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| La Fayette Square, Los Angeles, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, California, licensed, certified, historical homes, oxford square, wellington square, victoria park, windsor square, real estate appraisal |
Los Angeles has many older historical neighborhoods. Some of the less well known are the "Squares" specifically La Fayette Square, Wellington Square, Oxford Square and Windsor Square. Below is some information about some of the Squares and some photos I've taken of some of the homes.
La Fayette Square
LaFayette Square is a historic semi-gated neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Although founded in 1913 by real estate developer George Lafayette Crenshaw, it is named after the French Marquis de Lafayette, who fought alongside Colonists in the American Revolution. Lying west of Crenshaw Boulevard in the Mid-City area, it was designated by the city as a Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in 2000 for its significant residential architecture and history.
Properties in the tract, which was described as "part of the Nadeau Rancho vineyard," between "Washington and Sixteenth streets . . . immediately west of Crenshaw Boulevard" went on sale in 1913
According to the Los Angeles Conservancy, "LaFayette Square was the last and greatest of banker George L. Crenshaw's ten residential developments in the City of Los Angeles." The tract is composed of four north-south streets with an east-west grassy divider. Unsold lots were liquidated in early 1920.
Around 1980, the Lafayette Square Association proposed closing entrances to the neighborhood by blocking the ends of the streets to create cul-de-sacs. Neighbors debated issues of crime, traffic speed and emergency vehicle access. In 1989, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the plans.
In the early 1990s, wrought-iron gates were installed at the ends of Buckingham Road, Virginia Road, Wellington Road and Victoria Avenue. The only way into the neighborhood by car is at St. Charles Place. To pay for the enclosures, the homeowners were assessed $40 per year for 10 years.
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| La Fayette Square, Los Angeles, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, California, licensed, certified, historical homes, oxford square, wellington square, victoria park, windsor square, real estate appraisal |
LaFayette Square is situated about 7 miles (11 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is south of Victoria Park, east of Arlington Heights and north of Wellington Square.
It consists of eight blocks, centered on St. Charles Place, and situated between Venice Boulevard on the north, Washington Boulevard on the south, Crenshaw Boulevard on the east and West Boulevard on the west. There are 236 homes in the neighborhood. The median size is 3,455 sf. Median age built is 1914-1925. Median lot size is 9,243 sf. The larger homes are built on double lots. The older homes are a higher quality than the newer homes.
Crenshaw wanted this development to have a European flair so it was designed as an elegant residential park centered on St. Charles Place—a broad palm tree-lined avenue with a landscaped median. The houses in Lafayette Square reflect residential styles popular during the 1910s and 1920s such as Tudor Revival architecture, Italianate, Mediterranean Revival, Neo-Federalist, American Craftsman, Spanish Colonial Revival, and American Colonial Revival. Several houses, such as architect Paul Williams’ own home, were designed in the Modern style, exemplifying an important trend in Los Angeles’ architectural development.
The neighborhood was designed for wealthy families and now-historic houses regularly have 5,000 to 6,000 square feet (600 m2) floor plans, although the average home size is 3,600 square feet (330 m2). According to a Los Angeles Times real-estate section article on the neighborhood, "Most of the properties have period details: Juliet balconies, mahogany staircases and libraries, sitting rooms, stained glass windows, triple crown molding, soaring ceilings—even four-car garages."
Some photos I've taken of some of the homes.
Wellington Square
Wellington Square is a neighborhood in Mid-City Los Angeles, California at the western edge of the West Adams Historic District. Wellington Square contains four streets: Victoria Avenue, Wellington Road, Virginia Road, and Buckingham Road. These four streets contain 209 homes of various architectural styles including Spanish Colonial, Tudor and French Norman.
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| La Fayette Square, Los Angeles, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, California, licensed, certified, historical homes, oxford square, wellington square, victoria park, windsor square, real estate appraisal |
The neighborhood is bordered by West Boulevard on the west, Crenshaw Boulevard on the east, Washington Boulevard on the north and the Santa Monica Freeway on the south. The neighborhood is gated at West Boulevard and 23rd Street. The neighborhoods of LaFayette Square and Victoria Park are north.
Wellington Square was subdivided in 1912 by George L. Crenshaw. Wellington Square was developed by prominent real estate developer M.J. Nolan. Nolan was a native of Syracuse, New York and settled in LA in 1886. In 1914, Nolan started to develop 90 acres of land between Adams and the new La Fayette Square. He died in 1918, and the W.I. Hollingsworth Co. continued lot sales. The boom years of the 1920s saw the peak of development of the neighborhood. Homes in the neighborhood are an architectural mixture from Craftsman and Revival styles of the 1920s and 1930s.
In 1955, construction of the Santa Monica Freeway was started. The first segment opened in 1961 and the freeway was completed in 1964. It was named by the State Highway Commission on August 14, 1957. Many homes in Wellington Square were demolished by Caltrans to build the freeway.
On October 9, 2013, The Haight-Dandridge Residence, located at 2012 S. Victoria Avenue, was added to the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. The house was designed and built by businessman George Washington Haight in 1908. The two-story residence exhibits character defining features of Craftsman Style and Period Revival architecture. In 1951, the family sold the home to actress Ruby Dandridge, mother of actress Dorothy Dandridge. [5] It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1044.[6]
Oxford Square
Oxford Square is an historic neighborhood [9][10] which, according to the Oxford Square Neighborhood Association, lies between Pico Boulevard and Olympic Boulevard and includes both sides of Victoria Avenue and South Windsor Boulevard.
In 1910 the neighborhood was laid out between Wilshire Boulevard on the north and Pico Street on the south, west of the Los Angeles Country Club. It was served by the Pico Street streetcar line. The unimproved lots offered by developer Emil Firth ranged from 50 to 100 feet on the street and were 171 feet deep. The streets were 70 feet wide, with 15-foot sidewalks and parkways, which were to be planted with palm trees and flowers. Ornamental electroliers were to be placed every 300 feet. Lot prices ranged from $1,000 to $2,500.
Earlier, in 1907. the Harriman interests had begun a four-track subway line across Oxford Square, south of Wilshire Boulevard.
In 1991 the City Council approved a request by Oxford Square - Windsor Village residents to close 10th Street at Victoria Avenue in an effort to reduce crime in the communities after a recent outbreak of burglaries and robberies, as well as one homicide.
In February 2015 the neighborhood association was lobbying to form an Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ). That would have put a temporary moratorium on the issuance of city building and demolition permits. Los Angeles City Council approved the HPOZ, adopting its preservation plan effective March 26, 2017.
Victoria Park
Victoria Park is a small neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. There are three Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments located in Victoria Park.
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| La Fayette Square, Los Angeles, Mary Cummins, real estate appraiser, California, licensed, certified, historical homes, oxford square, wellington square, victoria park, windsor square, real estate appraisal |
Victoria Park is bounded by Pico Boulevard on the north, the rear lot lines of Victoria Avenue on the east, Venice Boulevard on the south and West Boulevard on the west. It is bisected by Victoria Park Drive. It is 2.5 miles (4.02 km) south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles (4.83 km) west of downtown Los Angeles. Century City is five miles (8.05 km) to the west along Pico Boulevard. The West Adams Heritage Association considers Victoria Park to be part of Historic West Adams. Lafayette Square and Wellington Square are just to the south. Windsor Square and Hancock Park are to the north.
The platted but undeveloped tract was owned and offered for sale by a syndicate composed of Josias J. (Jerry) Andrews, David Barry, S.R. Barry, J.A. Bowden, E.P. Clark, H.P. Hoffman, E.G. Howard, M.P. Gilbert, Isaac Kennedy, Charles Lloyd, E.N. Mathis, J.W. Willcox, M.H. Sherman, M.O. Tremaine, B.S. Tyler, F.M. Tyler and W.E. Tyler.
Established "as a "desirable residence tract for desirable people", the subdivision was limited to "high-class homes" that would be built for no less than $4,000. It would be "lighted by handsome stone and wrought-iron electroliers, twelve to fourteen feet high, with five large electric lights on each".
The Victoria Park neighborhood design is based on the ideas of Frederick Law Olmsted, who felt that "circular shapes broke up the linear look of most urban areas". The area was intended to be upscale; for example, the streetlights were custom-designed and registered with the city as the "Victoria Park Fixture."
Many of the homes were built between 1910 and 1915 and serve as fine architectural examples of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.
Mary Cummins of Cummins Real Estate is a certified residential licensed appraiser in Los Angeles, California. Mary Cummins is licensed by the California Bureau of Real Estate appraisers and has over 35 years of experience.
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