Tag Archive for: landmarks

Taix French Restaurant

Taix restaurant declared a historic landmark — but we are not celebrating

/in , , , , , , , ,

Taix French RestaurantThe good news is that the L.A. City Council has declared French Taix Restaurant a city historic landmark. The bad news is that the nomination was modified by Councilman Mitch O’Farrell so that only a few elements of the building would be protected by demolition.

As a result, the developer who purchased the property and now move ahead with plans to tear it down to build a large, six-story residential complex.

The battle over Taix was triggered three years ago when owner Mike Taix announced he had sold the restaurant property to Holland Partner Group, which unveiled plans to build a complex of six-story buildings on the site. The project would include a smaller version of Taix, which moved to Echo Park in the early 1960s after being founded Downtown in 1927.

After the Silver Lake Heritage Trust nominated Taix as a city historic landmark, Mike Taix and Holland Partner argued that only the business — not the building nor its architecture — was important from a historic and cultural standpoint. That would make it easier to bulldoze the structure despite its landmark status.

Councilman O’Farrell sided with Taix and the developer on this issue.  As a result, the only artifacts that would be preserved from the old Taix building are the red-and-white Taix billboard sign on the rooftop; a vertical red-and-white “Cocktails” sign along Sunset Boulevard, and the restaurant’s original cherry wood bar top.

Approval of the modified historic nomination was a crucial win for developer Holland Partner, which paid more than $12 million for the property and has spent $170,000 on lobbying city officials on the project. With the City Council’s vote, can continue to pursue plans to replace the restaurant building with 170 units of housing and 13,000 square feet of retail commercial space – including a prominent place for a smaller version of Taix.

“It’s been our goal from the beginning to develop this site in a manner that respects the neighborhood and the history of the site,“ said Holland Partner executive Tom Warren.

But Holland Partner still needs additional city approvals and will face more public hearings, culminating with the Planning Commission, Warren said. Holland has modified its preliminary design after meeting with some unfriendly reactions from community stakeholders, but has kept the size roughly the same. A timeline is hard to determine, Warren said, though the plan could come before the commission in late summer.

The Echo Park Historical Society and other preservation groups will  remain active as the development process moves along.

“We still think there is an opportunity to consider alternatives,”  said Adrian Scott Fine with the L.A. Conservancy, “like more discussions to allow meaningful preservation for the restaurant as well as proposed housing.”

The latest design concept for the Taix development, presented in September 2020. Courtesy Holland Partners

Atwater Bungalows declared an L.A. City historic landmark

/in , , , , , , , ,

We are happy to announce that the Los Angeles City Council has approved our application to declare the Atwater Bungalows  a historic cultural monument.

The Atwater Bungalows in the 1400 block of W. Avon Park Terrace – right next to Elysian Park – share a large lot with about 10 residences, built variously between 1908 and 1939. But the highlight of the property are the structures designed by architect Robert Stacy-Judd, and built between 1930 and 1931.

“Each demonstrates significant attention to the characteristics of the Pueblo Revival style popular in Los Angeles from 1905 to 1940,” according to John Wingler, who researched and prepared our nomination.

The Pueblo Revival style features include exposed, protruding beams, protruding rain spouts, adobe-like stucco with rounded corners, and rough, heavy wooden lintels over deeply inset door and window frames.

In an earlier presentation, Winglet highlighted the style of the Stacy-Judd buildings by showing pictures of them alongside photos of actual pueblo settlements, showing the similarities of style and structure.

The Atwater Bungalows are named after Dr. H. Gale Atwater, a dentist who started buying the multiple properties on that lot in 1922, and who commissioned Stacy-Judd for the two Pueblo-Revival style bungalows.

Commission members voted unanimously in favor of the nomination and expressed interest in the historic nature of the other properties on the site.

Echo Park hillside bungalow court declared historic landmark

/in


The Lento Brick Court on Sunset Boulevard has been declared a historic-cultural monument by the City of Los Angeles . The 1928 complex built by an Italian immigrant and hat maker was nominated by the Echo Park Historical Society as a “rare example of a mixed use complex of commercial store fronts and a residential hillside bungalow court.” The Lento Brick Court, located in the 1200 block of Sunset Boulevard, is one of several hillside bungalow courts found on both sides of Sunset Boulevard between Elysian Park Avenue and Marion Street. This type of courtyard housing was popular among builders and residents during the early part of the 20th Century. In Echo Park, the builders of these bungalows courts adapted their developments to the hilly terrain, creating terraces of tiny homes that climbed the steep hills.

Historian Charlie Fisher researched the property and filed the landmark nomination on behalf of the EPHS. Click here to read the landmark application with more details about the Lento Brick Court.