Signage completes Boulevard Heights quest for historic status
A two-block stretch on Bronson Ave.—the Boulevard Heights Historic District—was honored with its very own sign. Four signs to be exact.The recent unveiling completes the neighborhood’s journey for historic status.
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. “It is a great honor. Our own Robby O’Donnell worked for several years to bring this to fruition,” said Lorna Hennington, president of the Wilshire Park Association.
MOVERS, SHAKERS. Wilshire Park Assoc. president Lorna Hennington, Councilman Tom LaBonge and Robbie O’Donnell. Photo by David Donley
She initiated the application process while the Architectural Resources Group provided the research. Residents funded the vetting process and the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council provided matching funds. The milestone for the 81-home area—from 658 to 899 S. Bronson—was celebrated with a breakfast reception at the home of O’Donnell and Guy Shaw. Homes started at $3,000
The area is noted for representing the middle class in the early 20th century.
Doctors, lawyers, realtors and auto salesmen with large, extended families moved into the newly built Craftsman, Mediterranean, Colonial and Tudor Revival styles homes.
They had to be two stories and cost at least $3,000 to keep the area upscale. The homes boast front porches and long driveways that lead to garages in the backyard where there was once room for a barn. Site of early L.A. politics In fact, it wasn’t the architecture that piqued historians’ interest and placed this two-block area on the map.
“It has more to do with development throughout Los Angeles and the politics,” said O’Donnell.
REVIVAL-style homes dot the area.
The street was named for Marcus Alonzo Bronson, who with Robert McGarvin developed the area which was annexed by the city in 1908. It was like many tracts laid out by city insiders in light of the Mulholland Dam and the city municipal water services which would allow expansion in the arid landscape.
“That’s what makes it interesting, and more significant than any architecture,” said O’Donnell. Some homes will also have bronze plaques announcing the historic status.
Category: Real Estate
