Multi-Family Residence 1920-1934 Montana Avenue Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report

Multi-Family Residence 1920-1934 Montana Avenue Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment Report Evaluation Report Building Permit History City Directory Research Photographs Tax Assessor Map Sanborn Map Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California March, 2006 Multi-Family Residence 1920-1934 Montana Avenue City of Santa Monica APN: 4277-006-001 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 south side of Montana Avenue between 19th and 20th Streets on Lot 1 and the northwest 15 feet of Lot 2, Block 13 of Tract 1351 in the City of Santa Monica. The lot size of the subject property is approximately 65 feet by 160 feet. The subject property, erected in 1940, is located in a mixed single- and multi- family residential neighborhood and consists of a pair of two-story buildings: a six-unit main building (1924-34 Montana Avenue) and a combination garage and second story apartment structure (1920 Montana Avenue). The main building is situated near the southwest corner of Montana Avenue and 20th Street with its primary (north and east) elevations facing both of these streets. The garage/apartment structure occupies the west end of the parcel at Montana Avenue and an alley known as 19th Court. Its primary elevation faces Montana Avenue (north). This property has not been previously identified and assessed as part of the City’s on- going survey process. The subject property is vernacular Modern in architectural style with both buildings capped by low-pitched hipped roofs with small vent dormers and shallow boxed eaves. Exteriors are sheathed with stucco on ground floor elevations and portions of second story elevations, with wood shiplap siding attached to the remainder of second story exterior surfaces. The main building features an irregular footprint that is somewhat “L”-shaped in plan. Its primary north-facing elevation is articulated by a stepped pattern of alternating right-angled and curved corners that recede from northwest to southeast within the parcel boundaries. Fenestration consists chiefly of groupings of elongated wood frame, multi- pane casements with simple wood surrounds. Apartment unit entry areas punctuate the main building’s north elevation towards the east and west. Concrete porch steps lead to each entry area where trios of slender wood posts support projecting second story balconies. Centering the west entrance grouping is a segmental-arched stairwell opening flanked by ground floor paneled wood entry doors. Directly above, an octagonal leaded glass window is adjacent to the second story balcony, which is sheltered by a shed roof. A similar porch/balcony configuration characterizes the east entrance area. Secondary (south and west) elevations feature a mixture of wood frame double-hung sash and casement windows, some of which project slightly from stucco-sheathed exteriors. An 1920-1934 Montana Avenue City Landmark Assessment Report page 1 exterior wood staircase leading to one of the main building’s second story apartments is located on the building’s secondary (west) elevation. The modest garage/apartment building that is situated west of the main building is rectangular in plan and punctuated by three enclosed single-car garage spaces that face Montana Avenue and four similar garage spaces that open onto the alley known as 19th Court. Fenestration is similar to the main building in design, materials, workmanship and placement although the garage/apartment building lacks the main building’s curved corners. Access to the garage/apartment’s second story entry porch is via an exterior magnasite- covered staircase with wrought iron railing located on the building’s secondary (east) elevation. A large open deck enclosed by a slat wood railing surmounts the four-car garage on the structure’s south end. Situated between the two buildings towards the rear (south) end of the parcel is a grassy courtyard area landscaped with shrubs, hedges, a citrus tree, and clinging ivy. Within the rear courtyard area, access to the main building’s basement is via a slanted door adjacent to the west elevation. Landscaping that fronts the main building along Montana Avenue and 20th Street includes a grassy lawn, clipped hedges, shrubs, and several semi-mature trees. Parallel concrete paths lead from the sidewalk across the front lawn to the main building’s two primary entrances. The original building permit issued for the erection of a two-story, seven-unit apartment house is dated December 5, 1939 for an estimated cost of $18,500 (only six units were actually constructed). It was issued to then-owner C.H. Hew DeBourck with the contractor identified as A.C. Brown and Son. The building’s architect was not listed on the permit. A second permit for the construction of a two-story combination garage/apartment was also issued to Mr. Hew DeBourck on December 5, 1939 for an approximate cost of $3,500. As with the main building, A.C. Brown and Son was the contractor and no architect was listed on the permit. The only other building permit on file for the subject property is dated 1966 and was issued to the Estate of Ella M. West for termite repair involving sealing off the east front porch and rebonding the garage foundation’s stucco. Building permits and visual inspection confirm that, though somewhat neglected, the two buildings have experienced few alterations since original construction, including the retention of design, materials, and workmanship of original exterior sheathing, entrances, and fenestration. Today (2006) the subject property exhibits a high level of integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. SURVEY EVALUATION Statement of Architectural Significance 1920-1934 Montana Avenue City Landmark Assessment Report page 2 The subject property located at 1920-1934 Montana Avenue is a typical example of the vernacular Modern architectural style as applied to an apartment complex from 1940. Vernacular Modern style apartment buildings erected just prior to and following the Second World War are relatively common in the residential areas north of Wilshire Boulevard east of 17th Street, particularly along Montana Avenue in the City of Santa Monica. Starting in the late 1930s and continuing into the post-World War II period in America, Modern architecture became the predominant architectural style applied to buildings of every type. During this time period, distinct and identifiable stylistic variants of Modernism evolved. The aesthetic closest to the 1920s origins of Modernism in Europe was dubbed the International Style and was identified by its rectilinear form, flat roofs, open floor plans, use of steel and glass, and lack of applied ornamentation. Vernacular Modern design, while based on International Style precepts, is generally less formal in its expression of Modernist tenets with results that vary widely in terms of materials, form, and spatial arrangements. As applied to multi-family residential buildings in Southern California, particularly during the 1940s, Modern stylistic influences include those of the International Style as well as the Streamline Moderne, with its curved corners, glass block, and horizontal window bands. The subject property displays elements of the Modern style in the architectural design and composition of the main apartment building and apartment/garage, including stucco exterior finish, shallow boxed eaves, casement windows, and lack of applied ornamentation. Additionally, the main building’s curved corners are reflective of the Streamline Moderne style. Conversely, the subject property’s hipped roofs, shiplap siding, leaded octagonal window, paneled wood doors, and porch post groupings are not Modern in inspiration but, instead, are reminiscent of the still then-popular Colonial Revival style. Another apartment building that is highly similar to the subject property in its massing and combination of architectural styles, including the Streamline Moderne, is located one block south at 1826 Montana Avenue that was erected in 1946. During the 1940s and 1950s, the blending of popular period revival styles such as Colonial Revival and French Eclectic with Modern architectural precepts became a common trait of the vernacular Modern style, particularly as applied to multi-family dwellings in Southern California. Many apartment owners viewed such a stylistic melding as a means of “warming up” or “softening” what they considered to be the unappealingly austere aspects of Modern design, in addition to providing familiar stylistic cues to renters unfamiliar or uncomfortable with Modern architecture. In addition to hipped roofs, vertical or shiplap wood siding, octagonal windows, paneled wood doors, and wooden porch supports, other characteristic architectural features 1920-1934 Montana Avenue City Landmark Assessment Report page 3 associated with the Colonial Revival style that were applied to vernacular Modern mid- century residences include wood shutters; pediments; multi-pane, double-hung sash windows; ornamental wrought iron railings and porch supports; canted bay windows; canted metal window and porch hoods; and brick veneer exterior surfaces (particularly near foundations). A current windshield survey of multi-family residences located along Montana Avenue between 17th and Stanford streets has identified numerous examples of vernacular Modern multi-family

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