Orange Grove Avenue-Gardner Street Multi-Family Residential Historic District

The Orange Grove Avenue-Gardner Street Multi-Family Residential Historic District is a predominantly multi-family historic district (with a few single-family residences along the edges) located in the Beverly-Fairfax neighborhood of central Los Angeles. Bounded by Rosewood Avenue to the north and Beverly Boulevard to the south, the district’s properties line both sides of North Orange Grove Avenue, North Ogden Drive, North Genesee Avenue, North Spaulding Avenue, North Stanley Avenue, North Curson Avenue, Sierra Bonita Avenue and North Gardner Street. The topography of the district is generally flat and its streets follow a regular, rectilinear street grid pattern. The two-story, multi-family properties within the district feature modest, uniform setbacks and lawns (some of which are slightly sloped/elevated and are bisected by concrete steps), and feature rear detached garages, driveways with curb cuts and concrete walkways. Historically developed as a single tract, the district has original sidewalks and a few extant mature street trees (maples are predominant on Orange Grove Avenue and jacarandas line Genesee Street; magnolia and ficus trees are scattered throughout the district). There are a total of 380 parcels in the district, 332 of which are contributing and 48 of which are non-contributing. 

The dominant period of development for the district is 1925 to 1949, and most houses are constructed in various Period Revival styles, including Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Mediterranean Revival and French Revival; Monterey Revival, Minimal Traditional and Late Chateauesque styles are also represented in the district. Typical architectural features, depending on the style, include stucco cladding, arched window and door openings and exterior staircases. 

Significance: 

The Orange Grove Avenue-Gardner Street Multi-Family Residential Historic District is an excellent example of a 1920s to 1940s Period Revival neighborhood with multi-family residences in various Period Revival styles; it is also significant as an early Jewish enclave, representing the earliest movement of the Jewish community westward from areas like Boyle Heights in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Residences within the district retain their original plans, massing, scale and character- defining features, predominantly of the Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Tudor Revival, French Revival and Minimal Traditional styles. The district’s period of significance for its excellent concentration of Period Revival-style residences and multi-family property types is 1925 to 1949, which captures its major period of development and the time during which most of its buildings were constructed. Its period of significance for its association with the Jewish community begins in 1925, when the first residences were constructed in the district; it remains a vibrant Jewish enclave. Of the district’s 380 residences, 87% contribute to its significance. 

The area was originally subdivided in 1923 by owner and developer G. Allan Hancock. Hancock was a major oil and later real estate developer of land his father, Henry Hancock, had acquired in 1863, known as Rancho La Brea. In 1910, after his father and mother had passed, Mr. Hancock began developing his family’s land for residential purposes. Considering the number of owner-built residences and notable local architects, such as Max Maltzman and C.J. Smale, who designed houses in the district, Mr. Hancock likely carried out the initial development of the subdivision and sold off lots to individual owners. No evidence was found regarding marketing of the subdivision. 

The 1930 U.S. Census enumerated a substantial number of Jewish residents in this district, listing individuals of Russian, German, Austrian, Hungarian and Polish descent, some of whom listed Yiddish or Hebrew as their primary language. The district was home to a diverse Jewish population including recent immigrants, individuals who had moved here from the East Coast, and longer-term Los Angeles residents who moved to Wilshire from other parts of the city (illustrated by a number of established Jewish restaurants and religious institutions that relocated in Wilshire in the 1930s and post-World War II). This Jewish enclave predates many of the others in the Wilshire area; larger numbers of the Jewish community moved to this area of Los Angeles from older communities like Boyle Heights or neighborhoods in South Los Angeles after World War II. This neighborhood may not have seen exclusion of Jewish homeowners and renters based on restrictive housing covenants or realtor discrimination as seen in some other parts of Los Angeles. Permit and census research indicates that a substantial number of properties in this enclave were built and owned by Jewish individuals, both living on site and renting to tenants. There is still a substantial Jewish community in this area of Wilshire, and the district is still a popular residential neighborhood for Jewish families, including members of the Orthodox community who were part of a major movement to the area in the 1980s.