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2 neighborhoods apply to be Glendale’s next historic districts

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Glendale residents living in the Casa Verdugo and South Cumberland Heights areas have applied to add their early-20th-century neighborhoods to the seven designated historic districts in the city.

“The residents there have a sense that their neighborhoods are special, that they’re historic, and there is a desire there to preserve the unique character and architectural integrity of their neighborhood[s],” said Greg Grammer, president of the Glendale Historical Society.

The organization has provided guidance and financial assistance to the grassroots, neighborhood-led effort, contributing $1,000 toward the application fee for each proposed district.

The boundaries of the proposed historic district in the Casa Verdugo neighborhood would include 112 houses along North Maryland Avenue, North Louise Street, Campbell Street, East Randolph Street and East Mountain Street as well as Lorraine and Ross streets, according to the historical society’s newsletter.

Casa Verdugo, which takes its name from a popular restaurant that operated in the neighborhood more than a century ago, is near Glendale’s largest historic district, Rossmoyne.

Grammer said the historical society previously tried to generate interest in historic designation for the Casa Verdugo neighborhood when it featured a tour of five Casa Verdugo homes for a 2013 architectural and design event.

“Casa Verdugo is just a really wonderful mix of almost every architectural style,” he said.

For the proposed South Cumberland Heights Historic District, 209 homes are considered for designation. The area is south of the Ard Eevin-Highlands and North Cumberland Heights historic districts, from Grandview Avenue on the west to Highland Avenue on the east, according to the historical society.

The homes in the neighborhood are described by the society as having several types of designs, including Spanish Colonial Revival, French, Tudor, Mediterranean and Monterey Revival.

If granted historic designation by the city, the properties in the two neighborhoods would benefit from the preservation of their architectural character imposed by regulation of proposed changes by the city’s Historic Preservation Committee instead of the Design Review Board.

All seven of the historic districts in Glendale were established within the past decade. The most recent historic district, made up of 32 single-family homes in the Verdugo Woodlands neighborhood, was designated to Niodrara Drive in 2013.

The application for both neighborhoods is scheduled for consideration by the Historic Preservation Commission around the end of July, Grammer said.

If approved, applicants would have three months to circulate a petition and collect the signatures of 25% or more of neighborhoods’ homeowners requesting a formal historic resources survey.

jeff.landa@latimes.com

Twitter: @JeffLanda

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