CITY LANDMARK ASSESSMENT REPORT JOHN PARKINSON RESIDENCE 808 WOODACRES ROAD SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA Prepared for: City of Santa Monica City Planning Division 1685 Main Street, Room 212 Santa Monica, CA 90401 Prepared by: Jan Ostashay Principal Ostashay & Associates Consulting PO BOX 542 Long Beach, CA 90801 FEBRUARY 2019 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY BLANK CITY LANDMARK ASSESSMENT REPORT JOHN PARKINSON RESIDENCE 808 Woodacres Road Santa Monica, CA 90402 APN: 4280-002-005 INTRODUCTION This landmark assessment and evaluation report, completed by Ostashay & Associates Consulting (OAC) for the City of Santa Monica, documents and evaluates the local landmark eligibility of the property located at 808 Woodacres Road, Santa Monica, Los Angeles County. This assessment report was prepared at the request of the City and includes a discussion of the survey methodology utilized, a concise description of the property, a summarized historical context of the property and related themes, evaluation for significance under the City of Santa Monica landmark criteria, photographs, and any applicable supporting materials. OAC evaluated the subject property, the John Parkinson Residence, to determine whether it appears to satisfy one or more of the statutory criteria associated with City of Santa Monica Landmark eligibility, pursuant to Chapter 9.56 (Landmarks and Historic Districts Ordinance) of the Santa Monica Municipal Code. The assessment and this report were prepared by Jan Ostashay, principal with OAC, who satisfies the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards for Architectural History and History. In summary, OAC finds that the John Parkinson Residence, 808 Woodacres Road, appears eligible for local listing as a City Landmark under City of Santa Monica Landmark Criteria 9.56.100(A)(1), 9.56.100(A)(2), 9.56.100(A)(3), 9.56.100(A)(4), and 9.56.100(A)(5). The following sections of the report provide a contextual basis for the assessment analysis and a discussion of how this evaluation determination was made. METHODOLOGY The historical assessment was conducted by Jan Ostashay, principal with Ostashay & Associates Consulting. To help identify and evaluate the subject property as a potential local landmark, an intensive-level survey of the site was conducted. In order to determine if any previous evaluations or survey assessments of the property had been performed the assessment included a review of the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) and its annual updates, the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register), the California Historic Resources Inventory System (CHRIS) maintained by the State Office of Historic Preservation (OHP), and the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (HRI). JOHN PARKINSON RESIDENCE, 808 WOODACRES ROAD City Landmark Assessment Report page 1 For this current assessment a site inspection and a review of building permits and tax assessor records were performed to document the property’s existing condition and assist in evaluating the property for historical significance. In researching the City files no building permits were found for the property. However, some relevant building permits were found within the City of Los Angeles online permit files. The City of Santa Monica landmark criteria were employed to evaluate the local significance of the property and its eligibility for designation by the City’s Landmark Commission. In addition, the following tasks were performed for the study: • Searched records of the National Register, California Register, Library of Congress archives, U.S. Census records, OHP CHRIS, and the local City of Santa Monica HRI. • Conducted a site inspection of the subject property and its associated features; photographed the property, features, and adjacent area. • Conducted site-specific and contextual research on the subject property utilizing Sanborn fire insurance maps, city directories, newspaper articles, historical photographs, aerial photographs, and associated archival, historical references and repositories. • Reviewed and analyzed ordinances, statutes, regulations, bulletins, and technical materials relating to federal, state, and local historic preservation, designation assessment procedures, and related programs. • Evaluated the potential historic resource based upon landmark criteria established by the City of Santa Monica and utilized the OHP survey methodology for conducting surveys. The property was not evaluated for National Register or California Register eligibility. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The John Parkinson Residence is located along Woodacres Road in the northern portion of the City near the intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and 14th Street. The property is set back from the street near the end of the Woodacres Road cul-de-sac. The legal description of the subject property is Lot 11 of Tract No. 12868; parcel number 4280-002-005. The two-story period revival style dwelling is located in a single-family residential neighborhood consisting primarily of one-story Ranch style homes from the 1950s as well as one- and two-story homes of varying styles erected decades later. The subject property was previously identified in the City’s 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update survey. Under that survey effort, the property was found to be individually eligible for National Register and California Register listing due to its architectural merit, associations with the early residential development of the area, and master architect John Parkinson. The property was also identified as individually eligible for local listing as a City of Santa Monica landmark for the same reasons. JOHN PARKINSON RESIDENCE, 808 WOODACRES ROAD City Landmark Assessment Report page 2 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION Description. The two-story John Parkinson Residence was completed in 1921. However, according to permit history and the Southwest Builder and Contractor publication from March 1920 construction of the dwelling began in earnest in the spring of 1920. Designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with Italian Renaissance Revival influences the smooth, trowel- finish white stucco structure was built of hollow clay tile with an irregular “H” shape floor plan. The rectangular shape central mass of the house, which contains the sun room, hall and stairs, and recessed open loggia on the first floor, fronts the street with two perpendicular wings set flanking either side. The roofing system consists of a series of medium pitched gabled roofs with minimal overhang all capped with red barrel clay tiles. The center mass of the house is capped with a side-facing gable and the two flanking wings are crowned by front-facing gables that are bracketed. Fenestration consists primarily of varying size elongated multi-pane, wood- frame casement windows deeply recessed within their openings. The front (east) window opening set at the first level of the north wing also features a decorative glazed terra cotta frame. Other window types punctuating the structure include square shape multi-pane casements, tripartite windows, decorative stained glass, and fixed-pane with bottle glazing. It appears that some of the window frames along the first and second floors of the large living room wing (north) have been replaced with either solid glazed casements or fixed pane glass windows. The window openings for these newer frames remain unaltered. The asymmetrical front façade (east, primary) is dominated by the tall triple arches of the entrance loggia with the arcade set on ornate spiral fluted terra cotta columns and Corinthian capitals. The loggia floor, which extends out to the circular driveway is of a herringbone pattern set with varying size and hues of red tiles. This tile flooring also covers the back patio deck at the rear of the house. Full length wood-frame, multi-pane French type windows with exterior wood-frame screens are aligned within the arcade and open to the small patio. Offset to the right of the high vaulted loggia is the main entrance door to the residence. The entry is demarcated by a large, recessed wood panel double door with clear stained glass transom set within a monumental arched shaped opening. This opening is enframed by ornate glazed terra cotta chamfered textured tile blocks in addition to glazed terra cotta tiles with decorative scrollwork on the inset. The rear (west) elevation is also asymmetrical in form and configuration. Varying fenestration type punctuate this exterior wall plane, though a small, low-rise wrought iron balconet set in front of a pair of French door windows hangs from the second floor of the central bedroom. Just below this balconet feature is an extended enclosed patio area that is capped with a tile covered shed roof. Within the enclosed patio area a pair of wood-frame, multi-pane French doors that open out to the enclosed patio deck. Pairs of elongated multi-pane, fixed metal- framed windows flank the slightly raised door opening. Similar to the other elevations the south elevation is asymmetrical in design. This portion of the house is comprised of the south wing that includes a small living room area, kitchen, secondary JOHN PARKINSON RESIDENCE, 808 WOODACRES ROAD City Landmark Assessment Report page 3 stair access to the second floor, dining room, and laundry room all on the first level. Four bedrooms, bathroom, and stair access are directly above. The south elevation contains a pair of multi-pane, wood-frame French doors that open to the side yard and swimming pool area and multi-pane fixed windows upstairs. Off set to the west of the two doors is the extended kitchen that is features a tile covered shed roof, stucco sheathed walls but with a brick veneer skirt with extruded mortar, diamond paned tripartite fenestration, and panel wood doors with diamond glazed upper panels. The house also includes a basement that is accessed from within the building and from the exterior at the rear. Three engaged stucco clad chimneys are additional features of the dwelling. The back yard directly behind the main house is below grade and was regarded by Parkinson as the “sunken garden.” This large area is enclosed by a stuccoed covered wall of hollow clay tile blocks.