No. 143 - 6028 Hayes Avenue Residence

6028 Hayes Avenue Residence
Late 1800s
6028 Hayes Avenue – map
Declared: 4/16/75

You need to check out the horseshoe-shaped Hayes Avenue in Highland Park. It’s off the beaten path, very short, and it sort of connects Avenue 61 and Avenue 59. It’s home to many cool houses (including another city landmark), one right after the other, most of which deserve your attention.

I can’t tell you when HCM No. 143 was built. Some sources, like the city, date it back to 1885. It could be later. Gebhard and Winter say it was put up a decade after that. In any event, it was one of the first homes right around there, as many of its neighbors are from the early 1900s. This means, for a little while, the folks who owned this tidy Queen Anne home, with its big ol’ sittin’ porch, must’ve enjoyed the view of the Arroyo Seco, just a few dozen yards away, on warm winter nights like nobody’s business.

Right when 6028 was getting its designation back in 1975 (its owner at the time was Jude C. Moritz), the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission was turning down a request to declare nearby 5970 Hayes Avenue a landmark. Here’s a pair of pictures of it:

Oh. The house I'm talking about is behind the log cabin with the green roof.

I don’t know what it looked like thirty-three years ago, but I think 5970’s still got charm. I sure would like to have seen it with its original roof, windows, and siding. And my guess is that brick has replaced the old stone, perhaps from the Arroyo itself, still seen on the side porch. ZIMAS says 5970 was built in 1904.

Coming in for the save, one final shot of the landmark, 6028 Hayes.

Up next: 2054 Griffin Avenue

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No. 142 - Smith Estate

Smith Estate
1887
5905 El Mio Drive, Highland Park – map
Declared: 4/16/75

Here’s an old Victorian Queen Anne mansion built for Judge David P. Hatch in 1887.

David Patterson Hatch was born in Dresden, Maine, in 1846. He graduated from the Maine Wesleyan Seminary in 1871 and from the University of Michigan Law School a year later. In 1874, Hatch married Ida Stilphin. He practiced law in Minnesota for a while, then moved to California in 1875, settling in Santa Barbara where he became a Superior Court judge for the county. Relocating to Los Angeles, his first trial was the one in which a teenage Louise Perkins sued 59-year-old Lucky Baldwin for breach of promise (she was awarded $75,000 but, facing a re-trial, settled for $12,000). Hatch moved to British Columbia in 1900 when his health failed, but returned to L.A. five years later. He died of Bright’s Disease in 1912.

Hatch wrote a few books including Scientific Occultism, a Text Book of the Christian Hermit Philosophers and The Blood of the Gods, a book on temperance. If remembered at all, Hatch may be best known for sending “a hopeful message of life and growth” – FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE.

The El Mio mansion is named the Smith Estate for a series of Smiths who, beginning in the mid 1890s, lived there through a big chunk of the 20th century. There was railroad man Charles and his wife, Louise, along with Emma (a 1929 city directory lists her as a decorator), Bethene C., and, until his death in 1958, Charles and Louise's son, Dr S. Quay Smith (“What’s the diagnosis, Dr Smith?” “Oh, the pain! The pain!”)

A Shane and later a Padilla took up residence there, but only after 1964. That’s when William Wise was living there. It’s also the year director Jack Hill filmed the classic Spider Baby at the old house of Hatch. You can see a trailer with exterior shots of the mansion below. Warning: it’s the Maddest Story Ever Told.

Skip to the mid-1970s when Louis and Nora Peters were the residents as the home was declared a city landmark. In 1988, the city’s then deputy mayor, Michael Gage, and his wife, Lacey, bought the home. The current owner has resided here since the late 1990s.

Okay. I’m no great shakes with the ol’ Brownie (well, actually, shaking is part of the equation), but this house is very tough to photograph without lumbering around the private land. Obscured by a few trees, it’s perched well up on a Highland Park hill. While this is a drag for photographers, that perching must have provided stunning views of the San Gabriel Mountains, over the Arroyo, and down toward the city around the turn of the last century. My guess is those views are still pretty good. And the house itself appears in great shape.

I’ll close with a truly good shot of the house, from the Department of City Planning website.

Sources:

“Noted Jurist Answers Call.” Los Angeles Times; Feb 22, 1912, p. II8

Up next: 6028 Hayes Avenue

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No. 141 - Chatsworth Reservoir Kiln Site

Chatsworth Reservoir Kiln Site
c. 1800
Southeast from the Intersection of Woolsey Canyon Road and Valley Circle Boulevard, Chatsworth – map
Declared: 4/2/75

Welcome to Chatsworth, the Land Of Historic-Cultural Monuments You’re Not Really Allowed To Get To.

HCM No. 142 is a centuries-old kiln used for burning limestone in the making of lime for concrete, mortar, and whitewash, a step in the construction of bricks and tiles, most notably by Indians for the nearby San Fernando Mission. The spot was ideal for a kiln operation, the area being rich in oak trees and with a good amount of lime deposits. It’s estimated that, at one time, there were as many as five kilns like this in the area. By the time our kiln was landmarked in the mid-seventies, it had already been the subject of serious wear and tear. (It’s thought, prior to the monument’s designation, a backhoe may’ve obliterated the kiln’s vents, arches, and flues. Something did, at any rate.)

The kiln, also known as the Chatsworth Calera (calera is Spanish for “limestone quarry” or “limekiln”), is basically a hole in the ground with walls of vitrified limestone and brick. It measures about fifteen feet deep and six and a half feet across.

Incredibly, the site of the former, larger Chatsworth Reservoir, drained in 1969, remains free of development. For the latest on plans for the old reservoir’s future, read A Cultural Resources Study for the Proposed Wetland Riparian Restoration Program at Chatsworth Reservoir, Chatsworth, Los Angeles County (don’t worry, it’s not much longer than its title). A study from this past March 25 by Robert S. White, Laura S. White, M.A., and David M. Van Horn, Ph.D. through Santa Barbara’s John Minch & Associates, Inc., it’s from where are I pulled this handy map of the site.

Honestly, I’m not convinced the map above jibes with the actual site all that well. According to the map, the kiln would lie about 400 feet from the intersection of Woolsey Canyon Road and Valley Circle Boulevard. That’s 1.33 football fields, about half a football field more than at which I would’ve guessed the distance.

The plan to preserve forty-four acres of the 1,318 Chatsworth Reservoir property as riparian and wetland habitats by Browning-Ferris Industries is in exchange for the company's destroying habitats through its landfills near Sylmar.

The report says the old kiln is in need of stabilization. It also recommends the recently burned lean-to be reconstructed and enlarged.

Chatsworth is in the middle of a monument crisis. No. 92, the Old Stagecoach Trail, and No. 133, the Minnie Hill Palmer House and Dynamite Shed, are currently off limits due to Chatsworth Park South being shut down for its soil’s ongoing lead tests. On the positive side, while access to No. 142 is limited to L.A. DWP workers, you can still see a bit of the old kiln and that burned lean-to from where Woolsey Canyon Road and Valley Circle Boulevard meet.

Up next: Smith Estate

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No. 140 - Cast Iron Commercial Building

Cast Iron Commercial Building
1903
740 – 748 South San Pedro Street – map
Declared: 3/19/75

One of the city’s last remaining partly cast-iron buildings, Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 140 sits on land formerly the homestead of one of the city’s early leading native citizens.

The land used to be part of a twenty-acre ranch owned by Frank Sabichi. Sabichi was born in Mexican L.A. in 1842, married Magdalena Wolfskill, daughter of William Wolfskill and Magdalena Lugo, in 1865, and went on to become a prominent lawyer, city councilman, and land owner. The Sabichis lived on the ranch until they built a mansion at 2437 South Figueroa Street (then Pearl Street). (Although today the site of the St Vincent’s Church parking lot, part of the old Sabichi home can be seen in this picture of its next-door neighbor, HCM No. 212, the Stimson Residence).

In September 1897, the Los Angeles Times announced the parceling of the former Sabichi spread:

The Frank Sabichi tract, of twenty acres, at the corner of Seventh and San Pedro street, will be offered at private sale on Monday next, by the Los Angeles agents of the property. The tract has been divided into 176 lots, varying from 25 to 100 feet front, and from 110 to 122 ½ feet deep. The property fronts San Pedro street, Seventh street, Crocker street, Towne avenue, Ruth avenue, Gladys avenue and Agatha street. There are alleys 12 ½ feet and 15 feet wide. The streets are all graded, sewered, curbed and sidewalked, and a four-inch water main pipe along each street. The tract is well located, being only half a mile from the postoffice. The prices asked for the property vary from $450 to $600 for inside 25-foot lots, to $800 and $900 for 25-foot lots on San Pedro street, and from $45 per foot up for frontage on Seventh street. These prices are referred to by the agents as “hard-time prices.”

Anybody know for whom Gladys, Ruth (now Stanford), and Agatha Streets were named? Sabichi girls, I bet.

In 1900, Sabichi died in his home at the age of 58 from “a stroke of apoplexy.”

The monument is mainly Queen Anne in style with ten oriel, or bay, windows, the corner one topped with a witch’s hat. The lower floor is made of predominately flower shops, the upper floor contains apartments. The building measures 315’ x 62’.

One final thing. So I’m there taking photos when this guy yells for me to take his picture. His name was Chad (C.H.A.D.!!) and he promised me he’d give me a great picture. He did not disappoint.

Sources:

[Real Estate Record] Los Angeles Times; Sep 17, 1897, p. 8

“Frank Sabichi Dead.” Los Angeles Times; Apr 13, 1900, p. I5

“Early Days of the City are Described” Los Angeles Times; Oct 26, 1924, p. C37

Newmark, Harris. Sixty Years in Southern California 1853 - 1913 Houghton Mifflin Company 1930 Boston and New York

Up next: Chatsworth Reservoir Kiln Site

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No. 139 - Shrine Auditorium

Shrine Auditorium
1926 – John C. Austin (exterior), G. Albert Lansburgh (interior)
665 West Jefferson Boulevard – map
Declared: 3/5/75

Exposition Park’s Shrine Auditorium – the home to ten Oscar ceremonies and as many for the Emmy Awards, along with Grammy Awards, MTV Music Awards, American Music Awards, and other events – is not the site’s original Shrine Auditorium. Below is a picture of the location’s original hall. Its gala opening was held October 24, 1907.

The building survived just twelve years. On the afternoon of Sunday, January 11, 1920, an estimated 75,000 people watched that Shrine Auditorium burn to the ground. Ironically, a Los Angeles Times article during its construction reported the “structure is to be of steel, concrete and brick, a practically fireproof building…”

While the Shriners announced plans for a replacement auditorium within 48 hours, it took almost exactly half a dozen years of planning and fund-raising before the new auditorium opened. It fell to architect John C. Austin to come up with a new building, still in the Moorish/Moroccan style. (Austin, whom we’ve met through his revisions to St Vibiana’s and his building of the Hancock Mansion, is responsible, in whole or part, for many L.A. Landmarks, including City Hall and the Griffith Observatory.)

The interior was created by popular theatre designer G. Albert Lansburgh. Lansburgh was also responsible for Los Angeles’s El Capitan, Orpheum, and Wiltern, among many other theatres around the country.

The new, $2.5 million, 6,500-seat Shrine Auditorium opened on January 23, 1926 as the world’s largest theatre. The ballroom could hold about 6,000.

When the building opened, the theatre’s crystal chandelier was also heralded as the world’s largest. It weighs four tons, measures twenty feet across, and consists of 500 red, white, blue, and amber bulbs. Track down Huell Howser’s visit to the Shrine and watch how the chandelier is cleaned.

If you look at the two pictures above, you'd think the ceiling's draped with material to give the impression of the inside of a sheik's tent. In actuality, that's not material but, rather, painted plaster.

The Shrine's Möller pipe organ is one of the world’s largest theatre pipe organs.

Today, the Shrine Auditorium seats a total of 6,300 with 3,044 on the main floor and 3,256 in the balcony, still one of the largest theatres in the U.S. The adjoining Expo Center, once the old ballroom, contains 34,000 square feet on the main floor with another 20,000 up on the mezzanine.

The Shrine’s been featured in many movies, including A Star is Born (1954), The Turning Point, Foul Play, and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Most memorable, though, is the landmark’s appearance in King Kong (the version that isn’t lousy). Look for the Shrine – then less than a decade old – when Kong’s on stage being unveiled to the world.

It’s also where Michael Jackson’s hair caught on fire during a Pepsi commercial shoot in 1984.

Monument No. 139 has seen a couple of multi-million dollar renovations in the past few decades. 1993 saw a new parking garage attached, a new roof and paint job, and upgraded lighting and sound systems. It’s also when the main foyer on the Royal Street Side was enclosed:

The sad news is the new hotshot Kodak and Nokia theatres have taken a big amount of thunder from the Shrine and its big award ceremonies. The good news is there’s always the Shriners’ Circus. Last weekend’s was a great way for me to get inside the landmark, take a few shots, and get cotton candy on my camera lens.

The Shriners organization was founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the Masons. L.A.’s Al Malaikah Temple was chartered with thirty-one members on June 25, 1888. “Al Malaikah” means “angels” in Arabic.

The full name for the Shrine Auditorium is “Al Malaikah Shriners Ancients Arabic Order Nobles of Mystic Shrine.” It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

Sources:

The black and white photographs are from USC’s Digital Archive.

“Shrine Auditorium Burns to the Ground; Origin of Costly Blaze Mystifies Investigators.” Los Angeles Times; Jan 12, 1920, p. II1

“Future Headquarters of Al Malaikah Temple.” Los Angeles Times; Apr 29, 1907, p. I5

“Idly of Gorgeous Color, Fairy Beauty, and Dreamy Music is the Grand Ball Opening Al Malaikah Auditorium.” Los Angeles Times; Oct 25, 1907, p. II1

“Al Malaikah Temple Architectural Triumph” Los Angeles Times; Jan 20, 1926, p. 10

“Shrine Building Triumph of Art” Los Angeles Times; Jan 20, 1926, p. 10

“Thousands Open Home of Shriners” Los Angeles Times; Jan 24, 1926, p. 3

“Visiting… with Huell Howser: Shrine” Huell Howser Productions, 1993. Los Angeles, CA

Up next: Cast Iron Commercial Building

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