Stepping Back in Time in California Heights
For Cynthia Stafford, buying a home in the California Heights area of Long Beach meant returning to the neighborhood of her childhood.
“I grew up in this neighborhood and attended local schools,” she said. “They were good schools with excellent magnet programs.”
Stafford, a management analyst at the Los Angeles city clerk’s office, and her husband, Jonathan, a civilian communication police dispatcher, bought their 1,800-square-foot house with three bedrooms and two baths for $189,000 in September.
Situated north of downtown Long Beach, California Heights includes about 1,500 homes and is the largest designated historical district in the city. The neighborhood is bounded by Wardlow Road on the south, Bixby Road on the north, Atlantic Avenue on the west and Cherry Avenue on the east.
The historic feeling of the older neighborhood was a definite draw for the Staffords.
“It’s a neighborhood where you can visualize the past,” Cynthia Stafford said. “The houses from the 1930s and ‘40s are classic, and all are very different.”
California Heights’ proximity to the Metro Rail’s Blue Line to Los Angeles and the 710 and 405 freeways makes the neighborhood attractive to commuters.
Cynthia Stafford takes a van pool to her job at Los Angeles City Hall. The commute takes about half an hour. Jonathan Stafford works in downtown Long Beach.
The house the Staffords purchased has many of the amenities one would expect to find in an older home. The living room has a fireplace and many windows. The floors are hardwood.
“We like the neighborhood because it’s very safe and family-oriented,” Cynthia Stafford said.
California Heights was first developed in the 1920s, when there was a growth spurt in Long Beach triggered by the discovery of oil on nearby Signal Hill. Earlier, most of the housing in Long Beach was closer to downtown.
The neighborhood was part of the grazing lands that once belonged to the Bixby Ranch, which was located on land that formerly was part of Rancho Los Cerritos. The elevation is somewhat higher than that of downtown Long Beach, hence the name.
Spanish Colonial Revival Style Popular
The most popular style of architecture was the Spanish Colonial Revival home built of stucco with red tile roofs. Many of these houses have patios and leaded and stained-glass windows.
Another popular style of architecture, characterized by the more streamlined-style homes of the 1940s, is also now considered historically significant. These houses have corner windows, tripped roofs and small porches and are usually of stucco.
The houses have a similar setback from the streets, which adds to the pleasant ambience. Most of the streets have mature trees and original street lamps.
“California Heights is one of the few neighborhoods left in Long Beach that retains its original charm,” said City Councilman Mike Donelon, who has lived there for 18 years. “It still looks like it did 50 years ago.”
The desires of residents to retain the historical and architectural qualities of their neighborhood led them to petition the city for historical district designation, and in 1990, the petition was granted. Because of the designation, residents of California Heights must have approval from the city before making alterations to the exteriors of their homes.
A typical two-bedroom, one-bath home in the area would sell in the $165,000 range, said Kathi Kowal, an agent with Century 21 Hunter in Bixby Knolls.
A larger home with three bedrooms and one or two baths would cost between $185,000 and $190,000, she said. At the high end, recently, a larger three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home with 2,400 square feet sold for $350,000.
Location and architecture drew Sheri Pavelka and Keith Skotnes to California Heights eight years ago.
Pavelka is a middle school history teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Skotnes works as a representative for the United Auto Workers union. Their two children, Toby, 7, and Sammy, 6, attend local schools.
“This is really a comfortable and inviting neighborhood,” Pavelka said. “Friendly is a cliche, but it’s true here. When you’re outside, people driving by honk and wave.”
In 1989, Skotnes and Pavelka paid $222,000 for their two-bedroom Spanish-style house built in 1923. The house has 1 1/2 baths and a garage built for a Model T. “It’s cute, cute, cute,” Pavelka said.
The safety of the neighborhood is also a draw. “Since we’ve lived here, there has never been a problem with any kind of crime. Kids play outdoors until dark,” Pavelka said.
Pavelka has been active in the California Heights Neighborhood Assn., which publishes a bimonthly newsletter to keep neighbors informed.
Lori Stevens, president of the association, and her husband, John Reynolds, a real estate broker for California Prudential Real Estate, live in a Spanish-style home with their two cats, Rosebud and Katy. They looked at homes in San Pedro and Seal Beach before buying their house in 1993 for $170,000.
“What sold us were the hand-painted tiles of flamingos in the bathroom,” Stevens said.
She also appreciates the stability of the neighborhood.
“In California Heights, people tend to stay in the neighborhood,” she said. “If they need a bigger house, they move within the area.”
Bob and Peggy Kalowes, Cynthia Stafford’s parents, are typical of many residents in California Heights. Their current house is the third they have owned there. The Kaloweses have raised three children in the neighborhood. Peggy Kalowes commutes to Los Angeles, where she is a nursing professor at USC.
“I was a policeman and recently married when we bought our first house here,” Bob Kalowes said. “California Heights seemed like a nice, safe and centrally located place to live.
“We have the kind of neighbors who water each other’s lawns,” Kalowes said.
As a police officer, he used to regularly check on the crime statistics for his neighborhood. Happily, there was little to report, save a few garage and car break-ins. Now a real estate agent with Century 21 Hunter, Kalowes still patrols his Myrtle Avenue neighborhood as block captain.
The Kaloweses have one of the newer homes in California Heights. Their two-story custom-built three-bedroom house was built in 1972, the year they bought it for $34,500.
Like many residents of California Heights, the Kaloweses enjoy annual block parties that help people get better acquainted.
“Our neighborhood has Fourth of July parties. We block off the street and have barbecues, table tennis and volleyball. A lot of other blocks have parties, too,” Kalowes said.
Room for Change Alongside the Old
The friendliness of block parties has also been helpful for Vivian Arterberry, a widow who has lived in California Heights since 1946. She and her late husband, Gene, an administrator for Douglas Aircraft, bought their Spanish-style home for $11,000.
“I’m proud to say we paid it off in eight years,” she said.
Arterberry, like many other residents, would like to see improvement of business on Atlantic Avenue. While many of the small neighborhood-oriented businesses along the street have been there for years, many residents would like to see more upscale restaurants and perhaps a movie theater.
Noise from the private and commercial planes taking off and landing at Long Beach Airport is another neighborhood concern for those directly under the flight paths, although there is a 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. ban on flights.
“It’s not a secret that the airport’s there,” Arterberry said. “It’s not that busy an airport, though.”
Nevertheless, Arterberry enjoys seeing a new generation of residents enjoying her neighborhood.
“When we first moved here, the neighbors were mostly professionals,” she said. “As the older people moved, a whole new bunch of young people came. In my block there are now 22 children under the age of 6.”
Marilyn Tower Oliver is a Los Angeles freelance writer.
