Neighborhood Wins Historical Status

The central Long Beach neighborhood of Rose Park, known for its craftsman bungalows, has won the city’s 14th historical district designation.

From now on, any renovations within the area that are visible from the sidewalk face review by city staff. The emphasis will be on preserving the style that has made the neighborhood one of the city’s architectural treasures.

A result of four years of public debate, the distinction was portrayed by some as a solution to falling property values and unchecked growth, while others said it invited government interference.

Paul Lanouette, co-owner of a craftsman bungalow in the Rose Park district, said he was proud to be part of the historic designation effort. He said that even the city’s more upscale neighborhoods have fallen victim to architectural “remuddling” that “renders the original architectural details unrecognizable and bland.”

Rose Park was subdivided in 1905, and its trademark bungalows first started showing up five years later. A few Spanish colonial revival homes were built when the bungalow construction era ended in 1922, but the area managed to maintain a uniform architectural style until modern apartment buildings were first constructed there in the 1960s.

Some Rose Park homeowners protested being included in the district. They raised a host of objections from government meddling to unfair imposition of costly repairs.

But exemptions would defeat the purpose of the entire district, city preservation officer Ruthann Lehrer said. Labeling such criticism “anti-regulatory,” she has tried to reassure skeptical property owners that the designation is in their best interest, allowing for only the most constructive projects.