Preservationists want this 1929, seven-bedroom, seven-bathroom home on Camarosa declared historic by the L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission.
House Designed by Noted Architects in 1929
Local residents (organized as Bed of Roses Preservationists) are trying to save the 1929 Mediterranean/Monterrey revival-style residence at 14924 Camarosa Dr. from demolition.
A public hearing seeking to declare the property a Historic-Cultural Monument will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 7 at L.A. City Hall, room #1010, 200 N. Spring St.
If the 6,519-sq.-ft house, situated on two flat lots in the Huntington Palisades, does not receive historic designation, the current owner will most likely receive a permit from the City of Los Angeles to build a new residence.
The house was constructed in 1929 by Abram Mauzy Parry and Agnes S. Parry when they arrived in Los Angeles from Indiana. The Parry family helped pioneer the automobile industry in the United States.
Aerial photographs from 1927-1931 show that this was one of the the earliest significant structures built in the Huntington Palisades. The house was designed and built by Los Angeles architects George Elmore Gable and C. Stanley Wyant.
This house was featured in the February 1932 Architectural Digest, as was another of their projects, the W.H. Hodgeman residence in Beverly Hills.
Gable and Wyant designed the “Hangar One” monument at LAX, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. Other Gable/Wyant properties declared as Historic Places are the Beverly Hills Women’s Club and the Heegaard Building (Writers and Artists Building).
In the Camarosa application to the City Historic Commission, the applicants write: “It would be neglectful not to save some of these magnificent older homes. This pattern of removing ‘architectural jewels’ such as the Camarosa Residence results in erasing the historic texture of this community; if allowed to continue unabated, we will lose the few remaining examples from this period.”
The applicants believe the basically unaltered original architectural expression of this residence, combined with the spaciousness of the property, including the 90-year-old Deodar Cedar tree, is highly significant and meet the criteria to make this property worth preserving.
There have been only a few alterations on the property, including a kitchen remodel (1992), repairs to the chimney and replacement of a concrete masonry unit wall (1994), a new sump pump, the relocation of a pool and the addition of a pool cabana (1996), a koi pond added (1997) and sill-late anchor bolts added to the existing foundation (2006).
In a recent story by Circling the News about the Minnick house on El Medio, which neighbors tried to have designated as historic (with no success), Ken Bernstein, manager in the City Planning Department for the Office of Historic Resources, said in order to be considered for a Cultural Historic Status, the home/building in consideration must meet one of three criteria:
1) Is identified with important events of national, state, or local history, or exemplifies significant contributions to the broad cultural, economic or social history of the nation state, city or community;
2) Is associated with the lives of historic personages important to national, state, city, or local history; or
3) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction; or represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age.
The applicants believe that 14929 Camarosa meets all three requirements.
Bernstein said that in denying the Minnick request that the property had not been identified in a 2013 Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey historical of Brentwood and Pacific Palisades (visit: preservation.lacity.org/surveyla-findings-and-report).
The Camarosa house is also not listed in that survey, although the Swarthmore business block, which was razed by Caruso, was listed in that document as a possible historic district.
The dining room reflects an interesting ceiling, and floor to ceiling windows. The house, located in the Huntington Palisades neighborhood, sold in April for $11,625,000.
I am sure that all these neighbors, who are trying to preserve this home have torn theirs down and built a mega mansion.
I don’t think it is right to prevent the owner from building what he wants on his property. If the neighbors want to declare this a historical site, it should have been done a long time ago.
As a very small child I lived in 3 Mediterrranean/Monterrey style homes in the Los Angeles/Los Feliz/Toluca Lake area and can remember one particular house vividly; each room, the colored tile bathrooms, the motifs on the ceiling in my bedroom, the big picture window/living room showing the fire roads on the huge mountain behind Warner Bros Studio, the green and orange tiled kitchen, even the basement with the gravity heater. Marvels of architecture and detail all three. Most likely never to return, certainly historically. For the sake of our community history I sincerely hope this Camarosa house can be preserved! Been there, seen that!!
I toured that home when it was for sale. It would be TRAGIC if it was torn down to build new construction. The rooms were stately, very California beach motiff. The house was very livable and had updated kitchen, electrical etc. Leave this one be!
I attended the Cultural Heritage Commission meeting on March 7th and can report that the commissioners unanimously voted to consider protecting this property in the Huntington Palisades. As far as I know, the next step is for the commissioners to visit 14924 Camarosa Drive.