Great House Tours and Other Inside Looks at L.A.

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From a small pueblo to one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, groundbreaking architects have transformed how Angelenos live. A few of these great houses remain, but over the years, many have been demolished. Take a peek at some of these historic dwellings in Sam Watters’ book, Houses of Los Angeles. This book is part of a collection from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation that we’re spotlighting this summer.


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The top photo shows a late Victorian period home designed by George W. Morgan in 1887, that was declared an historic monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board in June 1966. It was first located at 4501 North Figueroa (originally Pasadena Avenue), then in 1970, it was moved to Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights. The bottom photo shows the stately home of Doctor and Mrs. Haynes, located at 2324 South Figueroa. It was designed in 1912 in the classic style of a French town house by Robert D. Farquhar, a distinguished architect whose work in Los Angeles includes the William Andrew Clark Memorial Library, the California Club, and Beverly Hills High School, all of which are still standing. However, the Haynes house was demolished in 1952 to make way for the 110 Freeway.

Explore more about the history of L.A. as a place, how it’s organized and governed, and how it became the city it is today in these other books:

The Metropolis: Is Integration Possible? by Edwin A. Cottrell
A Companion to Los Angeles edited by William Deverell and Greg Hise
A Survey of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Los Angeles Area by James G. Holbrook
Los Angeles Preface to a Master Plan edited by George W. Robbins and L. Deming Tilton
Cities Are for People; The Los Angeles Region Plans for Living by Mel Scott
Los Angeles: Structure of a City Government by Raphael J. Sonenshein and Los Angeles League of Women Voters of Los Angeles
The Founding Documents of Los Angeles: A Bilingual Edition edited with an introduction by Doyce B. Nunis, Jr.
The Development of Los Angeles City Government: An Institutional History 1850‐2000 edited by Hynda L. Rudd, Tom Sitton, Lawrence B. de Graaf, Michael E. Engh, Steven P. Erie, Judson A. Grenier, Gloria Ricci Lothrop, and Doyce B. Nunis Jr.

If you want to learn more about local history, check out the LAPL’s photo collection series Shades of L.A., which includes the top photo above that was made accessible through a grant from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. Also, if you want to learn the history of your own house, check out the LAPL’s research resources.

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