Efforts to preserve a century-old home designed by one of the architects responsible for Los Angeles City Hall failed to get a city panel’s backing Thursday, with the fate of the building now resting on the Los Angeles City Council.
The Bartlett Residence, at 1829 N. Kenmore Ave. in Los Feliz, is slated for demolition. Developer Elan Mordoch plans to convert the property into a six- unit townhouse.
The home was designed by architect A.C. Martin, noted for designing the City Hall building with architects John Parkinson and John Austin, and served as the residence for Oswald Bartlett, a Hamburger Department Store executive.
Martin also designed the Million Dollar Theater, the St. Vincent de Paul Church and the Wilshire May Company building, which have all been designated city landmarks.
An application to declare the Bartlett Home a historic-cultural monument was submitted Aug. 7 and the council also supported a motion by Councilman Tom LaBonge to start the process for declaring the home a landmark.
Commissioners acknowledged Martin’s achievements as an architect, but said the 1914 Colonial Revival-style building was not a significant nor representative work of his.
Commission members today echoed statements by the developer’s consultants who described the home as a “minor work” that was built for a client who was not especially notable in Los Angeles’s history.
Commissioner Barry Milofsky said the house seemed like something Martin built “on the side” that was not “indicative of the path of the architect’s career,” and he did not see it is a “significant piece.”
Charles Fisher, a historian representing the applicant seeking to preserve the home, said the 1914 house is a “rare” example of residential design representing a “very correct Colonial Revival” style. The home also allowed the architect to “coalesce ideas” for other work he did, Fisher said.
He said the building has a colonnade, which is an “unusual feature” for houses, and an eyebrow-shaped roof that indicates some influence from the Arts and Crafts style.
The Los Angeles City Council will now consider whether to agree with or override the commission’s recommendation to deny the historical designation request.
— City News Service