Los Angeles Department of City Planning · or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. SUMMARY

Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT

PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the LENTO BRICK COURT

REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument

APPLICANT: Echo Park Historical Society APPLICANT’S Charles J. Fisher REPRESENTATIVE: 140 S. Avenue 57 Los Angeles, CA 90042

OWNER: D and H Management, LLC c/o Mark Hirsch 19261 Bernetta Place Tarzana, CA 91356

RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission:

1. Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.7

2. Adopt the report findings.

S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP Director of Planning [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources Prepared by: [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] ________________________ Edgar Garcia, Preservation Planner Office of Historic Resources Attachments: January 21, 2010 Historic-Cultural Monument Application

CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION

DATE: May 20, 2010 TIME: 10:00 AM PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 200 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

CASE NO.: CHC-2010-534-HCM ENV-2010-640-CE Location: 1288-1292 West Sunset Blvd. Council District: 1 Community Plan Area: Silver Lake-Echo Park-Elysian Valley Area Planning Commission: East Los Angeles Neighborhood Council: Greater Echo Park Elysian Legal Description: Lot 41 of the Angeleno Heights Tract

1280-1292 W. Sunset Blvd. CHC-2010-534-HCM Page 2 of 4 FINDINGS

The building “embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction” as an example of courtyard housing architecture.

CRITERIA The criterion is the Cultural Heritage Ordinance which defines a historical or cultural monument as any site (including significant trees or other plant life located thereon) building or structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles, such as historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified, or which are identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history or which embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age.

SUMMARY Constructed in 1928 and located on Sunset Boulevard in the Echo Park area, this courtyard residential building demonstrates character-defining features of courtyard housing with some Renaissance Revival style features. Exhibiting a “U court” plan arranged on downward slope, the subject property consists of five buildings, two two-story and three one-story, with two identical elevations containing ground-level commercial storefronts fronting Sunset Blvd. The courtyard area consists of two rows of one-and two-story detached residential buildings, arranged around a stepped central courtyard and concrete stairwell. A single story centrally-placed residential building intersects the courtyard space at the summit of the subject property. All buildings have flat roofs with raised squared corners on the parapets topped with glazed white brick trim. The exteriors of all buildings on the subject property consist of exposed uniform brick. The residential entrances feature arched stonework with keystone designs and arched wood paneled doors. Additional glazed brick detailing on the commercial façades include banding and rectangular designs. The storefront on the western side of the front elevation has a black tile bulkhead and a recessed entry. The subject building’s windows consist of glass and wood multi-pane casement and double hung windows. Decorative features include glazed brick lentils and sills on street-facing windows and red brick lentils and sills on all other windows. Additionally, windows on the main elevation have small steel basket-type balconies and window boxes. The proposed Lento Brick Court historic monument was designed in 1928 by Conrad Martin Ellington and Frank B. Chambers of the firm Ellington and Chambers. The subject property was profiled in the book Courtyard Housing in Los Angeles (1992) by Stephanos Polyzoides, Roger Sherwood, and James Tice. Alterations to the subject property include the addition of seismic reinforcement, security bars and awnings as well as replacement of windows sashes with aluminum. A transom-style window band above one of the storefronts has been covered by plywood. The subject property appears to be a significant example of courtyard housing with Renaissance Revival features.

1280-1292 W. Sunset Blvd. CHC-2010-534-HCM Page 3 of 4 DISCUSSION The Lento Brick Court property successfully meets one of the specified Historic-Cultural Monument criteria: “embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction.” As a distinctive multi-family residential complex designed as courtyard housing, the property qualifies for designation as a Historic-Cultural Monument based on this criterion. The staff of the Office of Historic Resources (OHR) acknowledges some integrity issues with the subject building stemming primarily from alterations to its windows. The subject building also suffers from some deferred maintenance and lack of repairs. However, based on its intact character-defining features and as a rare example of brick courtyard housing, the subject building appears eligible for local designation. BACKGROUND At its meeting of April 1, 2010, the Cultural Heritage Commission voted to take the application under consideration. On May 6, 2010, the Cultural Heritage Commission toured the subject property.

CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (“CEQA”) REVIEW State of California CEQA Guidelines, Article 19, Section 15308, Class 8 “consists of actions taken by regulatory agencies, as authorized by state or local ordinance, to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment.” State of California CEQA Guidelines Article 19, Section 15331, Class 31 “consists of projects limited to maintenance, repair, stabilization, rehabilitation, restoration, preservation, conservation or reconstruction of historical resources in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic buildings.” The designation of the Lento Brick Court as a Historic-Cultural Monument in accordance with Chapter 9, Article 1, of The City of Los Angeles Administrative Code (“LAAC”) will ensure that future construction activities involving the subject property are regulated in accordance with Section 22.171.14 of the LAAC. The purpose of the designation is to prevent significant impacts to a Historic-Cultural Monument through the application of the standards set forth in the LAAC. Without the regulation imposed by way of the pending designation, the historic significance and integrity of the subject property could be lost through incompatible alterations and new construction and the demolition of irreplaceable historic structures. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards of Rehabilitation are expressly incorporated into the LAAC and provide standards concerning the historically appropriate construction activities which will ensure the continued preservation of the subject property. The use of Categorical Exemption Class 8 in connection with the proposed designation is consistent with the goals of maintaining, restoring, enhancing, and protecting the environment through the imposition of regulations designed to prevent the degradation of Historic-Cultural Monuments.

1280-1292 W. Sunset Blvd. CHC-2010-534-HCM Page 4 of 4 The use of Categorical Exemption Class 31 in connection with the proposed designation is consistent with the goals relating to the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration and reconstruction of Historic buildings in a manner consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Preserving Rehabilitating, Restoring, and Reconstructing Historic Buildings.


PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the FAIRFAX THEATER


APPLICANT: The Friends of the Fairfax Theater Brian Curran Jr. 855 S. Highland Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90036

OWNER: B & F Associates 710 Wilshire Blvd, #409

Santa Monica, CA 90401


1. Take the property under consideration as a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.10 because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal may warrant further investigation.


S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP Director of Planning

[SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources

Prepared by:

[SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] ________________________ Edgar Garcia, Preservation Planner Office of Historic Resources

Attachments: March 11, 2010 Historic-Cultural Monument Application ZIMAS Report


HEARING DATE: April 1, 2010 TIME: 10:00 AM PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 200 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

CASE NO.: CHC-2010-520-HCM ENV-2010-521-CE Location: 7901-7909 W. Beverly Blvd. Council District: 5 Community Plan Area: Wilshire Area Planning Commission: Central Neighborhood Council: Mid City West Legal Description: Lot 338 of TR 6790

Fairfax Theater CHC-2010-520-HCM Page 2 of 3 SUMMARY Built in 1930 and remodeled in 1940 and 1985, this two-story commercial building exhibits character-defining features of Art Deco style architecture. The subject building is located at the northwestern intersection of Beverly Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in the Fairfax District. The building is rectangular in plan with a flat roof and exhibits two primary facades along the intersection. It is constructed of poured concrete. The elevation lining Beverly Boulevard is divided into six bays with five serving as commercial storefronts. Flanked by two shop fronts, an off-center theatre entry with marquee occupies an extended and ornamentally distinguished bay consisting of a stepped parapet which comes to an apex at its center. The parapet lies between two fluted rectangular pilasters, with the east pilaster rising twenty feet above the roofline to become a stepped tower feature capped with an electric light globe. The western pilaster is truncated and is capped with a small rounded dome. The marquee is a large fluorescent light box with neon lights and Plexiglas lettering as well as a coffered ceiling inset with sunburst pattern and recessed lights. The set back entrance creates a large open vestibule area surfaced with red tile and fluted pilasters and contains a terrazzo floor exhibiting a starburst pattern. A Regency-style ticket booth fronts the vestibule space. Five pairs of continuous metal doors provide the entrance to the interior. Flanking the theater entrance, the ground floor storefronts are covered by projecting canopies and framed by continuous fluted pilasters which divide the façade into bays. At the second story, the pilasters are offset on both sides by smaller, engaged, fluted pilasters which terminate at the roofline. These smaller pilasters form the proportioned window bays that contain sliding aluminum windows. The subject building’s roofline is articulated with shallow gables in a regular serrated rhythm, reaching an apex at the center of each bay and descending towards the pilasters, which rise slightly above the parapet. The western storefront section is single story, while the rest of the elevation is two stories. The Fairfax Avenue east-facing elevation consists of ten one-story bays flanked by four two-story bays to the south and a two-story bay to the north. The east facing bays resemble those on the Beverly Blvd. façade with some minor design variation. Acrylic signage and/or projecting canopies sit above the storefronts. There are three building entrances on the east side: the northern and center entrances are gated, open-air portals which are announced by a variation in the roofline, while the southern entrance is a door at the façade leading directly into the building. The west façade is an unadorned concrete wall articulated only by concrete buttresses with an entrance to the basement and backstage area. The north façade is a sheer concrete wall rising to a height of four stories at the west (the curtain tower) and descending to two stories where it meets Fairfax Avenue. The theater interior consists of a lobby and three theatres. In the lobby, an Art Deco-style skylight defined by an irregular grid motif forms the focal point of a hipped ceiling. Crown molding surrounds the room while tiered Art Deco-style light fixtures are set within recessed bays. A concession stand sits atop a pink and black tile floor. A long sloping hallway from the lobby leads to the main auditorium which is flanked by two smaller theatres. The main auditorium features Art Deco-style light fixtures, painted stylized flower motifs, and a skylight similar in design to the lobby skylight. The screen is flanked by two molded plaster screens of a repeating diamond and chevron pattern, over which a large scroll decoration is attached. The storefront interiors are utilitarian in design with some featuring terrazzo flooring. The proposed Fairfax Theatre historic monument was originally designed by architect W.C. Pennell in 1930. During this period, Pennell was the partner of eminent Los Angeles architect

Fairfax Theater CHC-2010-520-HCM Page 3 of 3 John C. Austen. Pennell and Austen designed many civic and industrial projects together as well as landmarks such as the West Adams Methodist Episcopal Church at 1864 W. Adams (1914), the Hotel Leighton formerly on MacArthur Park (demolished), and the Bronson Block at 527 W. 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles (1913). Pennell also designed the Strand Theater, located at 4407 S. Broadway in South Los Angeles (demolished). Significant interior alterations include the truncating and subdivision of the main theatre into three smaller theatres. Exterior alterations include removal of the original marquee, replacement of original storefront doors and windows with standardized metal doors and windows, tiling of the vestibule space, and addition of commercial billboard signage. CRITERIA The criterion is the Cultural Heritage Ordinance which defines a historical or cultural monument as any site (including significant trees or other plant life located thereon) building or structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles, such as historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified, or which are identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history or which embody the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. FINDINGS Based on the facts set forth in the summary and application, the Commission determines that the application is complete and that the property may be significant enough to warrant further investigation as a potential Historic-Cultural Monument.












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Los Angeles Department of City Planning · or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. SUMMARY