Los Angeles Department of City Planning RECOMMENDATION REPORT

PROJECT: Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the JOHNSON RESIDENCE (“CASA ADOBE”)

REQUEST: Declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument

APPLICANT: Santa Monica Conservancy PO Box 653 Santa Monica, CA 90406

OWNER: David Leyrer 201 South Rockingham Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90049 David Leyrer T. Co. Tr. 9465 Wilshire Blvd, Ste 318 Beverly Hills, CA 90212

RECOMMENDATION That the Cultural Heritage Commission:

1. Take the property under consideration as a Historic-Cultural Monument per Los Angeles Administrative Code Chapter 9, Division 22, Article 1, Section 22.171.10 because the application and accompanying photo documentation suggest the submittal may warrant further investigation.

2. Adopt the report findings.

S. GAIL GOLDBERG, AICP Director of Planning [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] Ken Bernstein, AICP, Manager Lambert M. Giessinger, Preservation Architect Office of Historic Resources Office of Historic Resources Prepared by: [SIGNED ORIGINAL IN FILE] ________________________ Edgar Garcia, Preservation Planner Office of Historic Resources Attachments: May, 2010 Historic-Cultural Monument Application

CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION

DATE: May 20, 2010 TIME: 10:00 AM PLACE: City Hall, Room 1010 200 N. Spring Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

CASE NO.: CHC-2010-1177-HCM ENV-2010-1178-CE Location: 201 S. Rockingham Ave. Council District: 11 Community Plan Area: Brentwood-Pacific Palisades Area Planning Commission: West Los Angeles Neighborhood Council: None Legal Description: Lot 12, Block 31, of Brentwood Park

Casa Adobe CHC-2010-1177-HCM Page 2 of 3 SUMMARY Constructed in 1920 and located in the Brentwood Park area, this two-story residential building exhibits character-defining features of Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture. The subject building is U-shaped in plan with multi-level side-gabled roofs covered in red Mission tile. The primary façade is asymmetrically composed with two bays and an off-center entrance. The western bay of the main elevation rises slightly higher and is setback from the rest of the façade. This two-story section encompasses an arched main entrance, three windows, and a full length balcony with wooden posts and railing. A solid rectangular wall rising mid-level adjacent to this bay encloses an outdoor staircase. The longer eastern bay of the primary façade exhibits a largely solid, undecorated wall punctuated only by two windows and bisected by a chimney at the roof level. The exteriors of the subject building are sheathed in smooth stucco. Windows are wood casement windows with multiple panes. A major character-defining feature is the hand-made adobe brick walls. Significant interior features include vaulted ceilings, exposed beams, stucco fireplaces, and original fixtures and cabinetry. The walls of a second-floor room contain a decorative painted fresco. Landscape features include a courtyard fountain, pavers, low adobe garden wall, and dense and mature trees and bushes. An attached two-door garage is located adjacent to the subject building. The subject building was constructed for Harry Roland Johnson (1881-1982), a petroleum geologist, and his wife Olivia Rolfe Johnson. In 1919, they contracted with Johnson’s cousin, architect John W. Byers (1875-1966), to design and build their home. A noted Spanish Colonial Revival architect of the 1920s, Byers was largely a self-taught architect and unlicensed at the time of the subject building’s construction. Byers hired local Mexican craftsmen to produce adobe bricks for the construction of the Johnson’s residence. Byers was a major proponent of Spanish Colonial Revival residential designs and use of adobe, writing many articles espousing these architectural designs for publications such as the California Arts & Architecture as well as the Los Angeles Times. After construction of the subject building, Byers designed and built the Bradbury House (Historic-Cultural Monument #594; 1923). David Gehbard and Robert Winter in their seminal guide to Los Angeles architecture identify 22 notable residential buildings by Byers. The decorative painted fresco in the interior of the subject building was painted by Danish artist Knud Merrild (1894-1954). In the late 1920s, landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout (1889-1974) contributed to the landscape design of the subject property’s grounds. Alterations to the subject property include the addition of a carport, kitchen remodel, expansion of garage, and enclosing of a patio area with doors. The subject property may be significant as an example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style and for its association with a notable architect. The subject building appears to be one of Byer’s earliest works.

CRITERIA The criterion is the Cultural Heritage Ordinance which defines a historical or cultural monument as any site (including significant trees or other plant life located thereon) building or structure of particular historic or cultural significance to the City of Los Angeles, such as historic structures or sites in which the broad cultural, economic, or social history of the nation, State or community is reflected or exemplified, or which are identified with historic personages or with important events in the main currents of national, State or local history or which embody the distinguishing

Casa Adobe CHC-2010-1177-HCM Page 3 of 3 characteristics of an architectural type specimen, inherently valuable for a study of a period style or method of construction, or a notable work of a master builder, designer or architect whose individual genius influenced his age. FINDINGS Based on the facts set forth in the summary and application, the Commission determines that the application is complete and that the property may be significant enough to warrant further investigation as a potential Historic-Cultural Monument.