APPENDIX K: HISTORIC IMPACT EVALUATION REPORT Christopher A. Joseph & Associates, Sunset and Gordon Historic Resource Report, dated May 16, 2007.
SUNSET AND GORDON
Historic Resource Report
Prepared by
Teresa Grimes Senior Architectural Historian Christopher A. Joseph & Associates 11849 W. Olympic Boulevard, Suite 101 Los Angeles, CA 90064
May 16, 2007 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Purpose and Qualifications
The purpose of this report is to determine whether or not a proposed development project (sometimes referred to as “the Proposed Project”) in the Hollywood area of the City of Los Angeles will impact historic resources. The Project site is located at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street. It is presently occupied by three residential buildings as well as a single-story un-reinforced masonry building that has been occupied by the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant since 1976. The proposed Project involves the construction of a multi-story mixed-use building with subterranean parking. The Project design will incorporate the most familiar features of the existing building including all the south (Sunset Boulevard) elevation, a section of the west elevation, and the lobby. Furthermore, those features will be restored to their original appearance.
Teresa Grimes, senior architectural historian for Christopher A. Joseph & Associates, was responsible for the preparation of this report. With over fifteen years of experience in the field of historic preservation and a M.A. in Architecture, Ms. Grimes more than fulfills the qualifications for historic preservation professionals outlined in 36 CFR, Part 61.
1.2. Methodology
In conducting the analysis of potential historic resources and impacts, the following tasks were performed:
1. Conducted a field inspection of the Project site and surrounding area to determine the study area and to identify potential historic resources. The buildings identified as potential historic resources are those, which appeared to be at least 45 years of age. These include the building occupied by the Old Spaghetti Factory as well as the three residential buildings. No potential historic resources were identified on the parcels surrounding the Project site. As such, the study area is confined to the Project site itself.
2. The potential historic resources on the Project site are first and foremost a one- story un-reinforced masonry building located at 5939 Sunset Boulevard. It is included in the California Historical Resources Inventory System (CHRIS). CHRIS includes properties listed and determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, listed and determined eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources, California Registered Historical Landmarks and Points of Historical Interest, as well as properties that have been evaluated in historic resource surveys and other planning activities. Properties included in CHRIS are assigned a three digit California Register Status Code. The subject building has a California Register Status Code of 5S2, meaning that it is not eligible for listing in the National or California Register, but eligible for local listing. This evaluation warrants its consideration as a potential historic resource. As such, the field survey included the study of the building’s current physical condition, integrity, and setting. Photographs were taken during the site visit.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 1 The study area also includes the adjacent residential uses north of 5939 Sunset Boulevard including 1528-30, 1532-24, and 1538-40 North Gordon Street. Out of these buildings, only 1528-30 North Gordon Street is included in CHRIS. CHRIS includes buildings identified in the original Historic Resources Surveys for the Hollywood Redevelopment Area. The subject building has a California Register Status Code of 6Y. This signifies the property was determined ineligible for the National Register by consensus through Section 106 process. The property was not evaluated for the California Register or local listing. None of the buildings in the study area on North Gordon Street are listed on the 2002 Historic Resources Survey Update for the Hollywood Redevelopment Area.
3. Reviewed the building permit records obtained from the City of Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety to determine the dates of original construction, subsequent alterations, uses, and architects. Whenever possible, dates of construction were based upon building permits. In absence of original building permits, dates of alterations were based upon interviews with individuals involved in past alterations to the building.
4. Researched the history and context of the buildings at the Los Angeles Public Library including a review of historic maps of the Project site, historic photographs of Sunset Boulevard, books, and articles. Historic photographs were also obtained from Bison Archives and Bruce Torrance.
5. Reviewed and analyzed ordinances, statutes, regulations, bulletins, and technical materials relating to federal, state, and local historic preservation designations, and assessment processes and programs.
2. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING
2.1. Regulatory Environment
Generally, a lead agency must consider a property an historic resource under the California Environmental Quality Act if it is eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register). The California Register is modeled after the National Register of Historic Places (National Register). Furthermore, a property is presumed to be historically significant if it is listed in a local register of historic resources or has been identified as historically significant in an historic resources survey (provided certain criteria and requirements are satisfied) unless a preponderance of evidence demonstrates that the property is not historically or culturally significant.1 The National and California Register designation programs are discussed below.
1 PRC Section 5024.1 and 14 CCR Section 4850.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 2 National Register of Historic Places
The National Register is "an authoritative guide to be used by federal, state, and local governments, private groups and citizens to identify the nation's cultural resources and to indicate what properties should be considered for protection from destruction or impairment." 2
Criteria
To be eligible for listing in the National Register, a property must be at least fifty years of age and possess significance in American history and culture, architecture, or archaeology. A property of potential significance must meet one or more of four established criteria: 3
A. Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or
B. Associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
C. Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
D. Yield, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Physical Integrity
According to National Register Bulletin 15, "to be eligible for listing in the National Register, a property must not only be shown to be significant under National Register criteria, but it also must have integrity." Integrity is defined in National Register Bulletin 15 as "the ability of a property to convey its significance." Within the concept of integrity, the National Register recognizes seven aspects or qualities that in various combinations define integrity. They are feeling, association, workmanship, location, design, setting, and materials.4
Context
To be eligible for listing in the National Register, a property must also be significant with an historic context. National Register Bulletin 15 states that the significance of an historic property can be judged only when it is evaluated within its historic context. Historic contexts are “those patterns, themes, or trends in history by which a specific...property or site is understood and its meaning...is made clear.”5 A property must represent an important aspect of the area’s history or prehistory and possess the requisite integrity to qualify for the National Register. California Register of Historical Resources
2 36 CFR Part 60.2. 3 36 CFR Part 60.4. 4 National Register Bulletin #15, pp. 44-45. 5 National Register Bulletin #15, p. 7.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 3 In 1992, Governor Wilson signed AB 2881 into law establishing the California Register. The California Register is an authoritative guide used by state and local agencies, private groups and citizens to identify historic resources and to indicate what properties are to be protected, to the extent prudent and feasible, from substantial adverse change.
The California Register consists of properties that are listed automatically as well as those that must be nominated through an application and public hearing process.6 The California Register automatically includes the following:
• California properties listed in the National Register and those formally Determined Eligible for the National Register.
• California Registered Historical Landmarks from No. 0770 onward.
• Those California Points of Historical Interest that have been evaluated by the Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) and have been recommended to the State Historical Resources Commission for inclusion on the California Register.
The criteria for eligibility of listing in the California Register are based upon National Register criteria, but are identified as 1-4 instead of A-D. To be eligible for listing in the California Register, a property must be at least fifty years of age and possess significance at the local, state, or national level, under one or more of the following four criteria:
1. It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States; or
2. It is associated with the lives of persons important to local, California, or national history; or
3. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or
4. It has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important in the prehistory or history of the local area, California, or the nation.
Historic resources eligible for listing in the California Register may include buildings, sites, structures, objects, and historic districts. Resources less than 50 years of age may be eligible if it can be demonstrated that sufficient time has passed to understand its historical importance. While the enabling legislation for the California Register is less rigorous with regard to the issue of integrity, there is the expectation that properties reflect their appearance during their period of significance.7
6 PRC Section 5024.1. 7 PRC Section 4852.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 4 2.2. Environmental Setting of Project
The Project area is characterized by a variety of land uses and architectural types along Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street. Surface parking lots and low- to medium rise commercial buildings mark the portion of Sunset Boulevard where the Project site is located. Multi- and single-family residences dominate Gordon Street north of Sunset Boulevard, ranging from one- to three-stories. The architectural character of both Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street ranges from older, potentially historic structures to buildings of modern construction.
2.3. Architectural Descriptions and History of the Project Site
1528-1530 North Gordon Street
This one-story, flat-roofed building was originally constructed in 1924. The building is narrow and rectangular, oriented on the north portion of the lot, with a driveway and carport running along the south side of the building. The front façade is stepped; the center bay projects out from the rest of the façade. Most of the front façade is obscured by a plain privacy wall in the front yard; however a multi-paned aluminum window is visible on the right portion of the façade. The window and the exterior wall do not appear to be original. While the structure may originally have been Spanish Colonial Revival in style, significant alterations have diminished the building’s physically integrity. According to the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor records, the effective year built for the building is 1945. This date indicates that a major investment in the property such as an addition or remodel occurred at that time. 1528 North Gordon Street is listed in CHRIS with a status code of 6Y. This signifies the property was determined ineligible for the National Register by consensus through Section 106 process. The property was not evaluated for the California Register or local listing. The building was not included in the Historic Resources Survey Update for the Hollywood Redevelopment Area in 2002.8 The building lacks the architectural character and physical integrity required for listing in the California Register. As such, the building does not warrant further research.
1532-34 North Gordon Street
This one-story bungalow was originally constructed in 1920, according the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor records. The façade is characterized by a low pitched-roof parallel to the street, and a lower gable covering a small porch. The porch area is marked by overhanging eaves, exposed purlins, and supported by narrow plain columns. The symmetrically arranged windows may be original, although they are currently obscured by metal security bars. A comparison between the existing footprint of the building and the historical Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps indicate that a large addition has been made to the rear. This rear addition appears to be directly attached to the east façade of the original structure. The address is not listed in the CHRIS, which indicates that it was not included on the original Historic Resources Survey Report for the Hollywood Redevelopment Area, nor was the structure included in the 2002 Update Survey. The building is in fair condition. While the building does not appear to be significantly altered, it is an unremarkable example of the bungalow style and would certainly not qualify for listing in the California Register. Therefore, further research is not warranted.
8 Myra L. Frank & Associates, Hollywood Redevelopment Area, Historic Resources Update Survey Report, October 2002.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 5
1538-1540 North Gordon Street.
This one-story collection of apartment units was originally constructed in 1922 with modest Spanish-style detailing. The site encompasses two narrow, rectangular structures oriented along the north boundary of the property, with a driveway running along the south boundary of the property. A smaller building, possibly a studio or garage, is located at the rear of the property behind the two main buildings. The collection of buildings contains four apartment units. All of the buildings are flat-roofed, with a stepped parapet accentuating the corners. Other than the accented roofline, the architectural details of the apartment complex are very plain. The primary façade of the apartment complex is not oriented towards the street; rather, the façade faces the side driveway. The façade of each unit is characterized by an asymmetrically arranged front door and stoop, a large rectangular window, and two smaller square windows. The smaller wooden double-hung sash widows appear to be original.
While the set of buildings is in only fair condition, the complex retains its integrity to the original 1922 construction. The structures lack; however, the architectural character that would be required for listing in the California Register. Moreover, the address was not listed in CHRIS, which indicates that it was not included on the original Historic Resources Survey Report for the Hollywood Redevelopment Area, nor was the structure included in the 2002 Update Survey. Therefore, the collection of buildings at 1538-1540 North Gordon Street does not appear to warrant further research.
5939 Sunset Boulevard
The building is located on Lots 12 and 13 of the Bagnoli Tract, which was owned by Fred R. Cyriasks until 1933. In 1923, he entered into a 99-year lease with Stanley W. Smith Inc. with the condition that a building be constructed for no less than $25,000.9 Stanley Smith was formally of Smith Brothers, the southern California distributor of Peerless motorcars. The company was headquartered in downtown Los Angeles, but increased sales led to their opening two branches: one in Pasadena and one in Hollywood.
The building in Hollywood was completed in 1924. The Los Angeles Times reported that it included “four large showrooms, three of them used to exhibit new cars, and one for used cars, as well as a spacious, up-to-date and modernly equipped service department.”10 The one-story un-reinforced masonry building is rectangular in plan, and is covered by a mostly flat roof. There is a gabled roof protruding from the front portion of the building that covers the main showroom space within. The building was originally Spanish Colonial Revival in style with smooth plastered walls. While the building had the romantic feeling that characterized the Spanish Colonial Revival style, it was also rather formal in design with stringcourses and columns as the principal organizing features.
The front portion of the building facing Sunset Boulevard was treated differently than the rear portion of the building. A very low-pitched hipped roof fit with red tiles covered the front portion of the building. Just below the roofline was a contoured stringcourse. The south elevation
9 County of Los Angeles, Deeds Book 2882-185, November 30, 1923. 10 “Looks Like an Art Studio, but It’s an Auto Home.” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1924, p. F6.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 6 facing Sunset Boulevard was and still is symmetrically organized with two wings embracing a wide centrally located opening that was supported by six massive Tuscan columns. It was approached by a short flight of concrete steps the full width of the opening. The vestibule at the top of the steps was actually open to the sky above. The centrally located main entrance was recessed and covered by a decorative wrought iron gate. The opening was framed by either cast stone or plaster designed to resemble quoins. Extending from the top of the opening was another stringcourse. The same stringcourse at the same height also extended along the south and west elevations. Wrought iron was also used to cover the two windows to each side of the main entrance and the windows at each end of the vestibule. It appears from historic photographs that the vestibule, as well as the sidewalk in front of the building was paved with either stone or concrete, between which grass grew. Two planting areas were also located to each side of the vestibule and in front of the display windows centered on the flanking wings. These display windows nearly met the ground and consisted of wood-framed multi-paned casements. The openings were deeply recessed and sheltered by loose fabric awnings attached to scroll shaped wrought iron brackets. In the corner of each opening was a freestanding Tuscan column. Historic photographs of the west elevation show a similarly detailed display window. In this case; however, it had a three-part design divided by two Tuscan columns.
The rear portion of the building was more utilitarian in design and covered by a bow-truss roof. Along the west elevation, there were large rectangular openings fit with multi-paned steel sash windows. These windows lit the service department in the rear of the building. At the far north end of the west elevation was a garage door. The east elevation had no window openings at all, and the rear of the building was not even plastered thereby revealing the un-reinforced masonry construction.
There are a few historic photographs of the main showroom that hint at the original interior design. The floors were polished concrete scored into squares and the walls were undecorated plaster. On the wall opposing the main entrance was a fireplace that remains to this day. It is decorative, not functional. The chimneybreast is slightly canted to meet the fireplace mantel that is fabricated from cast concrete. Corinthian columns support a shell-patterned frieze along the face of the mantel. The exposed hand-carved wood-beamed ceiling remains the dominant feature of the space. At each of the gabled ceiling are two arched fixed windows. Also lighting the space were wall sconces and long light fixtures and chandeliers suspended from the beams. One of the existing chandeliers appears to be original.
Although the Peerless Motor Company did not go out of business until 1932, Stanley W. Smith Inc. only sold cars from this location for two years. Use of the building transferred to the Walter M. Murphy Motors Company, which was based in Pasadena. That company only occupied the building for six months.
The building served a variety of uses including an auditorium and the Motion Picture Museum Hall of Fame (1928-32) until it was sold to Mary Eleanor MacGowan Earl in 1933. She leased the building to the Western Broadcast Company, which operated KNX radio. Her husband Guy Chaffee Earl, Jr. was a major investor in the company. In 1935, the building was sold outright to the Western Broadcast Company. The first permit to alter the building was recorded this year. The work was described as “alterations to divide the present structure into broadcast studios…masonry and frame partitions” and was estimated to cost $30,000. Photographs of the
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 7 building when it was occupied by KNX radio were featured in Architectural Digest.11 These photographs document that the main showroom space was altered by the addition of a wood parquet floor, a stone-like treatment on the walls, and sliding wood paneled doors. Another historic photograph of the exterior of the building suggests that the original multi-paned display windows were replaced with plate glass. Interestingly, the architect Earl Heitschmidt was responsible for these improvements. In 1936, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) purchased the Western Broadcast Company. CBS remained at the subject building until 1937 when they moved into their newly constructed west coast headquarters at 6121 Sunset Boulevard. Heitschmidt and William Lescaze designed the CBS Columbia Square building.
In 1937, the building was sold to the Vine Street Realty Corporation, which leased it to the theater director, Max Reinhardt. When Reinhardt died in 1943, the theater school he operated in the building closed.
The building was then sold to KMPC radio, which was owned by George A. Richards. In 1952, a year after George Richards’ death, the station was sold and Gene Autry became the principal owner. The station eventually outgrew the subject property and moved its headquarters to the former Warner Brothers studio across the street at 5858 Sunset Boulevard, which was also owned by Gene Autry. Although the move took place in 1968, the station continued to use the building until 1971. Alterations during this period included changing a door (presumably the front door) from a single leaf to a double leaf that opened out in 1944. This required changes to the frame as well. Also in 1944, the roof was repaired. In 1954 the parapet was strengthened and in 1957 it was corrected.
From 1971 until 1976, the building was owned by Saul Pick and used as a medical clinic. In 1974 it underwent a $250,000 remodel that appears to have been primarily interior work. The alterations were described on the building permit as “renovate existing walls and add new partitions and ceilings, etc.” The building was leased by the Old Spaghetti Factory in 1976 and continues to be used as a restaurant to this day. It was for the occupancy of the Old Spaghetti Factory that the building underwent another $250,000 remodel.
The building retains its original rectangular shape and plaster exterior; however, the roof, windows, main entrance, and architectural details have been removed. In addition, the exterior has been covered by concrete plaster. As is the case with many Old Spaghetti Factory restaurants, the building has been decorated with architectural elements that have either been fabricated to appear old or that have been salvaged from other buildings. For example, the bar and back bar were built in France in 1909. Built of a single piece of mahogany 49 feet long, the bar is embellished with mother-of-pearl inlay and marble facing. The Jacobean canopy bed in the bar was hand carved by artisans in the Burgundy district of France. The elegant white-antique wine cabinet originated on a Viennese estate, the surrounding columns came from Denver.12
Anchor plates dotted irregularly along the exterior are evidence of the seismic strengthening that occurred in 1974. The original contoured stringcourse that connects the top of the windows
11 These photographs were provided in Bison Archives. They appear to have been plates that had been removed from the magazine. The date of the issue was not included. Searches for the issue at UCLA, USC and Los Angeles Public Libraries were unsuccessful. 12 Promotional handbill from the Old Spaghetti Factory, no date.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 8 wraps the south and west elevations. The hipped roof over the front portion of the building, as well as the red tile coping along the rear have been removed. There is now a plain flat parapet that steps down on the side elevations. The gabled roof over what is now the lobby of the restaurant is still present, but the bow-truss roof was replaced by a flat roof to reduce the weight on the walls. In addition, a concrete coating was added to the inside of the west and south walls and the outside of the east wall.
TABLE I CHRONOLGY OF TENANTS/OWNERS Year Tenant/Owner 1924 Stanley W. Smith Inc. enters into land lease and builds showroom for Peerless Motorcars. 1927 Use of building transfers to Walter M. Murphy Motor Company for six months. 1927 Building is used for a variety of purposes including auditorium and Motion Picture Museum Hall of Fame. 1933 Mary Eleanor MacGowan Earl purchases property and leases building to Western Broadcast Company, which operates KNX. 1935 Western Broadcast Company purchases property. 1936 CBS purchases Western Broadcast Company including building and KNX radio. 1937 CBS moves and sells building to Vine Street Realty Corp. Building is leased to Max Reinhardt for theater school. 1943 Reinhardt dies and school closes. Building is sold to KMPC radio. 1952 KMPC is sold to Gene Autry. 1968 KMPC moves to old Warner Bros. Studio. 1971 Building is purchased by Saul Pick and leased to medical clinic. 1976 Building is leased to Old Spaghetti Factory.
Along the south elevation, the columns and the entablature that they supported have been removed. The Tuscan columns were replaced with Corinthian columns that are connected to each other and the building by a cast stone trellis-like feature that is embossed with a floral motif. The vestibule is now more open to the street and the landscaping and paving have been removed. On the west side of the opening is a wheel chair ramp that is defined by newel posts and a balustrade. The main entrance has been replaced with a set of double doors surrounded by a heavy wood frame. Both are of mahogany, and the doors feature decorative lights in the upper halves and a transom. The assemblage is from a Chicago office building. Doors have replaced the windows at each end of the vestibule, while the windows to each side of the main entrance have been closed and now form blank niches. All of the windows on the south and west elevations have been replaced and all of the Tuscan columns have been removed. The bottoms of the window openings on the south elevation and perhaps the west elevation have been raised. All of the original window openings on the west elevation that were once fit with steel sash windows have been closed and now form blank niches.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 9 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS
During the late 1920s the building was occupied by the Motion Picture Museum Hall of Fame. Source: Bison Archives
KNX Radio briefly occupied the building in mid-1930s. Source: Bison Archives, Architectural Digest plate, n.d.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 10 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS
The wood parquet floor and wall treatment were added by Earl Heitschimdt. Source: Bison Archives, Architectural Digest plate, n.d.
Source: Bison Archives, Architectural Digest plate, n.d.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 11 CURRENT PHOTOGRAPHS
Architectural features salvaged from other buildings now characterize the vestibule.
The windows are not original, the openings have been reduced in height, and the Tuscan columns have been removed.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 12 The interior of the building has been altered by a succession of tenants. It is now generally divided into a number of spaces. The restrooms are located just inside the main entrance. What was the main showroom space is now the lobby - to one side is a bar and to the other side a dining room. Past the lobby is another large dining room. Wood floors cover the lobby, bar, and dining room spaces. The wood ceiling throughout the interior is exposed. The only original interior features that remain are in the lobby. It retains its original volume, wood beamed ceiling and fireplace. Like the rest of the interior; however, the other architectural features are not original.
2.4. Historic Resources in the Vicinity
While the Project area is located in Hollywood, it is not within the boundaries of any kind of historic district. No buildings adjacent to the Project site are identified as historic resources on a federal, State, or local level.
The Selma – LaBaig Historic District is located approximately one block west and north of the Project site. The Historic District was officially determined eligible for listing in the National Register in 1994. The Historic District encompasses buildings on the 1500 block of LaBaig Avenue, and the 6000 blocks of Selma Avenue, Harold Way, and Carleton Way.
Most buildings in the Historic District are one-story single-family residences in Craftsman or Bungalow styles. Most residences are well-intact and feature wide porches. The secluded setting of the Historic District is complemented by the mature street trees and landscaping, and narrow streets. The Historic District is considered architecturally significant in the context of the early residential development of Hollywood. The residences in the Historic District, particularly on LaBaig and Selma Avenues and Harold Way, continue to retain an overall high level of physical integrity since the previous determinations of eligibility.
The residential buildings on the aforementioned blocks are listed as “2D2” in the CHRIS; this code indicates the subject buildings are contributors to a district determined eligible for listing in the National Register through a consensus determination. In this case, the consensus determination was made based on a federal Section 106 review for the Hollywood area following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The Selma- LaBaig Historic District and Harold Way were also surveyed in 2002 for the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan Update EIR; the 2002 survey also evaluated most of the subject buildings as 2D2. As the subject buildings on Selma Avenue, LaBaig Avenue, Harold Way and Carleton Way are listed in the CHRIS as 2D2, these buildings are considered historic resources subject to CEQA.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 13
3. EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE
The building at 5939 Sunset Boulevard is not presently designated under any of the landmark programs at the national, state, or local levels. It was included; however, in the 1979 historic resource survey of Hollywood. That survey was updated in 2002 as part of the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan Update EIR. The 2002 survey found that the building was not eligible for listing in the National Register but eligible under a local ordinance. The building has a California Register Status Code of 5S2 in the California Historical Resources Inventory System (CHRIS).
Based upon the additional research and analysis conducted for this report, the building does not appear to be eligible for listing in the National or California Registers, due to a lack of physical integrity. While the building may be significant in a variety of historic contexts, it no longer conveys that history due to extensive alterations. As such, the building is not an historic resource subject to CEQA.
3.1. National Register of Historic Places
Criterion A - Two historic contexts were considered in the evaluation of significance under Criterion A, the history of the automobile and the history of radio in Los Angeles.
The building is not significant in the history of the automobile in Los Angeles, because its use as an automobile showroom was so brief. The building was constructed in 1924 for the Stanley W. Smith Inc., the southern California distributor for the Peerless Motor Company. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, Peerless originally built clothes wringers and bicycles but in 1900 began producing its first automobiles. In its early years, Peerless was known for its innovation in automobile design. It was the first American automobile manufacturer to mount the engine in the front, using it to power the rear wheels through a solid drive shaft. This design dominated the American automobile industry throughout most of the twentieth century. Soon, Peerless began to promote its automobiles as luxury cars. The company’s slogan became “All That the Name Implies.” Advertising for the car described “an interior resembling a cozy and luxuriously furnished drawing room.” The focus on luxury; however, meant that only wealthy Americans could afford to own a Peerless. When sales began to stagnate during the 1910s and 1920s, the company altered its strategy. Instead of focusing on the luxury market, they began to manufacture automobiles for the mainstream markets as well. The slogan was then changed to “Now There’s a Peerless for Everyone.” 13
Like many American automobile manufactures, the Great Depression proved to be too much of a challenge for Peerless. The downfall of the company was in its quality. In the 1920s, the company was producing conservatively styled vehicles that would last for ten years or more. Current Peerless owners held onto their cars, while new luxury car buyers were attracted to LaSalle, Packard, and the Studebaker President series. In 1930-31, Peerless commissioned Murphy Body Works of Pasadena to design what the company envisioned as its 1933 model. Murphy was in the custom body business and was famous for designing the Duesenberg body and developing the convertible top. Just as the prototype was about to be shipped back to
13 “The Peerless Motor Vehicle Company,” Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 14 Cleveland, the Board of Directors pulled Peerless out of the automobile business and reoriented the company to brew beer under the Carling’s Black Label brand.
The subject building was only used for the sale of Peerless for two years. Stanley W. Smith Inc. was headquartered in downtown Los Angeles and also had a showroom in Pasadena at 114 South Los Robles (both demolished). As such, it cannot be argued that it is closely associated with the company. Furthermore, the building no longer reflects its original use as an automobile showroom due to extensive alterations. The fact that the large windows on Sunset Boulevard in which the automobiles were displayed have been reduced in size is particularly troublesome.
The subject building is associated with two radio stations: KNX and KMPC. The development of wireless radio communication began in the middle of the nineteenth century. Various individuals claim to have invented the radio. Nikola Tesla and Guglielmo Marconi disputed each other’s claims for decades. Tesla gave a public demonstration of wireless radio communication in 1893, and was awarded the U.S. patent for the radio. Marconi was awarded the British patent for the radio in 1896. Two years later he opened a radio factory that employed fifty workers.
The first radio stations were established by manufacturers to promote the sale of radios or other products such as automobiles and by newspapers as another means of reporting the news. The first commercial broadcasting license was issued to KDKA in Pittsburg in 1920. Prior to 1920, broadcasting was not supported by second-party advertising. In 1922, three radio stations, KNX, KHJ, and KFI, were established in Hollywood, which became the center of the industry on the West Coast. Bruce Torrance states in Hollywood: The First Hundred Years:
KNX began mainly as a promotion for the Los Angeles Express, when promotion manager Guy C. Earl gave away 1,000 crystal sets in a circulation campaign. In two years, KNX was broadcasting on a regular schedule from a Studebaker Sales Building at 6116 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1928, Earl became a sportscasting pioneer. He broadcasted the Rose Bowl game via telephone – and sold the program to KFI.14
The motion picture studios soon entered the fray when they realized that radio could be used as a tool to market films as well as actors under contract. Warner Brothers founded KFWB in 1926, giving it space in the old administration building at 5800 Sunset Boulevard. The national radio networks also recognized the fact that there was a large pool of talent related to the motion picture industry in Hollywood that could be tapped. CBS, NBC, and later ABC all purchased local radio stations in Hollywood and added them to their networks. CBS purchased KNX and made it its West Coast flagship station, while NBC purchased KFI and KECA.
In 1937, CBS constructed a studio and office building called Columbia Square on the former site of the Al Christie Studios. NBC constructed an equally impressive studio called NBC Radio City Studio at the northeast corner of Sunset and Vine in 1938. By this time, Hollywood was second only to New York City in terms of the production of radio programs. No less than twenty-five nation-wide radio broadcasts originated in the Hollywood studios of CBS and NBC.15
14 Bruce Torrance, Hollywood: The First Hundred Years, p. 168-69. 15 ABC was located at 1529-1559 North Vine Street between 1949 to 1956.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 15 KNX occupied the subject building from 1933 to 1936. In 1933 Earl’s wife, Mary Eleanor, purchased the subject building and leased it to the Western Broadcast Company, which operated KNX. KNX is arguably significant in the context of the history of radio in Los Angeles because it was one of the first stations. However, the station occupied the subject building only briefly and is more closely associated with the CBS Columbia Square building where the station moved in 1937 after being purchased by CBS.16
KMPC occupied the subject building from approximately 1944 to 1968. In 1927, Ernest J. Krause, Freeman Lang, and A.B. Scott received a commercial broadcast license and opened KRLO. Two months later the station was sold to the R.S. MacMillian Petroleum Company with studios at 401 Camden Drive in Beverly Hills. The call letters changed several times, and by 1930 they were set at KMPC to match the initials of the company (MacMillian Petroleum Company.) In a short period of time, the station was bought and sold several times but the call letters remained the same. In 1936, the station was purchased Detroit businessman George A. Richards, who brought a variety of entertainers into the company as stockholders. It is at this point that the station adopted the moniker “KMPC – Station of the Stars.”
By 1944, the station had outgrown its original studio in Beverly Hills and moved to the subject building. During this period KMPC became known as southern California’s sports station. In 1952, Gene Autry, along with Bob Reynolds (general manager), Lloyd Sigmon (director of engineering), and others purchased the station from Richard’s widow. It was the only major radio station in Los Angeles to be owned and operated by local residents. In 1968, the station was moved to the old Warner Brothers lot on Sunset Boulevard, which was also owned by Autry.
The subject building might be significant for its association with KMPC; however, it no longer reflects that association because of extensive alterations that took place after 1968. Therefore, the subject building is not eligible for listing under Criterion A due to a lack of physical integrity.
Criterion B – The only individual the building is closely associated with who would be considered historically significant is the celebrated theater director, Max Reinhardt. The building is significant under Criterion B for its association with Reinhardt, whose workshop occupied the building from 1938 to 1943.
To be eligible under Criterion B, the person associated with the property needs to be individually significant within an historic context. In this case, Reinhardt is significant at the national (if not international) level in the context of the history of theater. Reinhardt was born on September 9, 1873 in Baden near Vienna, Austria. He is credited with ushering in a major shift in the history of the theater: “the ascendancy of the director as the key figure in theatrical production. Reinhardt’s reputation in international theater history is secured by the leading role he played in this transformation, as well as by his innovative use of new theater technology and his endless experimentation with theater spaces and locales, which together redefined traditional relationships between actor and audience.”17
16 Edwin Palmer, History of Hollywood, p. 265. 17 “Max Reinhardt: The Man and His Work,” www.library.lib.binghamton.edu.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 16
Reinhardt began his career in the theater as an actor at the age of 17. He changed his name from Maximillian Goldmann, to Max Reinhardt because he thought it seemed more theatrical, and no doubt less Jewish. In 1894, Otto Brahm, the director of the Deutsches Theater, invited him to Berlin. Reinhardt’s reputation as a director was firmly established in 1905 with his production of Shakespeare’s Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, which he later brought to America. That same year he was chosen to succeed his mentor as the head of the Deutsches Theater. His production of Vollmoeller’s Miracle in 1911 used spectacular effects of sound, light and color never before seen on the stage. Reinhardt also opened a smaller theater from more intimate productions, started a theater school, and formed a touring company.
After World War I, he left Berlin for Salzburg where he, Richard Strauss, and Hugo von Hofmannsthall established the Salzburg Festival in 1920. From the historic palace he purchased, Leopoldskron, he reestablished ties to his native Austria and founded the Theater der Josefstadt in Vienna. With the help of local artisans Reinhardt spent twenty years revitalizing the palace. Besides renovating the staircase, the Great Hall, and the Marble Hall, he created the Library, the Venetian Room, and a garden theatre. He used the whole building for his theatre productions (the audiences had to move from room to room) and as gathering place for writers, actors, composers, and designers from across the globe.
Reinhardt’s American debut came in 1924 with his production of the Miracle, which employed a cast of 700 and ran for nearly four years, with performances in fourteen large cities across the country including Los Angeles, where it played for four weeks to sold-out audiences at the 6,000-seat Shrine Auditorium. In 1933, Reinhardt was forced by the Nazi government to relinquish all his German theaters. He traveled to England, and then to the United States the following year to stage A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Hollywood Bowl. The success of the production led to Reinhardt directing a film version for Warner Brothers in 1935. The cast included James Cagney, Mickey Rooney, Joe E. Brown, and Olivia de Havilland. Although he had a multi-picture deal with Warner Brothers, it was the only film he ever directed.
In 1938, his palace and the rest of his property in Austria were confiscated by the Nazi government. At that point he moved permanently to the United States, dividing his time between Los Angeles and New York. In Los Angeles he was in good company as numerous Germans and Austrians, including Ernst Lubitsch, F.W. Murnau, Otto Preminger, Dennis D’Auburn, Emil Jannings, Luise Rainer, and Marlene Dietrich, who later achieved success in Hollywood, were his protégés in Europe. He devoted most of his time in Los Angeles to the establishment the Max Reinhardt Workshop, which was located in the subject building. The workshop was essentially a theater school, similar to ones that he ran in Berlin and Vienna that provided few lectures but plenty of practical experience. The staff included many European émigrés such as Nicolai Remisoff, the costume and scenic designer; Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the composer and conductor; and William Dieterle, the motion picture director.
Reinhardt worked with Remisoff in his production of Goethe’s Faust at the Pilgrimage Theater.18 The production required major changes to the theater including the removal of 38,700 cubic feet of earth from the surrounding hillside in order to accommodate a set large enough for the 150-
18 The theater is now called the John Anson Ford Theater.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 17 member cast. Then a horseshoe-shaped stage was constructed that wrapped around the audience on three sides, and extended more than 200 feet back. A 16th-century Bavarian village was constructed atop this, with labyrinthine streets and 35-foot tall houses complete with windows, doors, and staircases. The spectacle was a major success.19
Reinhardt became an American citizen in 1940. He died in 1943 in New York and is interred in Hastings-on-Hudson. In 1973, on the 100th anniversary of Reinhardt’s birth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was reprised at the Hollywood Bowl.
Properties eligible under Criterion B must be associated with the person’s life work and reflect the period of time the person achieved significance. Obviously, no building in the United States could represent Reinhardt’s many accomplishments in Europe. When Reinhardt moved to Los Angeles, he lived in the Pacific Palisades, which had a large émigré community of writers, actors, artists, and intellectuals such as himself. The house where he lived on 15000 Corona del Mar no longer stands. Although his workshop occupied the building at 5939 Sunset Boulevard for a brief period, 1938 until his death in 1943, it is significant because it is the only building strongly associated with Reinhardt in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, the building is so altered that it no longer retains its physical integrity from that period. A pamphlet for the workshop depicts an image of the building and documents that it was basically unchanged from its original design at that time. Therefore, the building is ineligible for listing under Criterion B for its association with Max Reinhardt due to a lack of physical integrity.
Criterion C - Properties can be eligible under Criterion C for one of four reasons. The two most applicable to the subject building are “embodiment of a distinctive type, period, or method of construction” and “represent the work of a master.” The subject building does not appear to be eligible for either of these reasons, primarily because it lacks physical integrity.
One historic context was considered in the evaluation of significance as “the embodiment of a distinctive type, period, or method of construction,” the Spanish Colonial Revival style of architecture in Los Angeles. Many scholars attribute the rise of the Spanish Colonial Revival style to the Panama-California Exposition in 1915. Bertram Goodhue was the principal architect of the exposition. The style he chose was an adaptation of the ecclesiastical architecture of 18th century Spain. Now referred to as Churrigueresque, the style was named after a family of Spanish architects and sculptors who applied elaborate ornamentation to the Spanish Baroque.
The Panama-California Exposition helped to promulgate Spanish architecture as the appropriate California tradition, and soon Spanish forms were adopted as the leitmotif for building types and whole urban districts to which the style had not been previously applied. Several towns, including Fullerton and Santa Barbara, established policies requiring the use of the style. Between 1920 and 1930, thousands of single-family residences and apartment buildings were designed in the style to house the soaring population. By this time, the style contained a greater element of fantasy and less of a scholarly examination of what the buildings of the Spanish colonists had looked like. The buildings were often composed of details and elements drawn directly from the buildings of Spain and other countries of the Mediterranean, more often than from the actual Spanish Colonial buildings remaining in the region such as the California missions. The character-defining features of the style include courtyards, tiled roofs,
19 “Nicolia Remisoff, Biography of Artists,” www.usc.edu.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 18 Churrigueresque ornamentation, slightly rustic exterior plaster finish, wrought iron details such as door and window grilles, pierced stucco screens, fountains, and decorative glazed tile (the last three being references to Islamic Spain.)
The subject building might very well have been architecturally significant as a good example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Of course there are many fine examples of the style remaining in the Los Angeles. The subject building was rather unique in the formality of the design and use of classical architectural features such as stringcourses and columns. Due to the extensive alterations and loss of original historic fabric, the building can no longer be considered architecturally significant.
Properties that represent the work of a master architect can also be significant under Criterion C. The architect of the subject building was McNeal Swasey. While the original design certainly indicates that Swasey was a talented architect, he is not considered a master. National Register Bulletin 15 defines a master as “a figure of generally recognized greatness in a field.”20
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1891, Swasey attended the Yale University School of Fine Art from 1909 to 1911. He moved to New York where he worked for a number of architecture firms including McKim, Mead & White. After serving in the military during World War I, Swasey settled in California. In 1919, he joined the firm of Myron Hunt where he was in charge of the Ambassador Hotel project. He opened his own architecture office in 1922. Besides the subject building, his work includes the Norman Village at Lake Arrowhead (1923), the Hotel St. Regis (1925), and several residences. Swasey was not recognized as a great architect in his day, or in retrospect.
Criterion D - Criterion D was not considered in this report, as it applies to archeological resources.
Integrity -To be eligible for listing in the National Register, properties must retain their physical integrity from the period they gained significance. In this case, that period would be 1934 to 1943 when it was occupied by the Max Reinhardt Workshop and 1944 to 1968 when it was occupied by KMPC. While some factors of integrity are more important than others depending on the property, a majority of the seven should be retained.
Location: The place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred.
The building has not been moved. Therefore, its integrity of location has been retained.
Design: The combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property.
The general form and structure of the building remain intact from the original design. The plan has changed several times along with the use. The main entrance is in the original location, but the vestibule is much more open to the street, where originally it was more enclosed and
20 National Register Bulletin #15, p. 20.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 19 intimate. With the notable exception of the main showroom space, now the lobby, the interior of the building has been completely altered. The windows on the south elevation have not only been replaced, the openings have been reduced in size. The windows on the west elevation have also been altered, if not completely closed. Most importantly, the original Spanish Colonial Revival style of the building has been lost with the removal or alteration of the red tiled roof, the Tuscan columns, the decorative wrought iron, and windows.
Setting: The physical environment of the historic property.
The setting of the building was not an important factor of integrity. The building sits at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Gordon Street. There is and always has been a surface parking lot on the east side of the building. On the west side, the building meets the sidewalk. The removal of the paving and landscaping along the south (Sunset Boulevard) side are unfortunate, but minor losses.
Materials: The physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property.
The building has lost its integrity in terms of materials. Many of the original finishes have been replaced or removed. Of course the exterior plaster remains, but the red tiled roof is gone. The main entrance and windows have been replaced. In some cases the original openings were reused, but in others the size and type of window was completely changed. In other cases windows have been closed altogether. All of the Tuscan columns and decorative wrought iron are gone. Virtually all of the interior finishes and materials have been lost with the notable exception of the chimney and the beamed ceiling in the main showroom space – now the lobby.
Workmanship – The physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory.
As the building no longer retains its integrity of materials, the integrity of workmanship is lost as well.
Feeling – A property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time.
The building has been so altered that it no longer feels like an historic building. The replacement of the original finishes and features from the period of significance and the addition of features that are either architectural salvage or fabrications create a confusing design. There is no sense that the building was originally a 1920s automobile showroom.
Association – The direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic person.
This aspect of integrity has been lost, as the building does not appear the same as it did when it was the Max Reinhardt Workshop or KMPC.
3.2. California Register of Historical Resources
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 20 The building does not appear to be eligible for listing in the California Register for the same reasons noted above. While the integrity requirements for listing in the California Register are less stringent than those for the National Register, there is still the expectation that the property appear much as it did during the period of significance. California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series #3 states, “In addition to having significance, resources must have integrity for the period of significance. The period of significance is the date or span of time within which significant events transpired, or significant individuals made their important contributions. Integrity is the authenticity of a historical resource’s physical identity as evidenced by the survival of characteristics or historic fabric that existed during the resource’s period of significance…Simply, resources must retain enough of their historic character or appearance to be recognizable as historical resources, and to convey the reasons for their significance.”21 In this case, the subject building lacks integrity because it no longer reflects its original architectural style, or the subsequent uses it housed from 1944 to 1968 including the Max Reinhardt Workshop or KMPC.
3.3. Conclusions
The subject building at 5939 Sunset Boulevard is not an historic resource pursuant to CEQA. It is not currently listed as a landmark at the national, state, or local levels. It was identified in the most recent (2002) historic resource survey of the Hollywood Redevelopment Plan Area as a 5S2, meaning that it is ineligible for listing in the National Register, but may be eligible under a local ordinance. The 2002 evaluation did not consider California Register eligibility. Based upon the research and analysis conducted for this report, the building does not appear to be eligible for listing in the National or California Registers, primarily due to a lack of physical integrity.
However, the buildings in the Selma – LaBaig Historic District are within the vicinity of the project site and considered within the study area of the proposed project. As the subject buildings within the Historic District have been determined eligible for listing in the National Register (2D2), these buildings are considered historic resources subject to CEQA.
As the historic resources are located in close proximity to the project site, the proposed project would potentially affect the buildings in the Selma – LaBaig Historic District. The analysis of the potential impacts the proposed project may have on historic resources will be limited to the 6000 block of Selma Avenue, Harold Way and Carleton Way and the 1500 block of LaBaig Avenue.
4. PROJECT IMPACTS
4.1. Determining the Significance of Impacts on Historical Resources
In enacting the California Register, the Legislature amended CEQA to clarify which properties are significant, as well as which project impacts are considered to be significantly adverse.
21 California Office of Historic Preservation Technical Assistance Series #3, p. 3.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 21 A project that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the environment.22
A substantial adverse change means demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration of the resource such that the significance of an historical resource would be materially impaired.23
The State CEQA Guidelines include a slightly different definition of “substantial adverse change”:
Substantial adverse change in the significance of an historical resource means physical demolition, destruction, relocation, or alteration or the resource or its immediate surroundings such that the significance of an historical resource would be materially impaired.24
The Guidelines go on to state that “the significance of a historic resource is materially impaired when a project demolishes or materially alters in an adverse manner those physical characteristics that convey its significance and that justify its inclusion in or eligibility for inclusion in the California Register, local register, or its identification in a historic resources survey.”25
According to National Register Bulletin 15, to be eligible for listing in the National Register, a property must not only be shown to be significant under National Register criteria, but it must also have integrity. Integrity is defined as the ability of a property to convey its significance.
The following factors are set forth in the City of Los Angeles’ “L.A. CEQA Thresholds Guide,” which states that a project would normally have a significant impact on historic resources if it would result in a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historic resource. A substantial adverse change in significance occurs if the project involves:
• Demolition of a significant resource;
• Relocation that does not maintain the integrity and (historical/architectural) significance of a significant resource;
• Conversion, rehabilitation, or alteration of a significant resource which does not conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings; or
• Construction that reduces the integrity or significance of important resources on the site or in the vicinity.
22 PRC Section 21084.1. 23 PRC Section 5020.1(q). 24 14 CCR Section 15064.5(b)(2)(A). 25 14 CCR Section 15064.5(b)(2).
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 22 4.2. Analysis of Project Impacts on Historic Resources
Project Description
The Proposed Project includes the demolition of all existing uses on the Project site and the development of approximately 324,432 square-foot mixed-use project including: 311 multi- family residences, approximately 40,000 square feet of creative office space, 13,500 square feet of retail floor area (including 8,500 square feet of restaurant uses), approximately 508 parking spaces, and a park. The Proposed Project includes a 23-story structure with an 18-floor residential tower above a five-level above-grade podium structure with three to four levels of subterranean parking.
Project Impacts
As previously stated, the existing buildings on the Project site proposed for demolition are not historic resources subject to CEQA as each building lacks historical and/or architectural significance, and in some cases physical integrity. However, the Proposed Project is in the vicinity of an historic resource subject to CEQA: the Selma – LaBaig Historic District.
As discussed in Section 4.1 of this report, the analysis for determining impacts of new construction on historic resources in the vicinity depends on whether the integrity of the historic resource is so diminished by the new construction that the resource in question would no longer qualify as historic. According to National Register Bulletin 15, within the concept of integrity, there are seven aspects or qualities that are recognized in various combinations. They are: feeling, association, workmanship, location, design, setting, and materials. As described in National Register Bulletin 15, almost all of these factors relate to the consideration of whether buildings are eligible for listing in the National Register, either individually or a part of a historic district. The only relevant factor with respect to the impact of a new building in the vicinity of a designated historic resource is “setting”.
The setting of the Selma – LaBaig Historic District is characterized by the sense the neighborhood is low-rise, residential enclave within a densely urbanized area. Selma Avenue, LeBaig Avenue and Harold Way are all dead-end streets, physically isolating the Historic District from the surrounding area. Within those streets, the setting is characterized by the mature landscaping and street trees, and the narrow width of the streets. The buildings listed as 2D2 on the CHRIS on Carleton Way do not fit within this characterization, as the contributing buildings are on a fairly wide and busy street, interspersed with modern buildings. Nonetheless, as a whole, the quiet, residential setting of the Selma – LaBaig Historic District is juxtaposed with the adjacent commercial corridors of Gower Street and Sunset Boulevard. The immediate setting of the Historic District wouldn’t be affected by the Proposed Project due to the distance between the Project site and the Historic District.
The Project site is not adjacent to the Selma – LaBaig Historic District, or on the same street as the Historic District. The Project site is bordered by the existing multi-story modern buildings on Gordon Street and the commercial uses along Sunset Boulevard. The Project site is physically separated from the Historic District by the multi-family residential buildings of recent construction located on the west side of Gordon Street. The closest buildings evaluated as 2D2
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 23 to the Project site are located on LaBaig Avenue, approximately 250 feet east of the Project site. As the Project site is not adjacent or across the street from the Selma – LaBaig Historic District, the immediate setting of the Historic District would not be directly affected by the Proposed Project.
Not only would the immediate setting of the Historic District not be affected by the Proposed Project, but the general setting of the area also would not dramatically change. The proposed 23- story building would not be out of character for the existing environmental setting of the area. Sunset Boulevard is highly commercialized and developed with low- to high-rise commercial buildings within the project vicinity. Within two blocks east along Sunset Boulevard, for example, are the approximately 12-story Metropolitan Hotel at 5825 Sunset Boulevard and the KTLA radio tower at 5800 Sunset Boulevard. Several blocks west of the Project site along Sunset Boulevard are several high-rise commercial and office buildings with signage on their façades, including the approximately 15-story Sunset Media Tower at 6255 Sunset Boulevard, a 15-story commercial building, and the 12-story CNN tower.
The current setting of the Selma – LaBaig Historic District was established in the 1960s, when high-rise buildings were first constructed on Sunset Boulevard. Since then, high-rise buildings and mid-rise commercial developments have characterized the corridor. The Selma-LaBaig Historic District was determined eligible for listing in the National Register in 1994, when the high-rise, commercial setting of Sunset Boulevard had already been established for decades. As the Historic District was determined eligible for listing despite its close proximity to the high- rise, commercial corridor of Sunset Boulevard, the proposed addition of one more high-rise building would not dramatically change the environmental setting under which the Historic District was determined eligible.
The Proposed Project would not directly affect the setting of the Selma – LaBaig Historic District due to two factors: the distance between the Project site and the Historic District, and the fact that the Proposed Project would not be out of character for the existing setting of high-rise developments on Sunset Boulevard. Therefore, the buildings within the Historic District would continue be considered eligible for listing in the National Register. As such, the Proposed Project will have no impact on the historic resources in the vicinity of the Project site.
4. SOURCES
City of Los Angeles Building Permits, various addresses and dates.
Gleye Paul, The Architecture of Los Angeles. Los Angeles: Rosebud Books, 1981.
Gebhard, David, and Robert Winter, Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1994.
Los Angeles County Tax Assessor Records, various addresses.
May Reinhardt (1873-1943)
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 24 Max Reinhardt Workshop Collection, Papers Collected by Adah Clarke (Hagen) 1926-43, University of Kansas Libraries, Kenneth Spencer Research Library.
No Author, “Old Firm Name is Changed,” Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1922, p. VI10.
No Author, “Peerless President Describes Pains Taken in Shipping Cars” Los Angeles Times, February 11, 1923, p. V16.
No Author, “Gives Lie to Teuton Tales,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1923, p. I13.
No Author, “Looks Like an Art Studio, but It’s an Auto Home,” Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1924, p. F6.
No Author, “New Hollywood Auto Edifice is Formally Opened,” Los Angeles Times, June 29, 1924, p. F6.
No Author, “Striking New Reo and Peerless Models Announced by Los Angeles Distributors,” Los Angeles Times, November 16, 1924, p. G3.
No Author, “Sharp Cuts Announced for Sixes,” Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1925, p. G8.
No Author, “Peerless Once Made Wringers,” Los Angeles Times, February 28, 1926, p. G5.
No Author, “Peerless Motor Vehicle Company,” Ohio History Central: An Online Encyclopedia of Ohio History.
No Author, “Peerless,” www.wikipedia.org. 9/7/2006.
No Author, “Plea filed on KNX Deal,” Los Angeles Times, May 5, 1936, p. 9.
No Author, “The Chronicled History of KMPC,” excerpted from KMPC’s 50th Anniversary Program, www.710kmpc.com. 9/7/2006.
No author, advertisement, Los Angeles Times, March 19, 1944, p. A2.
No Author, “History of KNX,” www.KNX1070.com. 1/25/2006.
No Author, “Max Reinhardt: The Man and His Work,” www.library.lib.binghamton.edu. Max Reinhardt Archive and Library, Binghamton University Libraries.
No Author, “Max Reinhardt: Theatre Director,” www.wikipedia.org. 9/7/2006.
Palmer, Edwin, History of Hollywood. Hollywood: unknown, 1938.
Peerless Motor Car Company
Phone message from Kip Rudd, Senior Planner for the Hollywood Redevelopment Project, Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles, May 10, 2007.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 25
Pitt, Leonard and Dale, Los Angeles A to Z: An Encyclopedia of the City and County. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1919, 1950.
Torrance, Bruce, Hollywood: The First Hundred Years. New York: Zoetrope, 1982.
Watson, Malcolm, “Reinhardt’s Stupendous Miracle About to Go On,” Los Angeles Times, January 31, 1912, p. III4. (London production.)
Brady, William A., “The Foreign Invasion,” Los Angeles Times, February 2, 1924, p. A4.
Schallert, Edwin, “Reinhardt and the New Art,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1926, p. C21.
Lipke, Katherine, “Reinhardt to be Lionized,” Los Angeles Times, December 19, 1926, p. C25. No Author, “Miracle Chiefs Awaited: Reinhardt and Vollmoeller, Creator and Author, Will Arrive in City Today,” Los Angeles Times, January 18, 1927, p. A1.
Schallert, Edwin, “Max Reinhardt and California,” Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1927, p. C19.
No Author, “Max Reinhardt’s Castle Confiscated,” Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1938, p. 1.
No Author, “Max Reinhardt School to Open,” Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1938, p. A2.
No Author, “Isherwood to Join Reinhardt Tribute,” Los Angeles Times, August 20, 1973, p. C11.
Attias, Elaine, “Hollywood: Where Hitler’s Exiles found Lebensraum,” Los Angeles Times, December 4, 1977, p. X47.
Birnkrant, Sam, “To Papa Reinhardt a Bouquet of Love,” Los Angeles Times, December 9, 1979, p. M4.
McNeal Swasey (1891-1946)
No Author, “Plans for a Spanish styled auto sales and garage building at Sunset and Gordon for Peerless Motorcar Company,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, January 18, 1924, p. 45, col. 2.
McNeal Swasey, California Biography File, Los Angeles Central Library.
Pacific Coast Architect, August 1925, pp. 29.35.
Mueller, Floyd, “A Norman Village in Arrowhead Woods,” Architectural Record, vol. 54, 1923, p. 507-520.
Sunset and Gordon - Historic Resource Report 26