Juniper Building 301 Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report

Juniper Building 301 Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report Evaluation Report Tax Assessor Map Photographs Sanborn Maps Building Permit History Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: Jan Ostashay, Principal Ostashay & Associates Consulting PO BOX 542 Long Beach, California 90801 March 2014 Junipher Building 301 Santa Monica Boulevard City of Santa Monica APN: 4291‐012‐010 City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation BACKGROUND INFORMATION The subject property (the Juniper Building) is situated at the northeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and the 3rd Street Promenade, and occupies lot M of Block 146 of the Town of Santa Monica tract. The lot measures approximately 50 feet by 150 feet (the longer frontage faces Santa Monica Boulevard). The four‐story commercial building is located in the Central Business District of the City along the busy 3rd Street Promenade retail thoroughfare in the downtown core of the city. The primary elevations front onto Santa Monica Boulevard, facing south, and the 3rd Street Promenade, facing west, with building entrances off both of these elevations. The subject property, located at 301 Santa Monica Boulevard, was previously identified and evaluated under the City’s on‐going historic resources survey process. It was first assessed as part of the 1983 Santa Monica Historic Resources and was identified as individually eligible for local landmark listing and as a contributor to a locally eligible historic district. It was assigned a National Register Status Code of 5/5D, which indicated this evaluation finding. The City’s Historic Resources Inventory Update of historic structures affected by the 1994 Northridge earthquake conducted in 1995 reconfirmed the property’s historical significance and evaluation status; however, its National Register Status Code rating changed from 5/5D to 5B, which indicated the property was eligible for both individual and district contributor landmark listing. The most recent survey, the City’s Citywide Historic Resources Survey Update (December 2007, finalized 2010) once again reconfirmed the property’s local landmark eligibility and contributor status to the Central Business District. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION AND CONSTRUCTION HISTORY Description. The four‐story Junipher Building is a rather classically inspired Vernacular Commercial style structure that now contains retail use on the ground floor and upper levels. The masonry with constructed steel framing the building is sheathed with white glazed brick and terra cotta on its primary (south and west) elevations along Santa Monica Boulevard and the 3rd Street Promenade. The north elevation is of exposed brick and features remnants of ghost signage that note the name of the building. The rear (east) elevation off the alley is utilitarian in character and is sheathed in stucco and punctuated by fenestration with little embellishment. The ground level features a bank of non‐original large storefront display windows and double door openings off the west and south elevations and two single door entries off the rear (east elevation). Junipher Building, 301 Santa Monica Boulevard City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 1 Both the street and promenade elevations are symmetrical in composition. The building is divided into eight bays with a 4‐3‐3‐3‐2‐3‐3‐2 sash window arrangement from west to east along the Santa Monica Boulevard façade. The mall façade has a three bay double window pattern, as does the rear elevation. The windows along the upper levels of the north (side) elevation have been infilled with brick for seismic purposes, but have an irregular varied horizontal placement pattern. The bays on the primary elevations are distinctly separated by wide pilasters with stylized garlands above the fourth floor window openings, at the level of the decorative frieze. The ornate frieze is composed of buff colored terra cotta panels with an oculus (round opening) above each mullion. Slightly raised plain simple piers rise from the ground floor beltcourse to the frieze and separate the sash window openings on each floor. The piers and pilasters create recessed channels containing one‐over‐one aluminum framed sash windows that have opaque filming on them. A simple parapet wall rises above the scalloped cornice line. Spandrels set above and below the sash windows are of white glazed tile laid in a lozenge pattern. The first floor has large storefront picture windows for display cases, marble baseboards and bulkheads, and centrally located inset glass and metal double doors on both the street and mall sides of the building. When initially constructed in 1912, the building was of three stories high and five bays wide along its south (Santa Monica Boulevard) elevation. In 1922, three additional bays were added onto the east (rear) side of the structure. Three years later, a fourth floor was added that modified the original cornice line from one with large decorative brackets set below an extended cornice to the current configuration of an ornate frieze with terra cotta embellishments. Building Permit History. There are roughly 50 permits for modifications to the Junipher Building on file with the City of Santa Monica. Unfortunately, the original permit was not uncovered during this evaluation process. Nonetheless, exterior alterations to the building are largely limited to the commercial ground level, except for the replacement of the wood‐frame sash windows with aluminum frames at some unspecified time. Despite this alteration the window openings are intact and unaltered. The ground floor alterations include consolidation of the individual shop units along both Santa Monica Boulevard and the promenade; the removal and replacement of storefront windows, transoms, individual shop entry doors, and storefront bulkheads to accommodate contemporary retail use; the infill of window openings along the north (secondary) elevation for seismic upgrade purposes; and the sheathing of the rear (east) wall in stucco also for seismic stability. The metal fire escape that was once located on the west (mall) elevation was also removed. Most of these alterations are the result of a large remodel project in 1998, when The Gap store took over the entire building as a retail outlet. At that time tenant improvements also included the total remodel and re‐configuration of the building’s interior spaces. Prior to that time the building maintained office spaces on the upper floors and individual shop units along the first floor. Unsympathetic cosmetic changes to the ground level storefronts; however, occurred continuously over the years. Permits dating from the late 1920s, early Junipher Building, 301 Santa Monica Boulevard City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 2 1930s, and later verify these early storefront modifications among other alterations. At one point, as evident in the 1983 inventory form, the ground floor of both the south and west elevations were covered with a flagstone veneer and the transom windows boarded over. By the time the 1995 survey update occurred the transom windows in the building were infilled, large brick blocks were added to the bottom of the pilasters, metal marquee‐like canopies were hung over some storefronts, and the storefront display windows in many of the units were replaced and remodeled. Despite the early changes and those that occurred from the 1998 remodel, most of which were focused on the interior and ground level, the applicant at that time also rehabilitated certain components of the building’s street level by including the application of white glazed brick on the pilasters and installing polished stone bulkheads. As discussed, the changes that have occurred to the building are primarily on the ground floor retail space of the exterior and within the building itself. In consideration of the age of the structure, its property type, and architectural styling the evident changes have not significantly compromised the property’s stylistic qualities, historical integrity, or key character‐defining features. Construction History. Though the tax assessor records indicate a construction date of 1911, permit history, newspaper articles, and city directory information confirms a construction date of 1912 for the Junipher Building. The building was completed in May of 1913, and was featured prominently in the local Santa Monica paper and the Los Angeles Times because of its design, modern features, and association with the City’s economic growth of the Central Business District. The Junipher Building was constructed in 1912 and opened in mid‐1913 at the north end of the “new” commercial center of the City. When it was completed the area north of 3rd Street was characterized by scattered residences while the south end included only a few clusters of commercial buildings. Most of the commercial development at the time was focused in the Ocean Park area and further south to Venice. The building was of steel frame and masonry construction with a basement and concrete foundation and cost approximately $40,000 to erect. Newspaper articles of the day note the building’s exterior decorative material as white enamel brick with terra cotta trim. The lobby, which was at the far eastern bay of the south elevation, and has since been removed, contained a tile floor, elevator, and marble wainscoting while the floors within the retail shops and offices were of hardwood. Fenestration consisted of wood‐frame sash windows throughout the building. The elevator in the lobby was the first of such a feature installed in any office building in Santa Monica at that time. Upon construction the Junipher Building was considered fireproof and extremely safe. With an initial footprint of 50 feet by 100 feet the building was lengthened in 1922 by an additional 50 feet. The Ye Planry Building Company of Los Angeles designed and built the original structure while Los Angeles based architect Albert C. Martin designed the 1922 addition to match the design, configuration, and materials of the existing site. Three years later a fourth floor was added to the building and A.C.

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