History is rejuvenated in vintage San Pedro neighborhood
APART of San Pedro deeply rooted in the past is enjoying new life thanks to its historic-district designation in 2001 by the city of Los Angeles. Vinegar Hill, once the enclave of San Pedro’s elite and the site of some of its oldest homes, is the smallest of the 22 areas throughout Los Angeles known as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones.
Beginnings
Vinegar Hill dates to the early 1880s as a suburb of San Pedro that was soon incorporated into the seaport town.
Early immigrant residents of Vinegar Hill -- first Scandinavians, then Italians, Croats and Yugoslavs -- made their own wine at home, dumping the dregs and grape skins into a nearby gulch. The sour smell is believed to have given Vinegar Hill its name.
Around the turn of the century, the cream of San Pedro society -- families of bankers, real estate agents, lawyers and civic leaders -- set up house on the hill.
The 200 block of 9th Street became known as “Saloon-Keepers Row,” because many prosperous owners of saloons built their homes there.
On the horizon
Although the Vinegar Hill district originally covered a larger area, the current historic preservation zone extends only one long block, bounded on the west by Centre Street and on the east by Palos Verdes Street, and includes the south side of 9th Street and both sides of 10th Street.
But after a city-sponsored survey of the area, the Vinegar Hill preservation zone is about to expand. The enlarged zone will soon reach from 8th to 12th streets and from Palos Verdes Street to Pacific Avenue, encompassing many historic structures.
Life in an HPOZ
To maintain the historic character of the neighborhood, owners of historic properties must adhere to strict standards when renovating a building’s exterior.
The local HPOZ board chairman is resident John Mattson, a computer programmer who spends much of his vacation time restoring his home.
Mattson and his wife, Kara McCleod, bought their 10th Street home in 2002 for $206,000. It’s a 1903 Queen Anne-style Victorian cottage, with later Craftsman features dating from 1917. Few changes had been made to the home since then. “It was still on the first set of wiring when we moved in,” McCleod said.
After having begun interior restoration and adding a new foundation and roof, Mattson, who does much of his own carpentry, is currently restoring the redwood exterior and applying a period color scheme of red, white and blue paint. He commissioned period-style doors of hand-carved wood and etched glass from Coppa Woodworking, a local shop.
What it’s about
Vinegar Hill is a friendly, multiethnic neighborhood.
Some homes have remained in the same families for generations, having changed hands only once or twice in more than a century.
One vintage building is now a neighborhood grocery. Several others have become rental properties or community-living facilities offering refuge from substance or spousal abuse.
Housing stock
Lovers of traditional neighborhoods and classic domestic architecture will feel at home on Vinegar Hill, with its many vintage homes built in Queen Anne, Craftsman, American Foursquare and other styles.
Many of the original homes display such classic features as gables with fish-scale or chicken-feather shingles, decorative pillars of various sizes and styles on high porches and corner turrets.
Other homes have spacious attics as well as generous crawl spaces and basements.
Little turnover
Few homes have sold in the Vinegar Hill area recently and none in the last year, said longtime real estate agent John Greenwood of ERA Golden West Realty.
Report card
Local schools include 15th Street Elementary, Richard Henry Dana Middle School and Port of Los Angeles High School, which scored 735, 653 and 721, respectively, out of a possible 1,000 on the 2007 Growth Academic Performance Index.
Sources: Los Angeles Department of City Planning’s Office of Historic Resources, San Pedro Bay Historical Society, cde.ca.gov.
