LA'S Historic Districts: 29 and counting!!!!!

Los Angeles is much more than freeways, movie star mansions and beaches.  In fact, it's home to 29 locally-designated historic districts!  Yes, you heard me - LA, "LaLa Land", the City of the Future - takes its past seriously.  Starting in 1962 when it passed its first Cultural Heritage Ordinance, LA began to preserve individual landmarks and buildings.  It now has over 1000!  Then, in 1979, it passed its first Historic District Ordinance.  Starting then, entire neighborhoods of significant architecture or history could be protected.  With the first two districts being desinated in the early 1980s, Los Angeles now has 29 historic zones (check them out at: LA's Historic Preservation Overlay Zones).

Friends of Laguna Architecture on 1300 block of Carroll Ave.

Hoffy Tours embarked on its first Historic Districts of Los Angeles Tour on March 15 with the group Laguna Friends of Architecture.  First stop was Angelino Heights (LA's first HPOZ) with its stately Craftsman Bungalows and Victorian homes on Carroll Ave.  It was hard to believe that two miles from downtown lies a quiet residential street with homes built over 120 years ago.  This has to be one of the city's most beautiful streets with its vintage street lights and graceful homes.

Then it was on to Hancock Park - a huge historic district with palatial 1920s period-revival styles including Tudor, Spanish Colonial, Chateauesque, American Colonial and Mediterranean. This district is barely noticeable as you drive west on Wilshire Blvd.

Tudor-revival home in Hancock Park.

from downtown LA.   In fact, this is true in much of the city - beautiful neighborhoods lie on both sides of the major commercial arterials.

Our last stop was the South Carthay Historic Preservation Overlay Zone.  As with all the other districts, designation requires that the property owner obtain approval before doing major alterations to the front of the property.  This final district had, by far, the smallest homes most of which were built by the contractor Spyros George Ponty.  His beautiful, custom, single-story Spanish-colonial homes featuring tile, leaded glass windows, and arched carports were complemented by other period revival styles such as Tudor, chateauesque, Streamline Moderne, and Monterrey.  Of the approximately 200 properties, only 4 had been extensively alterned since they were built in the early 1930s.  One of the tour participants used the website Zillow to determine that historic designation had increased property values by approximately 25%.  Historic preservation without gentrification remains a challenge.

These Spanish-colonial cottages are found throughout west LA but not in such pure concentrations.

The creation of all these districts is a great success story for city government and determined residents.  It's inspiring to see parts of LA that reflect its past and strengthen its sense of place.

After choosing one of the Miracle Mile's many museums, our group headed back to the OC realizing that we still had 26 more historic districts to explore.  I can see another Hoffy Tour coming up!

The South Carthay Historic District contains these beautiful Chateauesque/ Norman apartments on its northern boundary (Olympic Boulevard.)

Carrol Avenue is a National Register Historic District within LA's locally-desinated historic district of Angelino Heights.