A Guide to the Best of Southern California : CITYSIDE : Plastering Job
TO THE HORROR of architectural preservationists, dozens of classic craftsman-style clapboard and shingle houses in Echo Park have been stuccoed over in recent years, leaving them with the lines and roof of a wooden bungalow and the stucco exterior of a Spanish- or contemporary-style home.
The problem, according to historians, is that these homes, which are often at least 70 or 80 years old, will never be built again. Laments local contractor Daniel Gelb: “A lot of people don’t know that they can have wood milled to match old siding fairly inexpensively. But restoration is very expensive--destuccoing a two-story home can cost as much as $100,000.”
Wood siding can be milled at Fleming Lumber Co., 3250 San Fernando Road, Los Angeles, (213) 254-7201.
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