieth Century-Fox. Garden of Allah, February 8152 Sunset, Demolished 1942 Los Angeles August Bel-Air Hotel, 701 Worked on Cass Timberlane screenplay 1945- Stone Canyon Road, for MGM, Spencer Tracy/Lana Turner Extant January Los Angeles romantic drama. 1946 Wrote screenplay for The Best Things Spring – Extant, may 14300 Sunset Blvd., in Life are Free for Twentieth Century- Summer have Los Angeles Fox; completed novel Ten North 1955 alterations Frederick DISCUSSION The John O’ Hara Townhouse meets two of the criterion for designation. First, the subject property is an intact example of Spanish Revival multi-family architecture and “embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural-type specimen, inherently valuable for study of a period, style, or method of construction.” The property retains integrity and many of the original materials and finishes remain in-tact. Character-defining features of the Spanish Revival style applied at the subject property include the hand troweled stucco cladding, Spanish clay tile roof, wood casement windows, arched openings, exposed rafter tails, and varied massing. Second, as the former residence of best-selling novelist and writer John O’Hara, the subject property is “identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history.” John O’Hara resided in the townhouse unit for one year while working on articles for the New Yorker and writing film treatments for MGM.