Past Perfect : Six Historic Buildings That Were Rescued by the New Breed of Architectural Preservationists

IN THE MIRACLE MILE DISTRICT of Los Angeles, a debate is heating up over a proposal to include the Art Deco-encrusted strip of Wilshire Boulevard on the National Register of Historic Places, a move that would encourage its renovation. At the same time, the Streamline Moderne Pan Pacific Auditorium in the Fairfax District, the ornamental concrete-block Ennis House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Los Feliz area, and the palatial Wattles House in Hollywood are struggling to survive. In a referendum Tuesday, Pasadena voters will decide whether to overturn a zoning change the city granted that would allow demolition of the historic Huntington Sheraton Hotel. These are but a few of the landmarks stirring preservationists to action these days.

In almost every community in the Los Angeles area, residents are rallying to protect a variety of historic fragments, from single houses to entire neighborhoods. “More and more people are realizing how vital these things are in providing a sense of time, place and identity, and in stabilizing their communities,” says Ruthann Lehrer of the Los Angeles Conservancy. In the last eight years the conservancy has grown from about 30 to 3,000 members, becoming one of the most powerful citizen groups in Southern California. “And we are not talking about little old ladies in tennis shoes,” adds Claire Bogaard of Pasadena Heritage, another citizen group taking an active role in preserving historic areas. “We are talking about people of all ages and in all income groups who care about their communities and their history.”

As Los Angeles has grown from cow town to boom town and beyond, it has enjoyed a rare sense of freedom enhanced by rambunctiousness--a combination that has created some of the most distinctive architecture of the 20th Century. Many buildings have been lost, but many also have been saved by good works and good will, including the half dozen pictured on these pages.

THE GAMBLE HOUSE

Considered a sublime example of the Craftsman designs of the brothers Charles and Henry Greene, the Gamble House was built in Pasadena in 1908 for one of the heirs of the Procter & Gamble fortune. The rambling bungalow was pieced together with obvious concern for each detail, from the interiors of delicately joined, handcrafted and oil-finished wood to the exterior terraces of quarry tile and brick. The landmark has been preserved through the generosity of the heirs of Cecil and Louise Gamble, who donated the house to the City of Pasadena in a joint agreement with USC. The university maintains and operates the house as a public museum with the help of the Friends and Docents Council of the Gamble House; the City of Pasadena looks after the grounds. Randell L. Makinson, left, author of two definitive studies of the Greenes, has been curator and director since the Gamble House was made a gift in 1966.

CARROLL AVENUE

This year is the 100th anniversary of most of the robust Victorian houses that line Carroll Avenue, which overlooks downtown from Angelino Heights. Thanks to the constant care of its residents, the street of about 15 houses is one of those rare pockets of Los Angeles with a sense of place. Developed as a suburban tract with ornamented Queen Anne- and Eastlake-style structures, it has survived almost intact. In 1972, Thomas Morales and his wife, Priscilla, moved into this richly detailed three-story, 13-room house, which had been occupied by his parents. (It was recently the scene of a period-dress rehearsal for a home tour today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; admission is $8.) “We began lobbying for preservation before it became popular,” Morales says. “Back then, people thought you were eccentric for living in these houses, trying to get them on the National Register of Historic Places and lobbying to create a preservation district. But it bonded the neighborhood.”

818 WEST 7TH ST.

It was the lobby of 818 West 7th St. that won over the Hammerson Property (West U.S.A) Corp., says Bruce Merchant, left, who represents the British-based real estate firm in Los Angeles. Designed by Curlett & Beelman in 1925 as the grand entry of a furniture store, the lobby was said to have been inspired by the Strozzi Palace in Florence, Italy. “Magnificent, isn’t it?” says Merchant, who, with Anthony D’Angelo, right, and Andrew Feola of Feola / Deenihan designers, formed a team to recycle the Italian Renaissance Revival-style structure into an office building for Hammerson. “Hammerson was looking for a property to invest in in downtown Los Angeles,” says Merchant, “and the furniture store was available at the right location and at the right price. And the company was not afraid of refurbishment. As a matter of fact, it felt quite comfortable with it. Being European, it understood the advantages of recycling landmarks.”

GARTZ COURT

The six exquisitely detailed bungalows that make up Gartz Court in Pasadena were scheduled to be demolished in 1983 to make way for an office complex. “The land they were on was zoned for commercial development and had just gotten too expensive,” recalls Claire Bogaard, right, of Pasadena Heritage. “They also were not in the best of condition.” But there were few better examples of the Craftsman-style bungalow courts built in Pasadena at the beginning of the century. “Everybody agreed Gartz Court had to be saved,” Bogaard says. So with the help of the city, local preservationists found a site in northwest Pasadena, three miles from the court’s original location near the downtown business area, and moved the court, boulder by boulder. The bungalows were painstakingly restored under the direction of architect Stefanos Polyzoides of the firm of de Bretteville& Polyzoides and were sold to moderate-income, first-time homeowners in 1985. A piece of Pasadena’s past was saved, right down to the fireplaces built with stones that had been hauled from the nearby Arroyo Seco.

ENGINE HOUSE NO. 18

When Bill Brown, left, became project manager for the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency in the West Adams neighborhood in 1981, Engine House No. 18 on Hobart Boulevard was slated for demolition. Designed in 1904 by John Parkinson, who was one of Los Angeles’ most accomplished architects, the fire station is an excellent example of the Mission Revival style. The demolition was delayed, lending hope to Wendell Collins, a local artist who for years had dreamed of converting the decaying fire station into a community art center and printmaking workshop. Collins appealed to the Los Angeles Conservancy, which put him in touch with a sympathetic Brown. The fire station soon was off the demolition list and onto the National Register of Historic Places. Later, the project received a $537,000 loan from the redevelopment agency for renovation, which was completed early this year. The engine house is now being refurnished for its new incarnation.

WILTERN THEATRE

Before developer Wayne Ratkovich, right, came to the rescue of the Pellissier Building and Wiltern Theatre, there was little hope of saving the Art Deco masterpiece built in 1931 at the southeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue. Preservationists had slowed the city’s approval of a demolition permit for the terra-cotta and bronze office tower and theater, but they could not stop it. The owner, an insurance company, was determined to sell the property but had failed to do so with the buildings intact. The owner believed that a vacant site would be more attractive to buyers. Then, in 1982, out of the wings stepped Ratkovich, fresh from having renovated the Art Deco-style Oviatt Building downtown. Ratkovich saw an opportunity to save another landmark and, in the process, acquire a prime piece of real estate. He bought the complex and, with the help of architect Brenda Levin, restored it to its former glory.