Tuesday, August 26, 2008

No. 176 - 1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence
c. 1887
1321 Carroll Avenue – map
Declared: 7/13/77

Along with Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 109, the Irey House next door, this Victorian home was moved from its original location on Court Street to its present site on March 22, 1978.

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

The home, at 1145 Court, was part of the Beaudry Brothers’ Park Tract development. Gebhard and Winter, in Los Angeles: An Architectural Guide, write the building’s style is late Eastlake. If the 1887 date is correct, the home was built at the tail-end of L.A.’s first big real estate boom. Here’s a Sanborn map from 1906 that shows not only this landmark of the future (in red) but also the Irey House (at 1123 Court, in green).

Court Street, 1906
1321 Carroll Avenue

Now, this isn’t the first 1321 Carroll Avenue home. The site's original house, pictured above, was torn down in 1970. I grabbed the shot from the L.A. Public Library’s Photo Collection. It was taken by Peter Antheil. Thanks, Peter.

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence
1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

In 1978, LAACO, Inc., and William and Marilyn Soukesian donated the pair of homes to the Carroll Avenue Restoration Foundation (while the Foundation had been formed three years prior, this was its first major project). The city landmarks, both well-worn and graffitied up, were moved the half-mile to the Carroll Avenue vacant land, sold by Arthur and Dixie White. It was this home that got the old address. Cecil R. Dover and Edward S. Postnikoff were the house’s first owners in its new location.

Again, from the L.A. Public Library archive – god bless ‘em – here’s a photo of moving day, 3/22/78.

From Court Street To Carroll Avenue
Carroll Avenue Residences
HCMs Nos 109 and 176.

Like its next-door neighbor, 1321 Carroll Avenue is for sale. But while the Irey House – on the market at least as long as I’ve been blogging – now has a price that’s “to be determined”, today’s landmark will run you $1,576,000. Here’s the link to a virtual tour, with pictures of the interior, if you’re interested. (I was this close to posing as a potential buyer to get shots of the inside, but even being disingenuous takes too much effort.) The realtor says the home was built in 1885. It’s got three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. The old carriage house has been converted into a one-bedroom apartment with a three-car garage underneath. Here’s a picture of the (non-landmarked) carriage house.

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence Carriage House

And a better angle of the house’s porch:

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

One final note: this is the last building on the 1300 block of Carroll Avenue to be designated a city landmark. There are two homes and an apartment house on the block that remain undeclared. The first house, a grand mansion at one time, has been altered far too much ever to receive monument status. A 1907 bungalow-style home, originally owned by plumber Edward Thomas, looks completely original if not in need of some care, and an apartment house, first owned by Peter F. McManus in 1902, is somewhat altered. Here are the latter two:

1340 Carroll Avenue, Los Angeles
1354 Carroll Avenue, Los Angeles

1321 Carroll Avenue Residence

Sources:

Joan Dektar “Future Brightens for Old Houses” The Los Angeles Times; Mar 26, 1978

An Album of Architecturally Significant Homes in Century-Old Angelino Heights Carroll Avenue Restoration Foundation 1978


Up next: Subway Terminal Building

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Speaking of that grand mansion that's been converted into ... well Michael Jackson circa now (sorry Mike)I can only imagine how beautiful it was on top of that corner hill with its street level tunnel entrance way.

Ohh and Mr Bariscale when the Public library doesn't give you any info on a specific building or such where do you turn too? I'm trying to find some history on my grand mothers home in South Pasadena but don't know really where to look. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! This house has not changed a bit in over a hundred years. I have photos of it in 1908 when my great-grandparents and their children lived there.

sharonwitsendorg

Floyd B. Bariscale said...

Send over those photos, sharonwitsendorg, and I'll be glad to share them. Thanks.