Chc-2020-508-Hcm Env-2020-509-Ce
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Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION CASE NO.: CHC-2020-508-HCM ENV-2020-509-CE HEARING DATE: February 20, 2020 Location: 4764-4766 West Dockweiler Street; TIME: 10:00 AM 1303-1305 South Keniston Avenue PLACE : City Hall, Room 1010 Council District: 10 – Wesson 200 N. Spring Street Community Plan Area: Wilshire Los Angeles, CA 90012 Area Planning Commission: Central Neighborhood Council: Olympic Park PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for HIRSCHMAN FLATS REQUEST: Declare the property an Historic-Cultural Monument OWNERS/APPLICANTS: Kenneth Yapkowitz and Bronwyn Dawson, Co-Trustees Cave Canem Trust 2850 Marengo Avenue Altadena, CA 91001 PREPARER: Charles J. Fisher 140 South Avenue 57 Los Angeles, CA 90042 RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission: 1. Take the property under consideration as an Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.10 because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal warrants further investigation. 2. Adopt the report findings. VINCENT P. BERTONI, AICP 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] Melissa Jones, City Planning Associate Office of Historic Resources Attachment: Historic-Cultural Monument Application CHC-2020-508-HCM 4764-4766 West Dockweiler Street; 1303-1305 South Keniston Avenue Page 2 of 2 SUMMARY Hirschman Flats is a two-story multi-family residence located on West Dockweiler Street between South Keniston Avenue and South Tremaine Avenue in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood of Los Angeles. Built in 1929 by contractors Elliot and Elliot for owners Anthony and Frances Hirschman, the property is designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. Irregular in plan, the subject property is of wood-frame construction with textured stucco cladding. The southern portion of the roof is flat and has a tile-capped parapet, while the northern portion is a mix of hipped and gabled rooves with Spanish clay tile. The primary, north-facing elevation is asymmetrically composed of three volumes with the northeastern volume projecting forward. Features on this elevation include a balcony on the second floor, arched openings, and a tower. The entrance to the ground floor unit is recessed behind a wide arched opening centered on the north elevation and accessed by concrete steps leading to a porch. The entrance to the second- story unit consists of a narrower arched opening located to the west of the porch that leads to a curved staircase. Fenestration includes arched fixed single-lite windows, wood diamond-pane windows, and multi-lite wood casement windows. Interior features include arched doorways, decorative inlays in the hardwood flooring, wrought iron gates, built-in cabinetry, and tile wainscoting. On the same parcel, there is a multi-car garage located to the west of the building, and to the east is a single-story duplex fronting Keniston Avenue. The duplex is not included in the nomination. The subject property has experienced minor alterations that include the addition of the garage and exterior stuccoing in 1929; foundation bolting in 1992; and restuccoing at an unknown date. 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 if it meets at least one of the following criteria: 1. Is identified with important events of national, state, or local history, or exemplifies significant contributions to the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation, state, city or community; 2. Is associated with the lives of historic personages important to national, state, city, or local history; or 3. Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction; or represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age. FINDINGS Based on the facts set forth in the summary and application, the Commission determines that the application is complete and that the property may be significant enough to warrant further investigation as a potential Historic-Cultural Monument. Hirschman Flats Architectural Description Hirschman Flats is a two story rectangular shaped Spanish Colonial two-family residence with an asymmetrical facade. Arched porches are centrally located on the first and second floors. The second story porch is accessed by a semi-circular enclosed staircase with a chain bannister. The front of the roof displays a hipped- roof gable on the left and a hipped roof over the staircase to the immediate right of the porches. The front roof is covered in Spanish clay tile. The remainder of the roof is flat covered with asphalt behind a low parapet. The arched entry to the upstairs porch is also covered with clay tile. Tall stoops flank the concrete stairs leading to the front door to the downstairs unit. A balcony on the left side has two multi-light casement windows behind it. The bottom of the stucco-clad has a slight arch over a large arched single-lite fixed pane window. Two small arched buttresses that extend over pathways on the sides of the building are covered with clay tile same as the roof. Two small wooden square diamond pane windows are set over the stairs at the second level, the left higher than the right. A tripartite four-lite wood casement window is over two small arched fixed pane windows on the right side of the façade. Other windows appear to all be wood casements in the rest of the building. Interior features include arched doorways, decorative inlays in some of the hardwood flooring, wrought iron gating, step ups to some rooms, decorative mantels, decorative tile wainscoting in bathrooms, picture railings, sconces and built-in cabinetry as well as built-in vanities which are set within small alcoves with arched entries. A multi-car garage is located to the left of the building. A single story duplex is to the left of the building, facing Keniston Avenue, which has been altered with stucco and is not included with this nomination. Hirschman Flats 4764-66 Dockweiler Street Significance Statement Hirschman Flats were built in 1929 for their owners, Anthony and Frances Hirschman by contractors Elliot and Elliot. The Hirschmans were among the first buyers within Tract No. 4604, which was known as Rimpau Hill. The flats are an excellent example of the type of Spanish Colonial Revival apartment buildings that were being built Southern California during the 1920s. The 2-family residence is an example of the type of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture that typified the building boom that came to Southern California just prior to the coming of the Great Depression. There is no architect of record, but the many design elements that come into play on the building show a working knowledge of architectural design. The building was probably a design-build project by the contractors, Elliott and Elliott. Earl Wayne Elliott and Leo Brittain Elliott were brothers, born in Moberly Michigan on September 22, 1889 and March 21, 1894, respectively. Their father, Andrew, was listed in 1880 as a carpenter on bridges. By 1910, Earl was working as a railroad brakeman out of Sugar Creek, Missouri. He and his wife, Alice, had been married for 2 years and they had a one year old son. By 1917, his then 22 year old brother was already working as a building contractor in his home town. He had been married to his wife, Opal for two years and had his own daughter. By 1920 his 18 year brother, Oscar, was living with them in Bartesville, Oklahoma and working as a carpenter. All three brothers were living in Los Angeles by 1929. Earl had been a carpenter for several years and later as a contractor. It was his house on 43rd Place that was used for the business address. Leo actually took out the permit for the Hirschman project and signed it. No record has been located as to where the brothers received their education in construction and design, but it appears that they were competent at their work and that the building was possibly designed by Leo, who appears to have been the more hands on with the permit. The Spanish Colonial Revival style was frequently found on duplexes and small apartments during the 1920s, as well as other revival styles, including Mediterranean, Chateauesque, English Tudor, French Normandy and Colonial. The subject building displays many of the best attributes of the Spanish Colonial Revival style California became the major location for the design and construction in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, especially in the coastal cities. In 1915 the San Diego Panama-California Exposition, with master architects Bertram Goodhue and Carleton Winslow Sr., popularized the style in the state and nation. It is best exemplified in the California Quadrangle, built as the grand entrance to that Exposition. In the early 1920s, architect Lilian Jeannette Rice designed the style in the development of the town of Rancho Santa Fe in San Diego County. The city of Santa Barbara adopted the style to give it a unified Spanish character after widespread destruction in the 1925 Santa Barbara earthquake. Its County Courthouse, designed by William Mooser III, is a prime example of the style. Real estate developer Ole Hanson favored the Spanish Colonial Revival style in his founding and development of San Clemente, California in 1928. The Pasadena City Hall by John Bakewell, Jr. and Arthur Brown, Jr., and the Beverly Hills City Hall by Harry G Koerner and William J.