Nos 220 & 221 - The Hall Twins

The Hall Twins
1887
1343 and 1347 Kellam Avenue – map & map
Declared: 6/6/79

Well, after two years of blogging individual Historic-Cultural Monuments, I feel compelled to break with tradition and document two landmarks in the very same post. The reasoning behind such craziness lies with the fact when local contractor John M. Skinner (he was living on Carroll Avenue) built these two homes for $6,000 per, they sported identical floor plans and designs. That, coupled with the fact they were owned early on by Hall families, inspired historian Thomas Morales to designate them the “Hall Twins”.

Just a few posts ago, we visited the 1887 home of one of the two subdividers of Angelino (Angeleño) Heights, Everett E. Hall. It was that same year that Skinner (Skinn-ERR!) built a literal stone’s throw from Everett’s home our two Victorian subjects using a single blueprint.

Take a good look at this 1888 Sanborn map and you can see four city landmarks: the Everett Hall Residence in the center; Everett’s carriage house (now the property of 1417 Kellam Avenue home); and the twin homes across Waters Street (now called Douglas Street). Note our twins at this point enjoy no carriage houses.

Now set your orbs on this vintage (retouched) photo of Carroll Avenue’s Monument No. 74, the Sanders House. In the background, the Hall Twins stand looking more twinly (twinnish?) than today.

Boy, there sure were a lot of Halls in early Angelino Heights. A whole hell of a lot of Halls. (For instance, a Giles S. Hall, the secretary of the Los Angeles and Santa Monica Land and Water Co., was living on East Edgeware in 1890). And while both of this post’s landmarks are named for Halls, I’ve seen conflicting reports as to how they were related to Everett, if at all. But they probably were.

There’s the enclosed porch of 1347 (top) and original open porch of 1343 (bottom).

No. 220 –the Henry G. Hall Residence

From the L.A. Department of City Planning website.

As you look at both landmarks head-on, the home on the right is 1343 Kellam Avenue. It was where real estate agent Henry G. Hall lived with his wife, Anna L., through most of the 1890s. Maxwell’s Directory of Los Angeles City & County for 1887-1888 said “capitalist” Hall was living on Bellevue Avenue between Edgeware and “the Crescent” (Kensington). In 1890, he was listed as living on East Edgeware between Bellevue and Carroll. Since 1343 Kellam Avenue was built in 1887, this means Henry Hall wasn’t its first resident. However, he was there by 1893, and he was still there in 1901. By 1903, however, the city directory had him residing at 714 Edgeware Road. Morales tells us 1343 was sold in 1904 to non-Halls. A jump to 1915 has that year’s city directory showing the home’s residents including Cora A. Rannells and the auditor for the Hollenbeck Hotel, John M. Wood. Sammy and Pat Lee were 1343’s owners during its declaration of landmark status in 1979.

Compare these images of 1343 and 1347 and 1347.

No. 221 –the Jesse Hall Residence

The corner house was the home of Jesse Q. Hall, his wife, Mary, and children, Tracey (a guy) and Jessie (a gal). While Jessie became a telephone operator and moved out around 1900 (presumably after her father’s death), Tracey stayed at the home with his widowed mom. Both were there in 1915, but Tracey split around 1920. (He moved to 7070 Franklin Avenue, then to 2209 Canyon Drive in the Hollywood Hills with his wife, Sophie.) Tracey had worked his way up in the banking industry from clerk to Vice-President of the Security-First National Bank of Los Angeles. It was he who converted the 1347 Kellam Avenue into a two-family home in 1915, at least according to this 1939 census, from USC's Digital Archive.

In 1928 Adolph Marx bought 1347 Kellam to lure his son, Charles, a sailor, to settle in the west with his Philadelphia fiancé, Tillie. Tillie from Philly was still living there when the home was landmarked in 1979.

As part of its designation, 1347 Kellam contains its carriage house with its entry off Douglas. Here is a pair of pictures of it:

Are you as surprised as I was to learn the two homes were once identical, veritable peas in a pod? Clearly the upkeep of the one landmark compared to the other’s is the main difference, but there’s also that enclosed porch on 1347. In truth, the paint job in general was enough to throw me. In any event, I sure would like to attack the less fortunate twin (there’s always a less fortunate twin), armed only with but a scraper and a couple of cans of paint. Who’s with me?

Source:

Morales, T.M. “’Twins’ Result of Close Family Ties” Parkside Journal; Jul 18, 1979, p. 1

Up next: Daggett Residence