Survival of Historic Building Depends on Landmark Status

Holmby House, a Mediterranean-style duplex in Westwood, faces demolition unless the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission designates it a historic landmark at its meeting on Wednesday.

Designed by architect P. P. Lewis, the two-story structure on the corner of Ashton and Holmby avenues is one of a dwindling number of red tile-roofed apartment buildings built in the 1920s and ‘30s in the area, city planner Daniel Scott said. Most have been replaced with larger apartment houses, he said.

Pari Corp., which owns Holmby House, acquired a permit to demolish it last fall and issued eviction notices to the residents. The company wants to replace the structure with a three-story condominium, Scott said.

“This property is historically and culturally significant and many of us who have lived in the neighborhood feel very strongly that efforts should be made to preserve (it),” said Vincent J. Marella, president of the Westwood Homeowner’ Assn. and a resident of Ashton Avenue.

Residents appealed in December to the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission to designate Holmby House as a historic landmark. Scott said the commission was leaning toward rejecting the appeal when other buildings designed by Lewis were discovered in Westwood. Residents had difficulty assembling information on Lewis because records kept by the Central Library are in storage as a result of the April 29, 1986, fire.

Lewis designed the Fox Village Theatre in 1931. Its tower, the tallest in Westwood, dominates the landscape. He also designed several structures for the Janss Corp., which originally developed Westwood Village.