Robby O’Donnell and Wilshire Park home win HPOZ awards
Two Wilshire Park entries were among winners of the city’s 2014 Office of Historic Resources Historic Preservation Overlay Zone awards.
Robby O’Donnell, Bronson Ave., the only person among the honorees, won for being instrumental in placing Boulevard Heights on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
“I’m sure she was selected because of her tireless preservation efforts in Wilshire Park,” said Lorna Hennington, president of the Wilshire Park Association; she nominated O’Donnell for the award.
“People say this is a thankless job. It’s not. It’s so gratifying,” said O’Donnell, who credited her community for their support.
The two-block stretch named after the 1905 Boulevard tract has 81 homes, from 658 to 899 S. Bronson between Wilshire and 9th St.
The area, annexed by the city in 1908, includes Craftsman, Mediterranean, Colonial and Tudor Revival style homes.
Landscape, exterior winner
A stately Spanish style home at 673 S. Bronson built in the early 1920s won an HPOZ award for landscaping and exterior rehabilitation.
Margaret and Chris Jacquemin and their two children moved in three years ago, after the final stretch of a remodel. The wood windows and French doors were rebuilt to match the originals, and a second-floor Juliet iron balcony was secured.
Olive and kumquat trees, lavenderia, sage and rosemary were planted in the yard.
The awards were presented at the Los Angeles Historic Neighborhoods Conference held Oct. 18 at Wilshire United Methodist Church.
Other HPOZ winners were mostly in the West Adams area, said Ken Bernstein, manager, office of historic resources city Planning Dept.
They are:
Spaulding Square, 1414 N. Orange Grove Ave., residential rehabilitation;
Jefferson Park, 2401 W. Jefferson Blvd., Jefferson Square, new construction/infill/mixed-use;
Jefferson Park, 2801 Arlington Ave.—Starr Dairy Farmhouse, restoration;
Harvard Heights, Granite Street Monument Restoration, community restoration project;
Harvard Heights, 2018-2034 West Washington Blvd, commercial rehabilitation;
Harvard Heights, 2755 W. 15th Str., Jane Eisner School, sustainability (adaptive re-use), and,
University Park, 2365-2369 Scarff St., extensive rehabilitation of a Mills Act Property.
The event was sponsored by the Los Angeles Conservancy and the city Planning Dept.
Category: Real Estate