Effort To Save Echo Park Bungalows From Being Torn Down Clears Hurdle

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission recommended Thursday that some pre-World War II bungalows in Echo Park threatened with demolition be considered for historic-cultural monument status.

The 5-0 vote came over the objections of the bungalows' owner, Sam Mark, who argued they did not meet any of the criteria for preservation. Mark bought the bungalows at 1450-1456 Echo Park Ave. recently and filed an application with the city to tear them down and build 12 single-family homes in their place.

After a local resident, Lena Kouyoumdjian, filed the application for the city to consider the bungalows a monument, City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell threw his support behind her efforts.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS. ARE THE BUNGALOWS WORTH PRESERVING?

"We consider this to be a significant example of early California community living. Bungalow courts along Echo Park Avenue are significant to the area, and they help define the character of the area," Christine Peters, policy director for O'Farrell, told the commission.

Mark said he hired Margarita Jerabek, the director of historic resources for Environmental Science Associates, an environmental planning and design firm, to produce a report on the property.

The report noted that Survey LA, the citywide historic survey that identified and documented significant historic resources, did not identify Wurfl Court as meeting eligibility standards as a potential historic-cultural monument.

The report also argued the courts were not a notable work of a significant architect, had undergone significant renovations over the decades, and are essentially an "altered and undistinguished" set of bungalows that "did not lead or influence events or patterns of history, therefore the subject does not appear eligible for designation."

O'Farrell applauded the vote by the commission.

"This is great news, and puts us one step closer to preserving these bungalows and their contribution to the character of the immediate Echo Park neighborhood, and possibly saving them from demolition," he said.

City News Service; Photo courtesy of Google Earth