301-315 Wilshire Boulevard Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report Evaluation Report Building Permit History City Directory Research Sanborn Maps Contemporary Photographs Historic Photographs Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: ICF International Los Angeles, California January 2013 301-315 Wilshire Boulevard City of Santa Monica APN: 4292-020-004, 4292-020-012 City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation BACKGROUND INFORMATION Description of site or structure, note any major alterations and dates of alterations The current assessment involves two separate but adjacent parcels containing buildings with consistent massing, style, and architectural features, as well as sharing the same architect, builder, and owner. The primary difference relates to their dates of construction, which are only one year apart (1930 and 1931). As a result, it seems practical to refer to the two parcels as one property for purposes of this report (i.e. 301- 315 Wilshire Boulevard), which is consistent with previous assessments. The west parcel is situated on the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and 3rd Street on Lot N (301-305 Wilshire and 1151-1153 3rd Street) of Block 96 of the Town of Santa Monica tract in the City of Santa Monica. It has a rectangular footprint with 50 feet of Wilshire Boulevard frontage and 100 feet of 3rd Street frontage. The building it contains was constructed in 1930. The east parcel consists of the combined Lots of M and Z2 (307-315 Wilshire) with its building erected in 1931 and 100 feet of Wilshire Boulevard frontage. Together, the property consists of 100 feet of 3rd Street frontage and 150 feet of Wilshire Boulevard frontage. The property is bordered on the north by a two-story commercial building and on the east by a narrow alley known as 3rd Court. A large two-story commercial building erected in 1925 at 317 Wilshire Boulevard is just east of the alley. The subject property was previously identified and evaluated in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (1983) and given a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) rating code of 5D indicating that it appears eligible for listing as a contributor to the historic district known as the Central Business District. In 1998, the City’s Historic Resources Inventory Update of the Central Business District and The Third Street Promenade upgraded the property’s significance, concluding that it appears individually eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark as well as continuing to be a contributor to the locally eligible Central Business District (a 5B1 NRHP status code). The property was evaluated yet again in 2006 as part of the North of Wilshire Boulevard Historic Resources Survey Update receiving a California Historic Resource Status Code (CHRC) of 5B, which is the status code previously assigned as 5B1 prior to 2003. Description. Originally two separate buildings erected in 1930 and 1931 that are now considered one building, the one-story Art Deco style commercial property consists of three distinct elements. Sanborn maps, aerial maps, and visual inspection reveal a corner retail space capped by a wood truss roof with a 301-305 Wilshire Boulevard address, a much larger retail space with a twin wood truss roof (307-315 Wilshire Boulevard, 301-315 Wilshire Boulevard City Landmark Assessment Report page 1 currently divided into three retail stores), and a modest retail space with a flat roof and a 1151-1157 Third Street address (that is currently utilized by the 301-305 retail store). Of reinforced concrete construction, all of these spaces are united by the same Art Deco design of which the most distinctive architectural feature is a prominent parapet with zigzag coping highlighted by four-panel bas-reliefs that repeat along the length of the west and south elevations. In particular, the parapet expresses a verticality that is typical of the Art Deco style. Three of the panels are of stylized plant forms with a forth featuring a spray of fleur de lis. Narrow stepped mullions separate each panel beneath which are small clerestory windows (many of which have been infilled or painted). The building’s south elevation is segmented into three wide bays each divided by tall engaged stepped pilasters that rise above the parapet. The center bay is higher than the flanking bays, emphasizing the stepped theme of the entire composition. Between the clerestory windows and the storefronts, a wide plaster band with canvas awnings creates the illusion of a second story. The storefronts themselves are contemporary with metal- framed plate glass or multi-pane glazing and single or double-door glazed entrances. Most of the storefronts have recessed entries typical of 1930s commercial buildings. The west elevation consists of three different-sized bays of equal height of which the north bay features a storefront of translucent contemporary glazing and an unused entrance sheltered by a canvas awning. The center bay along this elevation is without fenestration while the south storefront bay consists of multi-pane glazing with a canvas awning. Building Permits. Original building permits on file with the City indicate that a commercial retail building with 301-305 Wilshire Boulevard and 1151-1153 3rd Street addresses was erected in 1930 for owner O&F Thum Properties. The building’s architect was Irvin Goodfellow with C.W. Wilson and Sons serving as the subject property’s Los Angeles-based builder. The following year, in 1931, building permits show that the same team of owner, architect, and builder were responsible for the construction of an adjacent retail building with a 307-315 Wilshire Boulevard address. It can be surmised that the success of the original building as a leased commercial property led the owner to commission the construction of the adjacent building one year later. Clearly, it was the owner’s intent to create the appearance of a single building, which was accomplished by having the two buildings physically connect without a visible seam. Building permits further reveal that Thum Properties continued to own the building until at least 1969. Visual inspection and a review of building permits confirm that all of the property’s storefronts and a number of its clerestories have been altered since originally constructed, with numerous interior modifications typical of commercial retail buildings made over the years. Sign permits show that a wide variety of metal neon signs have been attached to, and removed from, the property since its construction in the 1930s. The most prominent was a very large sign installed in 1967 for the Riviera Sofa Company that covered the entire façade above the storefronts from the property’s northeast corner to the middle of the building. The sign was apparently removed in the 1980s. According to building permits, the property’s storefronts were modified in 1958, 1961, 1979, 1999, and 2001. Yet, the property’s overall integrity of location, design, setting, materials, 301-315 Wilshire Boulevard City Landmark Assessment Report page 2 workmanship, feeling and association appears to be high despite the change in the building’s storefronts. Statement of Architectural Significance The subject property located at 301-315 Wilshire Boulevard is an excellent local example of the Art Deco style as applied to a commercial retail building of the early 1930s. The Art Deco style was introduced at the 1925 Exposition des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. Although the United States did not participate, the Exposition’s influence impacted building designs across the country through the end of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Art Deco style advocated the extensive use of applied decoration, in contrast to the Modernist Movement, which used abstraction instead of decoration. Art Deco designers believed that the applied decoration should be new in form, reflecting the character of the 20th century, rather than be based on classical precedent. The style was a "modernization" of many artistic styles and themes from the past. Stylized elements of Eastern, Egyptian and Mayan influence were common. Also commonplace was ornamentation mirroring machine and automobile patterns and shapes, such as stylized gears and wheels, as well as natural elements such as sunbursts and flowers. Simple geographic forms with a strong vertical emphasis characterize most Art Deco buildings. This verticality is accomplished through the use of pyramidal or stepped roofs, towers, tall pylons, façade stepbacks, pilasters, fluted piers, and elongated windows. The style often features zigzag or chevron geometric patterns and exterior surfaces clad in tile or glazed terra cotta. A characteristic feature of the style found in the subject property is the stylized bas-relief parapet with zigzag coping that distinguishes the façade. Art Deco buildings sometimes incorporate newer materials in their construction and design, including aluminum and plate glass. The subject property is an excellent example of the Art Deco style within the City of Santa Monica that displays key signature features of the idiom in its architectural design and composition. Specifically, the building’s zigzag parapet, stepped pilasters, pronounced vertical emphasis, multiple bays, and decorative bas-relief panels are indicative of the style. Although only one story in height, the style’s characteristic verticality is expressed through stepped pilasters and the central bay that rises above the building’s flanking bays. With its location on the northeast corner of 3rd Street and Wilshire Boulevard, the building prominently stands out at the Central Business District’s northern boundary. The Art Deco idiom was a popular expression of American commercial architecture through the late-1920s until approximately the middle of the 1930s. In addition to the subject property, good local examples also include the commercial building at 1611-1615 Montana Avenue that was constructed in 1930, the Bay Cities Guaranty Building (221 Santa Monica Boulevard) of 1931, and the Wilshire Theatre (1316 Wilshire Boulevard) that was erected in 1930.