Highland Park Living

Highland Park Living. . , The "Highlands" of Los Angeles , Before it was Highland Park, the land between the rolling San Rafael and Repetto Hills was grassland, home to more sheep than people. Through the middle of it, there wound a seasonal river lined with a woodland of white alders, black walnuts, and stately sycamores. The names of the Hunter Highland View and Highland Park Tracts were meant to evoke the famed mountain wilderness of Scotland, despite their being sandwiched between what were then two highly populated centers: Los Angeles and Pasadena. , Selling the Suburbs , The possibilities of what Highland Park could become were as important to convey to potential buyers as what existed in late-1800s reality. Toward that end, forward-thinking developers advertised it as a land with "all the conveniences of country and city life" that would be "most desirable for suburban homes." Before there were paved roads, a reliable source of fresh water, or extensive mass transit in Highland Park, a few homes had already been built. One of the oldest homes of this era is the hilltop El Mio, also known as the Smith Estate. This Queen Anne-style mansion was completed in 1890 for Judge David Patterson Hatch, who gained notoriety by presiding over the Perkins-Baldwin case - a breach of marriage promise case against Los Angeles land baron, Lucky Baldwin. The home was later owned by railroad man, Charles Smith, and remained in the Smith family until the early 1960s. , The Arts and Crafts Revolution , In 1895, when Highland Park became the first community to be annexed by the City of Los Angeles, there were only about 100 people living there and roughly 500 in Garvanza. Amongst them were doctors, judges, professors, and other professionals. The era saw the construction of ornate Victorians, austere American Foursquares, and the ever popular Craftsman. The Arts and Crafts movement sought a return to the pre-industrial age and was suited to the Arroyo Seco, whose plentiful rounded river rocks were used to build walls and columns for many homes. In the case of Charles Lummis' El Alisal and the Beach-Johnson House, they were used as the primary building material. Clyde Browne's Abbey San Encino went one step further and was built completely out of salvaged materials. , Change and Preservation , The 1910s and 20s saw an upsurge in various revival styles, among them Dutch, Greek, Spanish Colonial, Mission, Moorish, Tudor, and others. These styles remained popular for both bungalows and their higher-density relatives, bungalow court apartments - a style pioneered in Pasadena. Subsequent decades brought more density and new styles such as Streamline Moderne. The early 1960s development of Arroyo View Estates is comprised entirely of mid-century ranch homes. , As older homes became increasingly threatened with demolition, local preservationists helped establish the Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments program in 1962. Nearby Heritage Square, a living museum populated with rescued homes, was established in 1969. Its centerpiece, the Hale House, was moved there from Highland Park. In 1994, Los Angeles’ largest Historic Preservation Overlay Zone was created in Highland Park to preserve its architectural treasures and early 20th century character. More currently, an adapted version of the Craftsman aesthetic has become the style of neighborhood grocery stores, fast food joints, and transit-oriented developments.