316 Adelaide Drive Landmark Assessment

94 Pages·2011·8.82 MB·English

316 Adelaide Drive
Santa Monica, California
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
Evaluation Report
Parcel Map
Sanborn Maps
Photographs

Prepared for:
City of Santa Monica
Planning Division

Prepared by:
PCR Services Corporation
Santa Monica, California

June 1, 2011
316 Adelaide Drive
Santa Monica, California
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING
The subject property located at 316 Adelaide Drive was constructed circa 1919 in the
Spanish Colonial Revival architectural style. The single-family residence is situated on the
Adelaide Drive, between 7th Street to the east, Ocean Avenue to the west, Adelaide Drive to
the north, and Ocean Avenue to the south. The Pacific Ocean is approximately one-quarter
mile to the west. The two-story house is located in the Palisades Tract, Block M, Lots 8 and 9
and covers an area of approximately 100 feet by 237 feet. The subject residence has a U-
shaped footprint and occupies lots 9 and one half of lot 8. There is a pool, guest house, and
garage situated on the southeast portion of the lots.
REGULATORY SETTING
The subject property has been identified and assessed under the City of Santa Monica’s
ongoing survey process. The property was first surveyed in March 1983 as a property that
appears eligible for individual listing in the National Register of Historic Places.1 At that
time, it was given a National Register of Historic Places (National Register) status code
rating of 3 (later changed to 3S in the Historic Resources Inventory Update – Earthquake
Assessment, 1995). The Earthquake Assessment report noted “repairs have been made and
the building has been repainted. Some of the barrel clay tile roof has been carefully replaced.
Terra cotta detailing on the upper floor balcony wall has been repaired or replicated to match
the original appearance.”2 The City’s Historic Resources Inventory also identified the
property as a contributor to a potential City of Santa Monica historic district called the
“Adelaide Drive/Adelaide Place Grouping.”3 In 2002, the “Historic Resources Inventory
Update: North of Montana Survey Area” validated the findings of the previous surveys and
was assigned a 3S/5D status code. The Santa Monica Citywide Historic resources Inventory
Update Final Report assigned the property a 3S status code, “appears eligible for the National
Register as an individual property through survey evaluation” and a 5B status code, “locally
significant both individually (listed, eligible, or appears eligible) and as a contributor to a
district that is locally listed, designated, determined eligible or appears eligible through
survey evaluation.”
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION AND INTEGRITY
The subject property is an altered example of what was originally a one-story U-shaped
"Churrigueresque -style" Spanish Colonial Revival residence constructed with brick walls

1 Evelyn Hitchcock and L. Heumann, 316 Adelaide Drive, State of California Historic Resources Inventory,
March 1983.
2 Historic Resources Inventory Update – Earthquake Assessment, 1995, p. 25.
3 Johnson Heumann, Adelaide Drive and Adelaide Place Grouping, State of California Historic Resources
Inventory 1983, revised 1986.
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 2
finished in stucco. The existing residence maintains the U-shape, however, the southwest
wing was demolished and a new two-story wing was constructed. The primary street fronting
section of the residence retains much of its integrity, both on the exterior and interior. The
wall surfaces of the subject property are stucco with a light pink paint finish. Originally, the
stucco surface was integrally colored with no paint surface. Each window on the primary
façade has three casement windows divided by decorative wood mullions. On the interior,
pocket screens pull down over the window openings. Decorative cast-iron awnings
(alteration) above each window are surface-mounted to the stucco walls. The entranceway is
topped by a large ornate cast stone Churrigueresque door surround slightly raised from the
stucco exterior walls. The decorative theme of the surround includes egg-and-dart, floral
patterns, and faux-scored cast stone. The recessed door is made of wood with a large glazed
panel covered by painted cast-iron decorative square bars. The door sits over a low step and
is topped with a fanlight. The side-gabled roof is topped with red-clay barrel tiles. The
interior formal rooms and entrance foyer retain their integrity intact. However, the rear
elevation is altered where original openings and a bay window were removed and new
double doors and bay window were added.
The northeast wing retains its original footprint and flat roof, and most of its original
windows on the northeast façade; however, much of the interior and some of the openings
have been altered. Windows on the northeast façade are recessed and topped with a thick
wood lintel. Decorative cast bar security grills are surface mounted over each window
opening. A recessed secondary entranceway sits above two low brick stairs and is topped
with a decorative cast iron bar awning. The door is wood with recessed panels and a large
glazed panel. The windows towards the rear of the northeast wing visually are modeled on
the front façade windows which are divided by a decorative turned wood mullion. These
windows appear non-original although the openings might have been part of the original
design. Also, the doorway at the rear (south end) of the northeast wing appears non-original.
As mentioned above, the entire southwest wing was demolished. Furthermore, the garage
was altered and historically incompatible additions were added to garage. The courtyard was
completely bricked over and all historic fabric including the fountain and landscape were
removed.
The front lawn and original steps from the sidewalk onto the front lawn are intact and
contributing, although the front walk has been altered; historic photos show a straight front
walk where today the walk is curved. Historic photos show the existing driveway, garden
wall and double-door gate for the driveway which are intact, although an additional gate
opening has been added to allow for pedestrian access. The rectangular fish pond located just
north of the garage in the rear garden existed prior to the 1980 alterations.4 Physical
examination of the fish pond and surrounding mature plantings determined the pond is
substantial in age. Likewise, the pair of palms at the south edge of the brick patio are quite
tall with thick trunks and appear substantial in age. The remaining landscaping on the
property appears to have been planted within the last 30 years and is non-contributing.

4 Permit 53922, 12-30-80
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 3
The exterior of the primary façade as well as the lot’s street frontage (front lawn and steps,
garden wall, driveway and gate) provides the residence’s public identity and has high
integrity. The primary facade exhibits no significant alterations, other than the glazed
wrought-iron awnings and the paint coat. The building’s footprint, which is historically
significant, is largely extant and the courtyard as well as the street frontage retains its spatial
integrity. Parts of the northeast wing retain historic fabric, while it appears several of the
openings were altered. Therefore it appears, that the primary street-fronting section, front
public landscape (except for the front side walk), parts of the northeast wing, the footprint,
and the courtyard space retain integrity and are historically significant. The two-story
southwest wing and front garden wall/patio, brick landscaping in the courtyard, landscape
plantings (except for two mature palms), the entire rear garage/guesthouse complex (except
for the old fish pond), and parts of the northeast wing do not contribute to the historic
significance of the property.
BUILDING PERMITS
Date  Permit#  Owner  Architect  Contractor  Cost   Notes 
3/14/1923  1204  E.W. Halliday  C.L. Freeman 1,000
1‐rm, 1‐bath Servants 
room addition to garage 
8/18/1980  Z.A.  Charles Weber 
Case  8' concrete block wall 
#4297‐A  along back property line 
5/20/1980  53028  Charles Weber  Iden Zaima Lang Construction  90,000 2‐story addition to existing 
house (1,300 sq ft) and 
garage addition (600 sq ft) 
9/5/1980  53478  Charles Weber  Iden Zaima Lang Construction  4,800 8' concrete block wall 
along back property line 
12/30/1980  53992  Charles Weber  Harold Cass Westwood Pool Co. 12,000 684 sq ft Swimming pool 
with spa 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Santa Monica. In 1875, the original townsite of Santa Monica was surveyed, including all
the land extending from Colorado Street on the south to Montana on the north, and from 26th
Street on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Between 1893 and the 1920s, the
community operated as a tourist attraction, visited by mostly wealthy patrons. Those areas
just outside of the incorporated city limits were semi-rural in setting and were populated with
scattered residences. After the advent of the automobile in the 1920s, Santa Monica
experienced a significant building boom, with homes being constructed in the tracts north of
Montana and east of Seventh Street for year-round residents.
Palisades Tract. The Palisades Tract neighborhood offers a remarkably intact ensemble of
domestic architecture, primarily dating from the years 1906 to 1930. One of the oldest
residential areas of the City of Santa Monica, the Palisades Tract was originally subdivided
in 1905. The original tract included the area between Ocean Avenue and Seventh Street
along six major east-west streets (Palisades Avenue, Alta Avenue, Marguerita Avenue,
Georgina Avenue, San Vicente Boulevard, and Adelaide Drive). The Palisades Tract was
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 4
extended to the east in 1912, to include portions of Seventh through Fourteenth Streets
including Adelaide Place.5
Shortly after the tract was opened, the area in which it was located, stretching from Montana
to Adelaide, was annexed to the City of Santa Monica. From that date, March 28, 1906,
building records were kept by the city officials, and the first application to build was issued
to the Alta Santa Monica Company for what is now 401 Marguerita. However, this was not
the first building in the area, according to witness Luther Ingersoll in his Century History of
Santa Monica Bay Cities, who assigned the honor of building the “first costly and
architectural” residence in the Palisades to H.N. Hammond.6
Several prominent members of the community, as well as residents of Los Angeles and
Pasadena in search of a seaside summer home, commissioned residences in the Palisades
Tract. During the first fifteen years of development homes were in the Craftsman mode. The
more intense period of construction in the twenties yielded numerous fine period revival-
style homes, most of which were intended for year-round occupation. The work of several
renowned architects is showcased, as well as the efforts of several Santa Monica building
contractors who had a profound impact on the growth of the City.7
Among the architects represented in the area are John Byers (240 and 624 Alta, 300 and 404
Georgina, 547 7th), Robert Farquhar (247 Georgina [att.], 401 Ocean), Marsh and Russell
(216 Georgina), Webber, Staunton and Spaulding (317 Georgina), Frederick Roehrig (325
Georgina), Hunt and Burns (525 Georgina), John and Donald Parkinson (701 Ocean), Greene
and Greene (226 Palisades), and Robert Stacy-Judd (710 Adelaide Place). Several prolific
builders, many of whom produced designs from their own offices and others of whom
worked with architects, were involved in the development of the Palisades Tract.
Adelaide Drive/Adelaide Place. Hugging the rim of Santa Monica, Adelaide Drive is one
of the most spectacular locations in Santa Monica. It forms the northern boundary for the
City and for the Palisades Tract. Although somewhat isolated from the rest of the city by San
Vicente Boulevard, formerly the site of an interurban railroad line, Adelaide today is a quiet
meandering street hidden behind the tall apartments on Ocean Avenue. The street is
intersected twice, at Fourth Street and at Seventh Street, beyond which it is known as
Adelaide Place. A landscaped island runs down the center of Adelaide Place, which is lined
by houses on either side of a cul-de-sac. Adelaide Drive, on the other hand, is built-up on the
south side only, with one exception, while the north side falls steeply into the canyon.8
Since the opening of the Palisades Tract in 1905, and annexation to the City in 1906,
Adelaide has attracted numerous prominent southern Californians who hired some of the best
architects available to create summer and, later, year-round homes for them. The first flurry
of building lasted about five years and was concentrated on the western block of Adelaide.
One of the first houses constructed on Adelaide was the R.C. Gillis House (circa 1906-1909),

5 Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory (1985-1986): Final Report, p. 24.
6 Ibid, p. 24.
7 Ibid, p. 24.
8 Ibid, p. 20.
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 5
406 Adelaide, designed by Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey. Gillis was one of the most
prominent land developers in Santa Monica and the street is named after his daughter
Adelaide.9 Other houses constructed during this period were the second Roy Jones House,
130 Adelaide (1907); Henry Weaver House, 142 Adelaide (1910); Rev. Bishop T. Conaty
House, 144 Adelaide (1907); Isaac Milbank House, 236 Adelaide (1911); and H.M. Gorham
House, 336 Adelaide (1906).
A second spurt of building activity began on Adelaide in 1919, with the construction of a
house for H.M. Gorham’s mother-in-law, Mrs. E. W. Holliday (316 Adelaide Drive).
Gorham was instrumental in the organization of the Bank of Santa Monica and was
associated with three houses along Adelaide. The third house associated with the Gorham’s
was designed by John Byers at 326 Adelaide and is no longer a contributor to the district.
The remainder of Adelaide was built primarily in the 1920s and 1930s in the revival styles
popular at the time. Its architecture and the owners, the builders and the architects
responsible link Adelaide to the development pattern that characterized all the area north of
Montana Avenue during those decades. Homes built or remodeled since 1945 are relatively
few in number and unobtrusive in appearance. With its strong sense of identity, both
physical and historical, Adelaide Drive and Adelaide Place appears to be a potential City of
Santa Monica historic district.10 A summary of the architectural resources along Adelaide
Drive and Adelaide Place is presented in the table below.
ADELAIDE DRIVE AND ADELAIDE PLACE POTENTIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT 11 
Address  Photograph Constructed Notes 
130 Adelaide  1907 Second Roy Jones House, City 
of Santa Monica Landmark 
#34, Designated 08/11/1997, 
Original Owner Roy Jones, 
Builder H.X. Goetz, Architect 
Attributed to Robert 
Farquhar   

142 Adelaide  1910 Henry Weaver House, National 
Register Landmark, City of Santa 
Monica Landmark #20, 
Designated 05/11/1989, 
Original Owner Henry Weaver, 
Architect/Builder Milwaukee 
Building Company   

9 State Historic Resources Inventory Forms, Adelaide Drive and Adelaide Place Historic Grouping; HGA,
Johnson and Heumann, 1983, revised 1986; HRG, Updated 2002.
10 Historic Resources Inventory Update: North of Montana Survey Area (2002).
11 Santa Monica Historical Resources Inventory, Inventoried Sites in Area 1, 1985-1986 Final Report
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
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Address  Photograph Constructed Notes 
144 Adelaide  1907 Original Owner Rev. Bishop T. 
Conaty,  Builder Conner & 
McGann 
208 Adelaide  1941 Original Owner Frank R. Strong, 
Builder Ben Harwood, Architect 
Peter Whitehill 
222 Adelaide  1933 Original Owner C. A. Collins, 
Builder Geo. W. Holstein, 
Architect John R. Kibbey 
236 Adelaide  1911 Isaac Milbank House, City of 
Santa Monica Landmark #30, 
Designated 3/11/2002, Original 
Owner Isaac Millbank, 
Architect/Builder Meyer & 
Holler/ Milwaukee Building Co. 
316 Adelaide  1919 Original Owner Mrs. E.W. 
Halliday, Architect Pierpont and 
Walter Davis 
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 7
Address  Photograph Constructed Notes 
336 Adelaide  1906 Original Owner H.M. Gorham, 
Architect Robert Farquhar 
406 Adelaide  c.1906‐1909 Gillis House, City of Santa 
  Monica Landmark #26, 
Designated 3/8/1993, 
Original Owner R.C. Gillis, 
Architect/Builder Myron 
Hunt and Elmer Grey 

436 Adelaide  1926 Original Owner F.M. Dunig, 
Architect Meyer Radon 
506 Adelaide  1923 Structure of Merit #1, 
Designated 6/20/1994, Original 
Owner Frank L. Clark, 
Architect/Builder John Byers  
518 Adelaide  1925 Original Owner Lucern Corp., 
Architect Ruoff & Munson 
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 8
Address  Photograph Constructed Notes 
526 Adelaide  1926 Original Owner Willard & Anna 
Morse, Builder C. L. Freeman 
540 Adelaide  1941/1948
710 Adelaide  1923 Worrell “Zuni House,” City of 
Santa Monica Landmark #80, 
Designated 3/10/2003, Original 
Owner Worrell, Architect/ 
Builder Robert Stacey‐Judd   
714 Adelaide  1923 Original Owner F.W. Armitage, 
Builder Frank Roden 
718 Adelaide  1923 Original Owner J.R. Teague, 
Builder Dick & Taylor 
316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 9
Address  Photograph Constructed Notes 
722 Adelaide  1926 Original Owner J.R. Teague, 
Builder R. Highet 
725 Adelaide  1926 Original Owner N.S. Gandy, 
Architect Frank Bivens  
726 Adelaide  1927 Original Owner E.W. Clark, 
Architect Van den Hoven 
808 Adelaide  1906/1919
639 Adelaide  1923
(not included in 
potential historic 
district) 

316 Adelaide Drive
City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report
page 10