Some architectural gems for all to see in Wilmington’s Banning Park

Wilmington’s movers and shakers during the 1920s left a special legacy.

It’s called the Banning Park neighborhood.

Almost within the shadow of the 1864 mansion of Wilmington founder Phineas Banning, the businessmen and community leaders of the day built striking homes in a variety of architectural styles.

In a handful of blocks, Greek Revival elegance stands next to the tiles and arches of Spanish Colonials and the pitched roofs of quaint cottages.

The neighborhood is a part of Wilmington that people--seasoned by images of urban oil wells, dilapidation and transients--don’t easily forget after a visit. The trouble is, there haven’t been enough visitors, local residents say.

“We feel these homes and this area need exposure,” says Simie Seaman, who lives in a 1927 home with Palladian windows and mahogany doors. “A lot of people are unaware that this kind of housing and this area even exist in Wilmington.”

Last year, the neighborhood stepped into the limelight with its first-ever home tour, attracting more than 500 people. On Sunday, residents hope to double that number when the second annual “Grand Tour” takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is sponsored by the Wilmington Historical Society, which is working to establish a historical preservation zone in the neighborhood.

“This gives people an opportunity to see these homes and to understand that there are other things here besides industry and the Port of Los Angeles,” said Seaman, who is tour chairman. She calls the Banning Park neighborhood “an area that has been well-preserved in time.”

The walking tour begins in front of the stately Banning mansion, which is a city museum and will be open to visitors on Sunday. Tickets may be purchased at a table in front of the mansion.

People will be able to visit five homes and talk to the owners--in some cases, catching them in the midst of remodeling work. Guides will be in each home to answer questions. The tour takes two hours, although visitors may stay as long as they like at each home.

At the start of the tour across from the Banning mansion, television viewers may recognize a 1923 Greek Revival home. It was used in the filming of the TV movie “Amityville III.”

At a 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival bungalow, the main attraction will be the lush back-yard garden, where three musicians will fill the air with chamber music.

“It’s sectioned off with trails and paths that make you feel like you’re in a jungle,” said owner Mark Miller. The home originally belonged to a Los Angeles city employee, who salvaged decorative brick from the old Wilmington City Hall when it was torn down in the mid-1930s. He used it in the garden’s fountain.

A 1924 Dutch Colonial home with a barn-shaped roof will have an antique sale. Attractions will include turn-of-the-century dining tables, stemware, quilts, throw rugs, linens and even period playing cards.

Landscape painter Tom Redfield, who has extensively restored his 1928 Scottish cottage, will turn the home into a gallery for landscapes. He’ll show his work, along with landscapes by Palos Verdes Estates artist D. W. Pinkham and paintings by Redfield’s grandfather, noted artist Edward Willis Redfield.

Redfield said he got the idea from last year’s tour. “It seemed a lot of attention was directed toward my artwork, more so than toward the house,” he said.

People who want to do a little extra walking on Sunday may view the Drum Barracks Civil War Museum south of the Banning Park neighborhood, or visit the old Wilmington Cemetery, which is north of Pacific Coast Highway, across from the park.

The barracks served as junior officers’ quarters for the Civil War-era fort that once stood in Wilmington. The remains of Civil War soldiers and of Banning family members are buried in the cemetery.

Seaman said that, apart from offering the public a pleasant afternoon, Banning Park residents hope the tour will encourage people to become neighbors by purchasing and preserving homes. In recent years, longtime Wilmington residents have been joined by new people attracted by older--and affordable--homes.

“We’re looking for preservationists and urban pioneers,” Seaman said, “people who love older homes and want to protect them and take care of them.”

Zoe Bergquist, director of the Banning Residence Museum, sees the tour as a magnet for Wilmington and the museum. “It’s exciting to think we’re going to bring people to the museum and to Wilmington who don’t know about them,” she said. “(The tour) gives them a very positive view of the community.”