P.O. Box 542 [email protected] Memorandum · architecture. It is also recommended that as part of any additional investigation of the property’s landmark potential, the status of

P.O. Box 542 Long Beach, CA

562.500.9451 [email protected]

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Ostashay & Associates c ons u l t i ng

Memorandum

To: Steve Mizokami, City of Santa Monica Date: 03/07/2018

From: Jan Ostashay, Principal OAC

Re: PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT: 2906 Santa Monica Boulevard

Introduction

At the request of the City of Santa Monica Planning Division, Ostashay & Associates Consulting (OAC) has conducted a preliminary historical assessment of the property referenced above for consideration as a City Landmark. As part of the scope of work, a site visit was conducted and relevant archival material on the subject property was collected and reviewed. This assessment includes a succinct discussion of the survey methodology used, a summarized property description, a brief historic context, and a concise preliminary evaluation for potential individual historical significance. Relevant supporting material has also been included, as applicable.

In concluding the preliminary assessment it appears the subject property possess sufficient historical importance and architectural merit to recommend further consideration as a potential City of Santa Monica Landmark. Because of its rare Googie architectural qualities and association with noted master architects Armet & Davis the property may satisfy criteria associated with historical architecture. It is also recommended that as part of any additional investigation of the property’s landmark potential, the status of its historical integrity and a more extensive comparative analysis of extant Googie style coffee shop restaurants remaining in the City be completed.

Methodology

For this preliminary assessment a site inspection, a review of building permits and tax assessor records, and site-specific research were completed to document the property’s existing condition, develop an appropriate themed-based historic context, and assist in evaluating the residence for potential historical significance. The City of Santa Monica landmark criteria were employed to preliminarily evaluate the significance of the property and its potential eligibility for local city landmark designation. Documentation and evaluation of the property was conducted by Jan Ostashay, principal with OAC, who meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards in history and architectural.

Property Information

Property Site Data. The subject property (APN: 4267-018-026) is sited at the southeast corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Yale Street at the far eastern end of the city boundary. The building under review occupies three tied parcels each measuring approximately 50 feet wide by 146 feet long.

PRELIMINARY HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT: 2906 Santa Monica Boulevard

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According to the assessor records the legal description is described as Serra Vista Townsite, Lots 1, 2, and 3, Block 9.

This portion of the Santa Monica Boulevard is comprised primarily of moderate size vernacular style commercial structures of post-World War II vintage with varying degrees of setback from the public sidewalk. Residential development is situated to the south and north of this commercial corridor.

Previous Surveys and Evaluations. The subject property has not been previously identified or evaluated for historical significance under any of the City’s past survey efforts. Therefore, it is not currently included in the City’s Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) nor is it a designated City of Santa Monica Landmark or Structure of Merit.

Property Description. The one-story Googie style coffee shop is of masonry and wood-frame construction. With a rectangular plan, the structure is capped with a front-facing gable roof over the main dining area and a flat roof with parapet over the rear kitchen space. The gable roof features a metal standing seam cover, overhanging eaves, and large exposed “notched” rafter beams. Off the east side of the building is an open dining patio area that is enclosed by a low-rise stucco wall with windbreak glass and covered by are a series of wood-frame outrigger elbows that support a motorized awning system. Access to the dining patio area is via an opening in the patio wall adjacent the front door off the east elevation.

The front façade of the building (north) is setback from the sidewalk and faces out onto Santa Monica Boulevard. It is comprised primarily of large fixed-pane glass windows set under an extended eave line. The windows are of varying size and shape to fit within the stuccoed corner piers of the building, the bulkhead base, and arching “boomerang” shape header. Tropical landscape planted within the setback area provides some privacy to the dining guests from the passing public view outside.

The side elevations (east and west) of the building under the gable roof portion are basically similar in design and features. Roughly three bays long, a series of large fixed-pane recessed windows set on stuccoed bulkheads define each of the bays along these façade walls. Overhanging eaves with exposed “notched” rafter beams along the edges of the gable roof provide indirect shade to the diners within. Situated within the third bay of both the east and west elevations are metal framed glazed entry doors flanked by glazed sidelights and transoms. The double doors on the east elevation provide access to the coffee shop while the single door on the west elevation is now used as an emergency exit. The back half of these side elevations have been modified by the construction of stuccoed additions.

The rear (south) elevation abuts a portion of the parking lot and is utilitarian in design and function. It features stucco sheathed exterior walls; two secondary pedestrian doors for use by the employees; and a tall, dense grouping of shrubs set between the doors. This side of the building is also devoid of fenestration.

The site also includes a large paved parking lot and a detached two-story open screened trash enclosure with a storage room overhead. This small structure set at the southeast corner of the lot is rectangular in plan, is devoid of fenestration, has a flat roof, and is sheathed in stucco. An open, exterior metal staircase is attached to the north elevation and leads to a small landing and single entry door into the unit. This structure is semi camouflaged from view by a dense growth of tall shrubs. Decorative, non-original street lamps are “planted” along the perimeter of the parcel to provide


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lighting of the business at night. At the northwest corner of the lot is a stout square shape pole sign that reads “Coogie’s Café Santa Monica.”

Permit History. A review of building permits on file with the City of Santa Monica confirms the construction of the property and other work completed on the site over the years. The permits recorded with the City include the following:

YEAR DESCRIPTION OF WORK

1969 Construct new restaurant ($52,000), Armet & Davis, Architects

1969 Pole sign ($4,500), no architect listed

1974 Conversion from Big Boy Jr. to Big Boy ($20,000), Armet Davis Newlove, Architects (Marriott)

1985 Add food bar, remodel kitchen ($9,000), no architect listed (Marriott)

1987 New trash yard and veneer stone where overhead door was removed $7,500), Marriott

1992 Fire damage repair-roof system only ($65,000), Marriott

1994 Interior T.I.; add 1-story storage room, outdoor patio area, and 2-story office space 1,326 sq. ft. ($96,000), James Mount architect

1998 Add motorized awning over existing patio area ($4,000), James Mount, architect

Historical Integrity. Though the City of Santa Monica landmark designation criteria does not include historical integrity in its significance criteria it is defined in the ordinance. Historic integrity is the ability of a property to convey its significance and is defined as the “authenticity of a property’s historic identity, evidenced by the survival of physical characteristics that existed during the property’s…historic period.”

A property eligible for local designation must satisfy the applicable significance criteria and retain enough of its historic character and original appearance to be recognizable as a historical resource. The National Register of Historic Places (National Register) and the California Register of Historical Resources (California Register) recognize seven aspects or qualities that, in various combinations, define integrity. To retain historic integrity a property should possess several, and usually most, of those seven aspects or qualities. Thus, the retention of the specific aspects of integrity is paramount for a property to convey its significance. Such consideration of integrity is typically assessed for the exterior of properties. The seven qualities or aspects of historical integrity are defined as follows:

• Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred.

• Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property.

• Setting is the physical environment of a historic property.

• Materials are the physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property.


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• Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory.

• Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time.

• Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property.

In addition, assessing the historic integrity of a rare property type as potentially historic may be considered. A property that appears to be a rare surviving example of its type should have the essential physical features that enable it to convey its historic character or important information. Depending on the circumstance and comparative information of other extant examples a greater degree of alteration or fewer features may be acceptable provided that enough of the property survives for it to be a significant resource.

The subject property is one of only a few extant Googie style coffee shops remaining in the City. Despite alterations over time, the subject property retains its essential form and character from its period of significance, 1969. Significant character-defining features in this regard include its overall massing and scale; height and form; extensive fenestration pattern and framing material; standing seam roof configuration and material with extended eaves and exposed raft beams; glazed entry doors at the east and west elevations; and stuccoed exterior walls. The building is also complemented by period appropriate topical landscape features that appear to be partially original along its north and west elevations. While integrity of design, workmanship, and materials has been somewhat compromised, specifically with the storage addition (east, secondary elevation), office addition (southwest corner, secondary elevation), and rear modifications (secondary elevation), the new finishes do not necessarily diminish the property’s strong and rare connection with the Googie architectural style and its association with the architectural firm of Armet & Davis.

Historic Context

Property History. The one-story commercial building under review was built in 1969, as a Bob’s Big Boy Jr. coffee shop. With masonry walls and wood-frame construction it was designed with Googie style influences, which are evident in its roof shape, large glazed fixed-pane windows, outrigger-like exposed rafter tails under the overhanging eaves, and overall stylistic composition.

With an estimated construction cost of approximately $52,000, it was designed by Armet & Davis Architects, noted master architects of the Los Angeles region. The building when completed measured 44 feet across and 82 feet long with a 10 foot-6 inch setback from Santa Monica Boulevard and a 15 foot setback from Yale Street (west). The proposed work also included an adjacent paved parking lot and a multi-panel 35 foot tall pole sign that was placed at the northwest corner of the lot.

The restaurant opened to the public in June 1970, and featured the signature “Big Boy,” the nationally famous original double-decker hamburger; a variety of other core Bob’s Big Boy menu items; and a sundae counter (to make your own ice cream sundae). Operating as a Bob’s Big Boy Jr. it offered a more limited menu compared to a standard Bob’s Big Boy restaurant, which was usually larger and also provided drive-in service.


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By 1974, the building was converted to a standard Big Boy restaurant with interior modifications made by the original architects, Armet Davis Newlove Architects (the firm expanded to include Victor M. Newlove as an associate in November 1969). The reconfiguration of the dining area, counter, and kitchen provided additional seat down dining space and an extended dining counter. The property operated as a Bob’s Big Boy coffee shop for many years eventually changing ownership in the mid-1990s to Café Santa Monica. A number of years later it changed ownership again to its current use as Coogie’s Café Santa Monica.

Bob’s Big Boy. Bob’s Big Boy was a recognized Southern California restaurant business that helped redefine the industry. Bob Wian founded the chain in Glendale, California in 1936 by opening the ten-stool Bob’s Pantry. Looking for a sales novelty, he took a hamburger bun, split it twice rather than once, and placed between the respective parts two meat patties, garnishing the whole with mayonnaise, lettuce, cheese, and relish. Born was what he called the “Fat Boy,” but quickly came to be known as the “Big Boy.” By 1964, there were 18 Bob’s Coffee Shops operating in the Los Angeles area. Wian had used franchising to expand the Big Boy system nationwide. Early franchise agreements expanded to restaurants in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, and Canada; later spreading further east and to the Southwest.

The early Big Boy restaurants combined a modern coffee shop interior with a drive-in service at the rear of the building. Through the late 1950s and 1960s, the emphasis changed from drive-in restaurant to coffee shop and family restaurant. Big Boy and other drive-in restaurants could not compete with the spreading fast food chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King. Big Boy built its last drive-in in 1964.

At the time, Big Boy redefined itself as full service in contrast to fast food. A larger menu was also developed with many franchises adopting a common graphic design menu and promotional items. In the late 1960s, they opened Big Boy Jr. stores, designed as fast food operations that offered a limited menu. Sometimes called drive-ins, they did not use carhops. These Big Boy Jr. restaurants required a smaller investment and cost less to operate as they had little or no dining room and/or limited counter space. Depending on the location and economy some Big Boy Jr. stores were eventually converted to full Big Boy restaurants. When this happened, the interior spaces of the buildings were remodeled to accommodate a larger dining room and counter configuration.

At all Big Boy restaurants stood a fiberglass statue of a smiling chubby boy in red and white checkered overalls holding a “Big Boy” hamburger on a plate in the air. Besides the signature double-decker burger, this large trademark statue became the chain’s mascot. Over the years, the size and design of the Big Boy statue changed, but remained the restaurant’s all-familiar mascot.

The design and overall appearance of the coffee shops were an important aspect to the business. In October 1958, architectural plans for 100 drive-in Big Boy restaurants were prepared by the architectural firm of Armet & Davis of Los Angeles for then owner Bob Wian. Designed as standardized plans to be used for future franchise Big Boy restaurants, the plans offered a choice for either a Modern style drive-in restaurant or standard coffee shop store.

The spacious Armet & Davis interiors were as stimulating as the exteriors, with dramatic angles and curves dashing off in all directions, sparkling walls of large windows, vibrant color schemes, suspended light fixtures designed for the space age, modern seating, and semi-open exhibition kitchens.


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In 1967, the Big Boy coffee shop restaurant chain was purchased by Marriott Corporation and Wian retired a year later. Marriott had also purchased the Big Boy franchising rights. One of the larger franchise operators, Elias Brothers, purchased the chain from Marriott in 1978, moved the headquarters of the company to Warren, Michigan, and operated it until bankruptcy was declared in 2000. The business was then sold to an investor, Robert Liggett, Jr., who took over as Chairman, renamed the company Big Boy Restaurants International and maintained the headquarters in Warren. The Big Boy Restaurants continue to offer franchises today.

Googie Coffee Shop Architecture. A number of Googie-style coffee shops were built in Santa Monica during the 1950s and 1960s. Examples of the property type and architectural style within the City, included The Penguin (1959, Armet Davis) at 1670 Lincoln Boulevard, which is currently undergoing rehabilitation for use as a Mel’s Drive-in diner; Norm’s (1965, James Mount, demolished) at 1601 Lincoln Boulevard; Rae’s (1952, A.L. Collins) at 2901 Pico Boulevard; Coffee Dan’s/Biff’s (1954, Douglas Honnold, demolished) at 130 Wilshire Boulevard; Bob’s Jr./Bob’s Big Boy (1969, Armet & Davis) at 2906 Santa Monica Boulevard; and Zucky’s (1940/1954, Harold S. Johnson) at 433 Wilshire Boulevard.1

As mentioned, the subject property was designed in the Googie style as a coffee shop in 1969. Car-oriented restaurant architecture (Roadside architecture) that developed in California, especially in Los Angeles after World War I, served as the forerunner of what later became known as the Googie style. Although simple roadside drive-in stands offering a few items were found throughout the nation, in California they evolved into more complex facilities designed to attract and serve a larger numbers of car-driving customers. As construction resumed following World War II, Americans embraced modern design, new products and technologies, and an optimistic attitude about the future.

Googie architecture (also referred to as Coffee Shop Modern), so called after the Googie coffee shop in Los Angeles designed by noted architect John Lautner in 1949, was first described by editor Douglas Haskell in House and Home magazine in 1952. An architectural style of consumerism, Googie design evolved from a need to attract the attention of travelers and commuters from the road. This trend, which had first flowered during the pre-World War II era, took on a futuristic aesthetic in the 1950s and 1960s. The nuclear age and the era of spaceflight were expressed by incorporating boomerangs, diagonals, starbursts, and attention-grabbing illumination into designs. Other character-defining features of the architectural idiom included upwardly sloped roofs, fanciful signs, and space-age references. The Googie style is most often seen in restaurants and drive-ins, gas stations, and car dealerships. Googie signs are also often seen at mid-20th century motels and hotels as well.

In the late 1960s, a shift to preferences for restaurants employing more traditional themes and materials led designers away from the Googie style. The eye-catching features favored during the 1950s and 1960s gave way to a desire to conform and harmonize. Some critics began to find the flamboyant designs of past years clashing and chaotic, especially when the country’s outlook became more somber and its focus shifted more fully to issues such as civil rights and the Vietnam war.

Armet & Davis, Architects. Architects Armet & Davis were major figures in defining the California coffee shops during the 1950s and 1960s, and contributed significantly to developing the Googie style of architecture. Formed in 1947, the Los Angeles firm of was one of the most important practitioners of Googie architecture, responsible for a number of the Southland’s most innovative post-war

1 Zucky’s originally started as a 60-seat Ocean Park café in 1946.


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commercial buildings. However, they are best known for their design of restaurants and coffee shops, some of which included the iconic Norm’s on Figueroa, Ship’s La Cienega, Johnie’s (originally named Romeo’s Times Square) on Wilshire Boulevard at Fairfax, Mel’s in Sherman Oaks, several Huddle restaurants, among other coffee shops.

The firm also designed prototype plans for large restaurant chains like Denny’s and Bob’s Big Boy; these were then used to develop those restaurants throughout the United States and aboard at little cost. This work earned Armet & Davis not only nation-wide recognition, but international acclaim.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri Louis Armet (1914-1981) moved to Los Angeles as a teenager, and graduated from the University of Southern California’s school of architecture in 1939. Eldon Davis (1917-2011), also a USC graduate (1942), was born in Anacortes, Washington. Both had initially planned on practicing industrial architectural together until it became apparent that the postwar construction boom in Los Angeles would prove far more lucrative. Together they designed a wide variety of buildings, including schools, churches, banks, custom residences, apartment buildings, motels, shopping centers, and bowling alleys. They publicized their work in institutional and professional magazines and this attention helped them become well established. The firm became widely identified with the California coffee shop type through such articles in the journals of the restaurant industry.

The two partners divided design and supervision of their projects between themselves, and hired a large and talented staff to design their projects. Among their long-time employees were Helen Liu Fong, Lee Linton, and Victor Newlove. Newlove later became an associate in the firm in 1969, and a partner in 1972. The company then became known as Armet Davis Newlove. Located in Santa Monica, the design firm continues to provide architectural, interior design, and engineering services.

City of Santa Monica Landmark Designation Criteria

The Santa Monica Landmarks and Historic Districts Ordinance (Santa Monica Municipal Code 9.36.100), includes criteria and procedures for recognizing City of Santa Monica Landmarks, Structures of Merit, and Historic Districts. Landmarks may include structures, natural features, objects, or any type of improvement to a property that is found to have particular architectural and/or historical significance to the City. The City’s Landmarks Commission reviews applications for individual landmark designation of a property at the local level if it finds it meets one or more of the following criteria:

• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(1). It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political, or architectural history of the City.

• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(2). It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(3). It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history.

• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(4). It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail, or historical style valuable to such a study.


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• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(5). It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer, or architect.

• SMMC 9.36.100(a)(6). It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the City.

Preliminary Landmark Historical Evaluation

As previously stated, the property was built in 1969 and originally developed as a Bob’s Big Boy Jr. restaurant. It officially opened for business in mid-1970 and continued to operate as a Bob’s Big Boy coffee shop for over twenty years. The building was initially designed by master architects Louis Armet (1914-1981) and Eldon Davis (1917-2011) of the firm Armet & Davis. The firm was extremely influential in the development of the Googie style and the California coffee shop design. Beginning with their first coffee shop in 1951, they designed several notable Googie style coffee shops such as Norm’s, Pann’s, and Ship’s, as well as for the chain restaurants Denny’s and Big Boy.

Reflective of the Googie style in its design, use of materials, composition, architectural features, and landscaping it is a rare extant example of the idiom remaining in the community. Within the City of Santa Monica several Googie style coffee shops were built during the 1950s and 1960s, including The Penguin (1959, Armet & Davis), Norm’s (1965, James Mount, demolished), Coffee Dan’s/Biff’s (1954, Douglas Honnold, demolished), Zucky’s (1940/1954, Harold S. Johnson), and Rae’s (1952, A.L. Collins). A cursory survey found the pool of Googie style coffee shops remaining in the City is limited and that only two extant Googie style examples by Armet & Davis remain.

In considering the City’s significance criteria for potential Landmark designation the subject property appears to warrant further investigation for such recognition. Because of its rare Googie architectural qualities and association with noted master architects Armet & Davis the property may satisfy criteria associated with architectural merit. It is also recommended that as part of any additional investigation of the property’s landmark potential, the status of its historical integrity and a more extensive comparative analysis of extant Googie style coffee shop restaurants remaining in the City should be completed.

Sources

“Armet & Davis,” Los Angeles Conservancy, https://www.laconservancy.org/architects/armet-davis, accessed February 22, 2018.

Armet Davis Newlove Architects, http://adnarch.com/ , accessed February 22, 2018.

Banham, Reyner. Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies. Berkeley: University Press, 2001 1971.

City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Department, Building Permits.

“Elden Davis,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldon_Davis, accessed February 22, 2018.

Hess, Alan. Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004.

Hess, Alan. Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1986.

Jakle, John A. and Keith A. Sculle. Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age. Baltimore, Maryland: John Hopkins University Press, 2002.

https://www.laconservancy.org/architects/armet-davis

http://adnarch.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldon_Davis


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Los Angeles Times. “Large Chain of Drive-ins is Scheduled,” Los Angeles: October 12, 1958, p. 141.

Los Angeles Times. “Of Real Estate & People,” Los Angeles: November 16, 1969, p. J24.

Los Angeles Times. “Display Ad 187-No Title,” Los Angeles: June 11, 1970, p. WS5.

Los Angeles Times. “A Side Order of Los Angeles,” Los Angeles: September 26, 1971, p. P22.

Los Angeles Times. “Display Ad 109-No Title,” Los Angeles: June 11, 1972, p. F16.

“Louis Armet,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armet, accessed February 22, 2018.

Nelson, Valerie J. “Eldon Davies Dies at 94, Architect designed ‘Googie coffee shops,” Los Angeles: Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2011.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times (1881-1988).

Santa Monica Public Library, Santa Monica Index.

Tennyson, Jeffrey. Hamburger Heaven: The Illustrated History of the Hamburger. New York: Hyperion, 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armet


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PHOTOGRAPHS: 2906 Santa Monica Boulevard

PHOTO - 1: Front (north) facade, looking southeast

PHOTO - 2: Front (north) facade, looking southwest

PHOTO - 3: Front elevation, night view

PHOTO - 4: Side (west) elevation, looking northeast

PHOTO - 5: Outdoor patio area, east elevation

PHOTO - 6: Oblique view, looking northwest

PHOTOGRAPHS: 2906 Santa Monica Boulevard

PHOTO - 7: Context view, looking southeast

PHOTO - 8: Context view, looking southwest

PHOTO - 9: Aerial context view (Bing Maps)

Documents

P.O. Box 542 [email protected] Memorandum · architecture. It is also recommended that as part of any additional investigation of the property’s landmark potential, the status of