The Structures Added to Whittier’s Historic List

The Whittier City Council has added the following 14 structures to the local register of historic resources.

Jonathan Bailey House, 13421 Camilla St.

In 1887, when the Pickering Land & Water Co. bought the 1,259-acre Thomas Ranch for a Quaker colony, the only building on the property was an old ranch house. The 20-by-24-foot redwood cabin was enlarged to a simple six-room house. A covered porch and west wing were added later. On Jan. 7, 1975, the property was deeded to the citizens of Whittier and has become a walk-through museum.

Chase House, 6523 Bright Ave.

Edward Chase, a carpenter, built Chase House in 1894 for his parents. The two-story Victorian has a bay window, decorative woodwork on the porch and a boxed cornice.

Dorland House and Barn, 12348 Dorland St.

The Dorland family moved from Chicago to Whittier in 1887. One year later, the Dorland house and barn were built. The house is a one-story Queen Anne-style Victorian, with clapboard siding, decorated porch supports and brackets around the windows. The home is one of the few with a barn remaining in the city. The Dorlands started the first city cemetery after a diphtheria epidemic.

East Whittier Woman’s Improvement Club House, 14148 2nd St.

In 1905, the East Whittier Woman’s Improvement Club, one of the city’s first social organizations, bought the building (originally a pump house) from the East Whittier Land & Water Co., and converted it to a meeting hall. The one-story building has a pitched roof, plain, boxed cornices with brackets and colonial-style woodwork around the main entrance. Former President Richard M. Nixon’s parents were married there. The building was a temporary schoolhouse after the Long Beach earthquake in 1933.

First National Bank of Whittier, 13002 Philadelphia St.

The First National Bank of Whittier (also known as the Bank of America building) is the best remaining example of the Beaux Arts architectural style in the city. It has been the site of four community banks. The building also housed Nixon’s law office. The six-story, reinforced-concrete structure was built in 1922 and includes elaborate cornices around the doors and windows. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Guirado House, 6237 Greenleaf Ave.

The home was built in 1905 for Mary Ann King Guirado and her husband, Edward, who operated a general store in Los Nietos after earning a law degree. The house stood on a two-acre lot on Greenleaf Avenue, complete with fruit trees, a duck pond and two barns. The big Victorian has two bay windows, corbels under the eaves and a broad veranda with masonry block columns.

Jordan House, 8310 Comstock Ave.

The Jordan House, built in 1900, was modeled after a Midwestern farmhouse. It is one of the early ranch homes in Whittier. The two-story Victorian has round and triangular shingles under the gables and decorative woodwork on the porch railings. It is also on National Register of Historic Places.

Murphy House, 7758 College Ave.

The residence was built in 1892 by Simon Murphy, a lumber dealer who spent winters in Whittier and developed the city’s water supply. The simple, two-story Victorian is built primarily of redwood. The interior includes a hexagonal parlor and hand-carved woodwork.

Standard Oil Building, 13033 Penn St.

The building, built in 1914, is an example of an early corporate office building in Southern California. It is built of brick covered with smooth, light-colored stucco. The baked red-tile roofs are gabled and extend beyond the walls, forming roof eaves with exposed heavy timber rafters. The decorative brackets supporting the roof reflect the simple Mission Revival Style. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

Strong House, 11114 Orange Drive.

The 120-year-old yellow-stucco residence was built section by section over time in varied styles. The roof combines a gabled, flat and parapet design and has four chimneys. The wife of the original owner became the world’s foremost exporter of pampas grass. The yard contains an oak supposedly planted by the region’s last Mexican governor and a 65-foot cedar planted in 1888 at the site of the original house on the property.

Sutherland Charles House, 6537 Washington Ave.

Barclay Johnson Charles and his family migrated to Whittier in 1887 from Lynnville, Iowa. About six years later, he built the Sutherland-Charles House, one of the first homes to be built in the city. The house, made of redwood, is an example of a two-story Queen Anne Victorian. It has a large front porch, clapboard siding and distinctive fish-scale shingles on the gable and the second floor.

Wardman House, 13952 Summit Drive.

The Wardman family built the two-story, Spanish-style home in 1925. Among other ventures, the Wardman family operated the local telephone company and built the Wardman Theatre. They also donated a hall, gym and library to Whittier College. The house has a red-tile roof, wrought-iron grillwork over the windows and doors and arched doorways. The home surrounds a courtyard and well. The house, which also has an open-turret tower, is the official home of the president of Whittier College.

Wellesley House, 3600 La Tremolina Lane.

The Murphy Ranch & Oil Co. built the Wellesley House in 1923 for the resident manager of Murphy Ranch. The now-defunct company helped establish the city’s economic base. The tree-shaded, two-story ranch-style home includes a second-story balcony and shutters on the windows.

Whittier Boulevard Packing House, 12327 Whittier Blvd.

The cluster of buildings was once the center of a thriving local fruit-packing industry. It includes a fruit cannery and warehouse, both built before 1894. The main packinghouse was built in 1902 and enlarged many times since. Some of the pitched-roof buildings now house shops.