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These are not
the grand homes that have helped to give this part of Los Angeles
-- known as the Historic West Adams District -- more HPOZs (Historic
Preservation Overlay Zones) than any other part of L.A., but smaller,
modest bungalows that Charles Alma Byers, a regular contributor
to The Craftsman, found to be "especially worthy of notice."
Today, though
a little worse for wear, Jefferson Park and its Craftsman bungalows
are still worthy of notice. Untouched by generations of remodelers,
these homes retain much of their original charm, and they remain
some of the most affordable housing stock in Southern California's
high-priced real estate market. Though bungalow enthusiasts are
beginning to discover and restore some of these classic homes, this
neighborhood continues to be one of Los Angeles' best-kept secrets.
Gustav Stickley
visited California in 1904 and found the mild climate a perfect
match for the Ruskin-inspired Arts and Crafts design ideals that
he helped to popularize and adapt to the varied geographic and social
circumstances of the U.S. After his visit, The Craftsman -- the
magazine he published in which he featured photo essays and plans
for houses exemplifying the Craftsman ideal -- often showed homes
that had recently been built in Southern California.
Many of the
Southern California houses illustrated in The Craftsman are located
in areas now famed for their bungalow and Craftsman architecture,
such as Pasadena and Monrovia, and Stickley's magazine frequently
credited architects by name. (As you would imagine, today these
homes are highly prized and correspondingly highly priced.) Occasionally,
however, a bungalow article appeared with no particulars about architect,
owner or location. A case in point is a 1909 feature by Byers, titled
"Split Field Stone as a Valuable Aid in the Building of Attractive
Bungalows and Small Houses," which featured six modest homes with
limestone and sandstone accents, all of which had recently been
built in an area described simply as "Los Angeles."
As it turns
out, these mysterious L.A. bungalows were located under our very
noses. One day, while thumbing through a book of reprinted Stickley
articles (the 1988 Dover title, Craftsman Bungalows: 59 Homes from
The Craftsman), we realized a particular photo looked a lot like
the house we had bought a little over a year before. With book in
hand, we went outside to check, and sure enough, though the front
door and windows had been changed out, it was clearly the same house.
With a little legwork, we soon confirmed that all six houses in
the article were located within two blocks of our home in an area
of South Central L.A. that has been known as Jefferson Park since
1989.
Jefferson Park,
a roughly 50-square-block neighborhood, was largely built between
1905 and 1920 along what was at the time the Southwestern edge of
the Los Angeles metropolis. Constructed at the peak of the Arts
and Crafts movement's popularity, this area now offers some of the
oldest and best-constructed housing stock, with a level of architectural
detail and variation that is the hallmark of the finest bungalow
neighborhoods across the country.
Byers wrote
in 1909 that the modest houses of this neighborhood were worthy
of notice for their use of decorative split stones -- an innovation
in small bungalow construction -- the use of such heavy natural
materials having previously been reserved primarily for much larger
homes. He noted that the limestone and sandstone blocks used in
the porches, pillars and chimneys of these homes were mined from
local sources, creating "a link between the building and the country
in which it is located" and a harmonious feeling "of long familiarity"
between a home and its natural surroundings.
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At the time
Byers wrote his article for The Craftsman, much of the neighborhood
was still vacant land. The six houses photographed had all recently
been built, but the neighborhood would not be completely developed
for over a decade.
The enclosed
entry/sun porch had the most objectionable paint combination.
The pale yellow walls weren't so bad, but the trim, of which
there is plenty in the small room, was lime green.
"I
sanded off all that paint, to the point where it was imbedded
in my fingers," laughs Denise. "The keyboard on
my computer at work was green."
Near the
ceiling in the breakfast room the owners discovered an original
decorative stencil under layers of paint, which they believe
may have been created by the first homeowners, as it looks
decidedly homespun. Amy Miller, owner of stencil company Trimbelle
River Studios, recreated the pattern, which Denise plans to
replicate on linen window curtains as well.
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"Clapboard
House" at corner of Cimarron and Flint
as shown in The Craftsman (Top) and today.
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Although neither
architect nor builder of these half dozen modest bungalows were
identified in Byers' article, these homes and many others in Jefferson
Park can be traced to a local Los Angeles building firm that specialized
in Arts and Crafts styles, the Bungalowcraft Company. Run by H.A.
Eymann of Upland, Calif., it was later sold to Henry Menken. Prospective
home buyers were encouraged to mix and match layouts and architectural
features to create their own custom homes. This flexible modular
approach to house plans in part accounts for the wide variety of
housing styles available in Jefferson Park today.
Many years have
passed since Byers wrote his article, and the neighborhood has changed
quite a bit. For many people, the area of L.A. where Jefferson Park
is situated conjures up associations, not of tranquil Southern California
living and "airplane" bungalows, but of the 1992 riots that swept
through this area of South Central. Ten years later, this attitude,
while no doubt contributing to the continued anonymity of Jefferson
Park, is changing. Through the efforts of community activists and
members of organizations such as the West Adams Heritage Association,
home buyers are beginning to take notice again of houses such as
those featured in Byers' article.
Preservation-minded
residents and those who appreciate Arts and Crafts architecture
will tell you that it is the abundance of original architectural
details in the structures that they love most; in fact, many
of the newer residents here are likely to refer to Jefferson
Park by its popular monikers: "The Bungalows" or "Bungalowville."
No matter
how one refers to our neighborhood, Jefferson Park is a vibrant
community, an eclectic mix of older residents -- some of whom
have lived here since the 1950s -- adults who grew up here
and decided to buy a house in their childhood neighborhood,
and young couples like us, buying their first homes.
Having moved
here from Baltimore where there is an active city revitalization
movement, the idea of living near our workplace -- in a bungalow,
no less -- was very appealing. Of course, L.A.'s reputation
for terrible traffic and long commutes contributed to our
desire to live near our work as we had done in Maryland. Knowing
something of the Arts and Crafts movement and Southern California's
reputation for bungalow architecture, the idea of a city-living
experience in a home with such a unique architectural style
seemed like an especially exciting possibility. In fact, it
seemed to us that Jefferson Park offered the best of two worlds:
affordable city dwelling and all the conveniences and culture
it brings, along with the suburban feel of detached housing,
yards, etc., in a quintessentially Southern California house.
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The "Bungalow
built for $3,300 at the corner of Durango and Flint in 1909
(Above)
and Today with White limestone porch foundation stuccoed-over.
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Across the country,
many have discovered the pluses of a return to city life. In most
cities, the urban renaissance has meant living in condos, co-ops
and brownstones, but in an affordable Los Angeles neighborhood like
Jefferson Park, "smart living" can mean a Craftsman house. Our home,
the "small California Bungalow" Byers described on Flint Avenue
costing $3,200 to build, and the nearby "California cottage" that
was built for $2,800, are today worth much more. Even so, these
1,200- to 1,800-square-foot Bungalowville homes are consistently
sold at well below L.A.'s median home price of $250,000. For home
buyers on a budget, Jefferson Park offers a pleasant alternative
to condos or lofts all within minutes of downtown.
Nearly 100 years
after Jefferson Park was first developed, the neighborhood and its
bungalow houses are still something special. For the Craftsman enthusiasts
of Bungalowville, the same architectural features that Byers found
to "bind a house with neighboring houses or with the landscape,
into a pleasing unity" are today adding fuel to an urban renaissance
in South Central Los Angeles, binding individuals with their neighbors
and with an appreciation of a city lifestyle.
Bill
Wood is an anthropologist and curator at the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles
County, and Lori Foulke is a project manager in the History
Department of the same museum.
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