Open House Report, Los Angeles: Three 1920s Spanish Houses Worth A Look
Author:Philip FerratoWhether you call them Spanish, Mediterranean, or Andalucian, these stucco houses were all the rage in 1920s Los Angeles, in a style filtering through economic levels from grand mansions to apartment houses. Here are three single-family houses open this Sunday, April 22— a stucco cottage in Silver Lake’s Olivewood neighborhood, and in Los Feliz, a mint-condition and renovated house by Paul Williams, plus a somewhat nutty extravaganza by A.F. Leicht.
3228 Chislehurst Drive, Los Feliz, $3.25M (pictured above)
We’ll put it this way: if you have time to go to one open house on Sunday, let this be the one. The madcap 5-bed, 4.5-bath house was originally designed by architect A.F. Leicht— who also designed the Angelus Temple for Aimee Semple McPherson’s Foursquare Church— and was responsible for a few dozen Mediterranean houses in and around Los Feliz. We were surprised to learn (from a commenter at Curbed LA) that the current owners added the Gaudi-esque chimney pots along with other Art Nouveau details to the 1924 house. They also probably added the zoned cooling system. According to the listing, the views go all the way to Catalina Island and Long Beach. Open Sunday, April 22 from 1:00PM to 5:00PM
5112 Ambrose Avenue, Los Feliz, $3.1M
A sober, gracious 1927 house by the Los Angeles architecture icon Paul Williams, the 5-bed, 3.5-bath house is on a cul-de-sac and comes with views of the Observatory and the Hollywood sign. It’s a big house on a small lot, with a pool and spa shoe-horned along one side, stepping down the slope and crafted from brick and Spanish tile. The kitchen and pantry are intact and sensitively remodeled, but for some buyers they may be too separate from the public spaces— which include a foyer so large it could serve as an indoor bocce court. We also like the way the staircase wraps around a fat, low column between two arches, the kind of subtle historical details that made Williams such a good architect— there are more images at the listing’s dedicated site. The house has been on and off the market since 2010. Open Sunday, April 22 from 2:00PM to 5:00PM
1441 North Benton Way, Silver Lake/Olivewood, $768K
Tucked away in its landscaping, this little house gives only a hint of the exuberant decor inside, which includes a vaulted main living space painted tangerine (the agent’s dedicated site is worth a look) and other details like a bit of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling reproduced on the bathroom ceiling. The 2-bed, 1.5-bath house has been on the market 45 days and recently ha a price reduction of $20K. As great as it is, the c.1923 house is priced much higher than the rest of the neighborhood, built up with small Spanish bungalows much like this one.
