Wattles Mansion
Wattles Mansion | |
---|---|
Mission Revival Style | |
Address | 1824 N Curson Avenue |
Town or city | Los Angeles |
Country | United States |
Coordinates | 34°6′15.5″N 118°21′16.8″W / 34.104306°N 118.354667°W |
Completed | 1907 |
Client | Gurdon Wattles |
Owner | Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Elmer Grey, Myron Hunt |
Designated | May 25, 1993 |
Reference no. | 579 |
The Wattles Estate, originally known as Jualita, is a historic house and park in the
The estate has been recognized as "the only remaining intact example of the once plentiful Hollywood estates from the period preceding the film industry, when Hollywood was primarily agricultural and was a wintering home for wealthy Easterners and Midwesterners."[1] According to the City of Los Angeles, "'Jualita' is one of the few remaining landscapes reminiscent of another era and tradition, possessing a genuine integrity of setting, design, workmanship, and association."[2]
History
Noted local architects
Prior to permanent residence in Los Angeles, Wattles headed the streetcar company in Omaha. His strike-breaking efforts contributed to four days of violence in the city in 1909. The attempt to unionize failed and many of the strikers had to seek work elsewhere, but the incident damaged Wattles' social standing and worsened relations between the city's rich and the general citizenry. A jury's refusal in 1906 to convict career criminal Pat Crowe for the kidnapping of Omaha packing house scion Edward Cudahy was widely seen as an expression of contempt for the city's ruling elite. Several millionaires fled the city, including the Cudahy family. With his civic reputation damaged, Wattles himself began to spend more time in Los Angeles after the strike and permanently relocated in 1920.[5]
After Wattles' death in 1932, his wife, Julia Vance Wattles, and his son continued to live on the property. Gurdon Wallace Wattles Jr. negotiated the sale of the residence to the City of Los Angeles in 1965.[3] In March of that year, the City of Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commission adopted Resolution 5135, designating the Wattles estate as an acquisition area, and purchased the property for $1,917,000 in June 1968.[6]
In 1993, the Wattles Mansion was designated as City of Los Angeles Cultural Monument No. 579. In 2000, the J. Paul Getty Trust donated $75,000 toward a Preserve L.A. planning project designed to further the site's preservation.[7]
Wattles Mansion
The home is two stories with a full basement. The first-floor rooms include a paneled library, a formal dining room, a large living room with a picture window to the south gardens, two large bathrooms off the entrance hall, a servant's dining hall, and a kitchen and pantry. Five bedrooms and three baths are on the second floor.
Some of the original features in the Wattles Mansion include a black-and-white-checkerboard
Wattles Farm
Once the
Wattles Park
Some of the gardens surrounding Wattles Mansion have been designated as Wattles Park. Gurdon Wattles met the original head gardener during his world travels in 1910, and retained him for the next 20 years until his death in 1930. Gurdon's concept for the gardens was influenced by trips to Mexico and Japan; he bought a tea house, shrines and lanterns from Japan for use in the gardens. Four gardens were eventually developed, with the first corresponding to the architecture of the house, the second Italian, the third American, and the fourth Japanese.
Today, Wattles Park occupies approximately 50 acres (200,000 m2) of a long narrow corridor of space that rises 950 feet (290 m) from
In the 1970s and 1980s, the park was popular among L.A.'s
Wattles Park has become popular with dog walkers.
Eviction notice
Hollywood Heritage was served an eviction notice in 2008 by the City of Los Angeles for failure to maintain the landmark and for throwing loud parties. Hollywood Heritage denied the allegations but ultimately agreed to vacate the mansion in May 2009.[10]
Cultural references
Author
See also
- History of Hollywood, California
- Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Hollywood
References
- ^ "Wattles Estate", California Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 2/12/08.
- ^ a b "Wattles Mansion", City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved 2/9/08.
- ^ a b c Talbot, Victoria (March 31, 2017). "Wattles Mansion 2017 Designer Showcase is "Hollywood History"" (PDF). The Beverly Hills Courier. Vol. LI, no. 13. p. 8. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
- ^ a b "Wattles Mansion", Herecomestheguide.com. Retrieved 2/6/08.
- ^ Max Sparber, "Street Riots of 1909," Douglas County Historical Society, The Connection Newsletter, Issue 1, 2019.
- ^ "Jualita: a fond memory for a JLS graduate", The US Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School Archival Project. Retrieved 2/7/08.
- ^ "Getty Announces $1.4 Million in Grants for Architectural Preservation of Historic Buildings and Sites in Los Angeles County", BusinessWire. July 27, 2000. Retrieved 2/7/08.
- ^ LaTempa, S. (2004) "A plot-driven garden story: Wattles Farm brings out the cook – and picnicker – in its gardener-members," Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine Los Angeles Times. June 23, 2004. Retrieved 2/9/08.
- ^ Ruddick, S.M. (2001) Young and Homeless in Hollywood: Mapping Social Identities. Routledge. p. 113.
- ^ L.A. Parks General Manager Report April 15, 2009. Archived November 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Kaitlin's School," Scenes from The O.C. Retrieved 2/6/08.
- ^ Lindquist, R.B. (2006) Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 245.