Friday, November 15, 2019

Ince Boulevard of Broken Dreams in Culver City, Cal.

November 16th is the birth day in 1880 of Thomas Harper Ince, an early film director.

Erin Perez, Guest Blogger, examines the impact of Ince on the history of Culver City and explores the circumstances around his death in 1924.

Photo by Erin Perez

In the month of March I asked Erin about what intrigued her about Thomas Ince.  I said if she wrote it up I would publish it near his birthday.  The backstory on Erin:

"I grew up in the Heart of Screenland, Culver City. My childhood home was at the street corner across from Sony Studios, which once upon a time was the infamous MGM lot and before that, Triangle Studios. Maybe because of where I grew up, I cultivated a fascination with film and film history into a screenwriting/media studies degree from UC Irvine and dabbled in the industry with odd jobs here and there. When I’m not thinking up movie and tv ideas, I’m either going down an internet rabbit hole researching dead Hollywood actresses and actors; cooking and baking the latest Bon Appetit recipes; preparing Dinosaur fossils as a volunteer at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles or I’m creating colorful eyeshadow looks on myself for my job with Sephora. It’s been quite an eclectic life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything."

Erin at work in the Dino Lab at the Natural History Museum

Here is Erin's post:

Ince Boulevard in Culver City, extending no longer than a quarter mile, connects the compact yet  bustling downtown of Culver City with the newly revamped arts district. Turning left at the end of Culver Boulevard will take you onto Washington Blvd towards the metro station area, but continuing straight on Ince will take you to a dead end in a quiet neighborhood.

Ince Boulevard begins with two major film and television sites flanking both sides of the street: the Sony Pictures Animation campus on the east, and the future site of Amazon Studios on the west. Walking towards Ince Blvd, however, you’re most struck by the colonial-style mansion still standing as a gateway for the under construction Amazon lot.

Ince Studio, ca. 1920s
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center for Western History Research,
Natural History Museum of LA County P-010-0450)

This historic landmark, itself a nod to another historic landmark: Mount Vernon, has been standing in Culver City since 1919, a century old. It is the one of the last remnants of the very first film studio to occupy the same location, Thomas H. Ince Studios, named for the man who helped Culver City earn its “Heart of Screenland” motto. Though instrumental in developing key production operations and being a major player in the early days of moving pictures in the West, Mr. Ince is more known for the mysterious circumstances and gossip surrounding his death, or depending on who you talked to in Tinsel Town, his murder.

Map of Culver City, ca. 1929 (click to zoom)
(Image of Seaver Center GC-1310-0505)

Thomas H. Ince was born in 1880 to a family of English immigrants living in Rhode Island. They later moved to New York City in pursuit of theater work as his parents and siblings were all actors, his father also being a musical agent. His theatrical upbringing and experiences gave Ince a keen sense of how creative productions needed to be run, how they were organized, who did what etc. and which jobs and roles needed to be defined. This mindset for planning and logistics would make Ince one of Hollywood’s greatest pioneers.

Thomas Ince, n.d.
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center GPF.0425)

Around 1910, Ince began directing pictures for one of the earliest film studios, the Biograph Company, alongside future partner, director D. W. Griffith. He went on to work for Carl Laemmle, who would eventually be the founder of Universal Studios. Ince and his peers were all part of independent film companies that were under siege of Thomas Edison’s Motion Picture Patents Company, a trust that wanted a monopoly on the film market. Around 1911, Ince (and fellow filmmakers), escaping threats of lawsuits, found refuge out in sunny Southern California, where the fair weather  and diversity of scenery just happened to be more conducive for film production than the East Coast.

Out there, Ince found the freedom he needed to experiment and hone his talents. He first rented, then eventually with enough money, bought a 460 acre ranch in the Santa Monica mountains, known then as Bison Ranch in 1912 (currently the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine). With financial backing from the New York Motion Picture Company (NYMPC), Ince leased another 18,000 acres in the Santa Ynez canyon that stretched from Santa Monica to Malibu. The studio would go on to be known as ‘Inceville’.

Inceville, later called Hartville, near Sunset Blvd. and PCH
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center P-026-21)

Ince made sure his studio was equipped with everything he needed in one location to make multiple films at once: silent stages, printing labs, a cafeteria, prop and costume houses, outdoor sets that took on styles from different parts of the world and various time periods.  He also leased the 101 Ranch and Wild West Show that consisted of 300 cowboys and cowgirls, 600 horses, livestock and an entire 200-person Sioux tribe. The studio went on to produce hundreds of films, including 150 films in 1913 alone, most of which were westerns.

Set still from Money Corral, 1919 showing Thomas Ince sign
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center P-075-13a-H-3049-45)

As a studio head, Ince formalized many filmmaking conventions, such as defining the roles of producer, editor, screenwriter and production manager (directors and/or cameramen usually wore all four hats at the time). His assembly-line approach to filmmaking not only made production more efficient, it enabled more films to be made at one time and thus be released more frequently. Later Hollywood studios adopted Ince’s techniques.

By 1915, Ince was a respected and popular film studio head. It’s said that Harry Culver, the real estate developer who founded Culver City, spotted Ince shooting a western along the La Ballona Creek and struck up a conversation with him. This eventually led to Harry Culver convincing Ince to build a new studio in Culver City along Washington Blvd. The new studio opened in January of 1916, with a four silent film stages and a Greek revival colonnade. It was known as Triangle studios, due to its shape from an aerial point-of-view. He ran the studio along with Mack Sennett, the famed comedy producer/director and director D.W. Griffith. The Triangle studio lot went on to become the infamous MGM lot and is now currently home to Sony Pictures.

(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center GC-1310-0505)

Ince served as director for Triangle’s sprawling anti-war drama, Civilization, which topped the box office when it was released. But despite this success, and perhaps feeling creatively stifled by two partners, Ince sold his shares of Triangle back to Sennett and Griffith in 1918.

He briefly helped friend Adolph Zukor form Paramount Studios, and then took a loan from Harry Culver to build Thomas H. Ince Studios, the lot currently under renovation for Amazon Studios. As with Inceville a few years earlier, Ince made sure his new studio was equipped with facilities that made the lot run like its own mini city: a hospital, a swimming pool and even a fire department. The studio went on to produce acclaimed social dramas, but Ince’s power and clout had diminished in just a few short years. Other studios with a larger bank roll and more box office successes were squeezing smaller producers like Ince out of the market. In 1919 and 1921, Ince attempted to regain some power and financial support by forming independent producer and distributor associations, but neither could flourish alongside the oligarchical studio system that was taking hold of the movie industry. Ince’s last attempt to secure financial backing for his studio was courting newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst.

Hearst’s film production company, Cosmopolitan Productions, needed a studio lot. Ince and Hearst began negotiations for Cosmopolitan to occupy the Thomas H. Ince lot in late 1924. Such a deal would give Ince the money he needed to be his own independent producer and distribute his own films again. Hearst, in an act of good faith, invited Ince on a yacht excursion to celebrate Ince’s 44th birthday. He would pay all expenses for the trip and hash out the details of the deal with Ince as they partied. The decision to board Hearst’s lavish yacht, the Oneida however, would be a deadly one for Ince.

The death of Thomas Ince splits into two stories. One story is a sad, ironic, yet banal end for a man who was only trying to save his career and his legacy as a motion picture pioneer. The other story, however, suggests an equally ironic, yet sensational and thrilling murder mystery.

According the Ince’s wife, his personal doctor and his son (who went on to be a doctor himself), Ince died of natural causes. Ince may have aggravated peptic ulcers with the consumption of champagne and heavy food during his birthday celebrations aboard the Oneida. His death certificate listed heart failure. His son, years later, theorized thrombosis as the cause of death.

Speculative medical theories aside, what is certain is that after just one night aboard the yacht, Ince had to be removed via stretcher the next morning to a hotel in Del Mar. A few days afterward, he passed away aboard a train going back to Los Angeles, accompanied by his wife, his eldest son and personal doctor. Ince fell ill at a time he was supposed to be celebrating not only a birthday, but the possible resurgence of his career. A tragic end for one of Hollywood’s first producers.

The clashing indigestion/heart failure reports of his death however only fueled the rumors of a far more tragic end: William Randolph Hearst, the man who would have been responsible for helping Ince and his career, the man responsible for the fateful birthday celebration in the first place, was also the man responsible for his death. Gossip spread after Ince fell ill and spread even more after his passing, that Hearst himself had shot Ince in the back of his head aboard the yacht. But why?

Hearst’s beloved, beautiful and funny mistress, the comedienne and actress Marion Davies, the reason for Hearst’s Cosmopolitan Productions in the first place, was also aboard the yacht that fateful night, along with some of her friends, fellow actresses and acclaimed comedian (and infamous womanizer) Charlie Chaplin. Hearst formed Cosmopolitan Productions with the sole purpose of funding Marion’s films and making her a star in Hollywood. And it worked. Marion was dubbed “Queen of the Screen” by a theater owners convention in 1924, as her period pieces/costume dramas were top of the box office. Hearst pushed Marion to do lavish historical dramas, somewhat against her wishes. Marion wished to do more comedies to show her versatility as an actress, but Hearst wanted her to be taken seriously in Hollywood as a dramatic actress. Marion’s friend, and according to many reputable sources, secret lover, Charlie Chaplin, was encouraging her at the time to do more comedies.

Perhaps Hearst knew about Marion’s affair with Chaplin at the time of the yacht excursion and invited him along the trip to keep a closer eye on both Marion and Chaplin. Or perhaps he knew nothing of their affair, and merely invited Chaplin, another independent filmmaker, to help woo Ince into letting Hearst fund the new Thomas H. Ince studio. And perhaps during the course of the night, Hearst learned of the affair and let envy and possessiveness over-take him. But still, why would the blind rage of a cuckolded rich man leave Ince dead and Chaplin unscathed?

Side by side photos of Chaplin and Ince demonstrate several physical similarities: fair skin, wavy brown hair and similar nose. Hearst, perhaps in a fit of jealousy, had tried to kill Chaplin from taking away his girl, but mistook the man he was helping, Ince, instead.

Most of these rumors spread from several sources. The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday morning following Ince’s removal via stretcher from the yacht as an accidental shooting. But the headlines never reached the evening edition. Had Hearst, one of the most powerful men in print, silence the Times from reporting what had actually occurred?

Louella Parsons, the famed gossip columnist for Hearst’s paper, The New York American, was also aboard the yacht. Hearst may have invited her to cover his deal with Ince, but if the shooting had occurred, Parsons ultimately helped cover the scandal instead. There was no mention in her column about Ince or his death. Parsons’ syndication also just happened to expand at this time, as well as her contract being made life long. Was it hush money to prevent one of the murder’s witnesses from telling the truth?

The strongest speculative support for the murder angle came from Chaplin’s secretary, Toraichi Kono. He said that when Ince was removed from the Onieda by stretcher, he allegedly could see blood oozing out from a bullet wound on Ince’s head. Kono has been noted by Chaplin biographers as being a diligent administrator, keeping all of Chaplin’s affairs in order, managing the movie star’s schedule and finances. It’s hard to believe that a meticulous man like Kono could be mistaken about what he witnessed that morning in Del Mar, or that he would spread gossip.

Hearst in later years vehemently denied the rumors that he had accidentally killed Ince, as did Ince’s widow. But such an outrageous story, true or not, could not be squashed out of pop culture. Ince’s death and the Hearst murder angle was given its due in the infamous book, Hollywood Babylon, which recounts old Hollywood scandals. Patty Hearst, Hearst’s own granddaughter, recounted the scandal is her fictitious novel, Murder At San Simeon. Later, Peter Bogdanovich turned Ince’s death into the renowned film, The Cat’s Meow, starring Kirsten Dunst as Marion Davies, Cary Elwes as Ince and Edward Hermann as Hearst.

Ince’s cinematic legacy may not be as remembered or revered, in public consciousness in comparison to his fellow contemporaries, but the film industry to this day operates with the structure and methods developed by Ince over a hundred years ago. His studios in Culver City still stand. And his name is honored within the “Heart of Screenland” with a small, but major street.
Erin Perez

Thomas H. Ince, n.d.
(Image courtesy of the Seaver Center)
Thank you Erin!  Lastly, Ince worked with actor William S. Hart on many of Hart's silent westerns.  Today the William S. Hart Museum is a part of the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Randy's Make a Donut Whole in Downey, Cal.

A familiar beacon to donuts arose recently in Downey.  Photojournalist Gary Leonard was there to capture a special moment of the crowning glory.

Randy's Donuts in Downey
(Image courtesy of Gary Leonard)
The former empty lot:

Photo courtesy of The Downey Patriot, taken by Alex Dominguez


This posting today on November 5 is considered by some optimists as National Donut Day.

But Donut Day on the first Friday of each June has been officially recognized since started by the Salvation Army in 1938 to honor the Donut Lassies of World War I.

Donut popularity was sparked during the war overseas by female volunteers, the Donut Lassies, who served them to American soldiers.  Sally Levitt Steinberg shared in The Donut Book (Storey Publishing, 2004) about a bakery in Harlem, New York, that her Russian grandfather Adolph Levitt set up.  A demand from customers who were former soldiers led him to patent a donut-making machine and eventually open up a chain of Mayflower coffee/donut shops.

Last year I recognized National Doughnut Day in June and profiled a Mayflower shop in downtown L.A.

As for this day in November, I theorize it could have been a marketing move connected with the 1938 designation of the national holiday.  Armistice Day on November 11th (later renamed Veteran's Day) was established to honor those who fought in the First World War.  A little donut reminder leading up to Veteran's Day is okay with me.


Friday, October 18, 2019

L.A. Earthquake, Fires & Floods in the 1930's

A cluster of major disasters occurred in the Los Angeles region during the 1930's.  This blog post will review the deadly episodes and commemorate the flood that struck the La Crescenta Valley 85 years ago on October 18, 1934.

This flood revisited the Valley region for a second destructive time within a year - an earlier storm came in December of 1933, and on the new year's eve at the stroke of midnight the fatal, torrential rain caused an abrupt flow of debris and boulders upon Montrose and La Crescenta, as well as neighboring foothill towns like Glendale.  Singer Woody Guthrie, who lived for a brief time in Glendale several years later, memorialized the destruction through his lyrics "Los Angeles New Year's Flood."

October 18, 1934
Image courtesy of ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times




January 1, 1934
Los Angeles New Year's Flood:  In Song and Video
Written by Woody Guthrie and performed by Darryl Holter

Image courtesy of the Seaver Center for Western History Research,
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Los Angeles District.  Turhollow, Anthony F.
History of the Los Angeles District, 1898-1965)

Glendale scene of damage, January 1934
Image courtesy of the Seaver Center
(HSSC-764)

Long Beach Earthquake, 1933

A strong earthquake centered in Long Beach shook the southland on March 10, 1933.

Real Photo Postcard
(Image from blogger's collection)



Griffith Park Fire, October 3, 1933

Later in the year, a mysterious fire at the Mineral Wells canyon area of Griffith Park killed dozens of laborers (employed under a County work relief program during the Great Depression.)

Image Courtesy of California Digital Newspaper Collection,
Center for Bibliographic Studies and Research, University of California, Riverside, <http://cdnc.ucr.edu>
Image courtesy of the California Digital Newspaper Collection
(Click on image to zoom)


Wild Fire Struck on November 22, 1933

The following month fire struck the La Crescenta area, and it took four days before it came under control on November 26th.  The burnt terrain became bald and vulnerable when the rains came in December.
November 22, 1933
Image courtesy of ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times

Image courtesy of ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
November 24, 1933
Image courtesy of ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times


The Flood of 1938

Winter storms battered the U.S. in 1938.  Northern and southern California did not go unscathed.  Rain fell throughout February producing floods.  An unceasing crescendo lasting five days left the Los Angeles region, as well as neighboring counties, wrecked by the 4th of March.  The swollen L.A. River  compounded the destruction, and the havoc led to the eventual concrete channelization of the River.

March 4, 1938
Courtesy of ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Los Angeles Times
(Click image to zoom)

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Edward Fickett and his 1950s era homes; the architectural photography of Leland Y. Lee

Image courtesy of the MultiCultural Music and Art Foundation of Northridge
CSUN, Oviatt Library

I received a tip from L.A. photojournalist Gary Leonard about a 1953 Edward Fickett-designed house in the Valley occupied by its original owner, Maxine Simons. A curious quest sent me to Reseda and Van Nuys then onto the west side in Beverly Hills to meet Joycie Fickett. My research led me back to the east side in Whittier where there are two Fickett tracts not far from where I live.

Why Isn't Fickett a Household Name?

Despite the fact that he designed a lot of households.

Joycie Fickett, wife of Edward Hale Fickett (1916-1999), points to the exceptional modesty of her late husband in regards to his own accomplishments as an architect.  She likes to cite the number of houses he designed - in the range of more than 60,000 - mostly in southern California.

Quantity aside, the quality of his work was recognized by fellow architects then and still now.  And today a growing number of homeowners and realtors appreciate the Fickett house.  Earlier this year he received a prestigious award - an induction to the National Housing Hall of Fame - the first time for a posthumous recognition.

The 1950s was the most active decade for his tract home designs, custom homes and apartments.  Incorporating modern features (open L-shaped floor plans, glass walls, playful rooflines) with traditional details, today his designs are described as modern hybrids.

Noteworthy civic projects include the historic and seismic renovation of City Hall; Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, Cal.; the conversion of L.A. Fire Station No. 30 to the African American Firefighters Museum; and the re-do of the Silverlake Park Recreation Center.  Other high-profile buildings he is credited were the former Tower Records on the Sunset Strip; amenities at Dodger Stadium; and the now-razed Hollywood Park Racetrack restaurant and clubhouse that operated in Inglewood.  He also worked on hot dog stands and public school building additions.

Blogger's note 3.7.2021:  Some readers feel slighted by this Fickett profile, such as the reference to "hot dog stands."  It was not intended to diminish the immense impact of his designs to the face of southern California.  Fickett's work covered a broad range of purposes, including being known as the "Architect to the Stars," but this blog post attempted to emphasize the point that his work enhanced the quality of life for the non-celebrities and working families.

Outside of the home, another example of his work that continues to bring pleasure to the public is his work at Dodger Stadium - according to Richard Rapaport, it was Fickett who caught the attention of Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and led to the stadium's unique color-coded parking scheme, "all concessions, executive suites, the clubhouse, restaurants, and bars."


Above two images from the Edward H. Fickett, FAIA, Collection,
Courtesy USC Libraries Special Collections
(images added 3.7.2021)

He used his engineering aptitude to master plan the Port of Los Angeles as well as devise a stainless steel hydraulic chair to immerse Special Olympics swimmers into the pool at the Van Nuys/Sherman Oaks Park.

This post will also recognize Chinese-American photographer Leland Y. Lee, whose photographs are included in Richard Rapaport's book, California Moderne and the Mid-Century Dream.


Fickett Designs

Fickett Towers in Van Nuys, Cal. 
(Click on any image to zoom)

Fickett Towers in Van Nuys appears to be a design anomaly, and the building name seems out of character for the modest architect.  I asked Joycie about the Towers, currently a senior citizens residence in Van Nuys that was built around 1973.  An apartment building which Edward Fickett was the original architect, Joycie explained.  It was supposed to be only six stories high, she said, but he had to step away from the project.  The subsequent architect credited Fickett's name to the building.

Below are some examples of the type of architecture he is most known for.

The "Research House" pictured below demonstrated an affordable counterpart to the Case Study Houses.  One of two houses was located at Sunset and Merced Avenues in West Covina.  This structure has been torn down.  An identical model located at 3624 Woodcliff Road in the Sherwood Park area of Sherman Oaks has survived  Built by the McDonald Bros., the house was sponsored by the Associated Architectural Publications.  It became the prize-winning "home of tomorrow," demonstrating low-cost design for the $20,000 to $25,000 range.

"Research House" 1955 (photos by Dale Healy)
Images courtesy of the Seaver Center for Western History Research,
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County


Post World War II Housing Boom

After the war came the swift rise across the U.S. of mass-produced, cookie-cutter housing developments - most famously on the east coast by the Levittowns and out west we have Lakewood (1950) in southern California.  Plenty of other new, smaller scale housing tracts offered Traditional designs.

Running counter were new Contemporary styled homes on the market, such as the concepts of Edward Fickett, although he straddled both markets at first.  An Eichler Network article online explained "Sure, in early subdivisions Fickett's homes were a "doll-up, ranch-type 'hybrid'" of modern and traditional..."  Innovative use of indigenous materials contributed to economical design.  Fickett strived towards "affordable yet palatial," and he liked to employ walls of glass in order to "bring the outside in."

Further along in this blog post, under a section called Edward Fickett's Tract Homes in Eastern L.A. County and Northwestern Orange County is a run-down of select tracts in Whittier, the San Gabriel Valley, and other parts of east Los Angeles County, and in the Orange County cities of Buena Park, Garden Grove, and La Habra.

After that, there is a closer look at the expansive development of Meadowlark Park in the San Fernando Valley.



Book cover photo taken by Leland Y. Lee


Fickett Information Resources

For the Fickett aficionado or researcher, the book California Moderne and the Mid-Century Dream written by Richard Rapaport (Rizzoli, 2014) provides visual testament to iconic apartments; luxury residences and beachfront homes; commercial buildings; resort hotels; and civic buildings and master planned developments.

A recent, well-written article with very nice photographs by Cameron Kiszla appeared in the May 16, 2019 issue of Park La Brea News/Beverly Press:  Designing a Legacy to Outlast a Lifetime."  Kiszla reported on Fickett's induction into the National Housing Hall of Fame, the first time ever for a posthumous honor.

That recognition bestowed twenty years after Fickett's death hopefully lifted his wife's spirits after the 2011 destruction of a Fickett structure - the County of Los Angeles library that once stood on San Vicente Boulevard.  Fickett designed several park & recreations structures in addition to the 1959 library in the neighborhood that would become incorporated as the city of West Hollywood in 1984.  Joycie Fickett and Steve Ward both spoke before the County Board of Supervisors in August, 2011, in an eleventh hour effort to halt the bulldozer.  They each were duly given their turns to speak before the Supervisors, but their pleas fell to deaf ears, as did the efforts of other community members in a movement to save the library.  The transcript of the August 16th hearing can be read here.

Joycie and Edward
Image courtesy of Joycie Fickett

In 2010 Fickett's business records including photographs and design plans were donated to the University of Southern California.  The collection has been archived by USC Special Collections.  Here is the finding aid, a useful document to see the content descriptions.  (From the archival description it discloses that Fickett had several design jobs in San Mateo County, Cal.  This may be the Joseph Eichler contracts that Joycie told me about.)

Other informative articles about Fickett:

"Forgotten Giant" by Dave Weinstein on the Eichler Network.

"L.A.'s Great Unknown" by Sean Mitchell for the Los Angeles Times.


Leland Y. Lee, Architectural Photographer

Leland Y. Lee (1918-2016) was renowned in his field and was Chinese American.  For eight years early in his career he assisted Julius Shulman until he embarked on his own in 1961.  From Shulman he learned about architecture and since then worked for leading architects such as John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, A. Quincy Jones, John Rex and Edward Fickett.

From blogger's copy of CA-Modern, Winter 2010
Courtesy of the Eichler Network
Lee pictured with Shulman
From blogger's copy of CA-Modern, Winter 2010
Courtesy of the Eicher Network


Richard Rapaport's book includes photographs of four Fickett projects undertaken by Lee:  the Kaye House in Manhattan Beach (1959); the Simon Beach House in Malibu (1960); the Janss House in Palm Springs (1961); and the La Costa Resort Hotel and Spa in Carlsbad (1964).

Read his amazing life story and the tragic losses of his photo archives by flood and subsequent house fire here:

"Soul searching" a 2010 article on the Eichler Network

"Leland Y. Lee, Architectural Photographer, 1918-2016" in JetSetModernist.  This article points to the fact that Julius Shulman placed Lee, his assistant at the time, into many of his photographs, including iconic ones of the Case Study Houses.

Photos and works on paper, through Coda Gallery



Edward Fickett's Tract Homes in Eastern L.A. County and Northwestern Orange County

The housing developments profiled here are not comprehensive.  Also this posting does not define if a development is in a Traditional or Modern architectural style.

1950     "Palm Grove" in Whittier, was built from the former 15-acre Tomlinson orange grove.  It is located near Palm Avenue between Broadway and Beverly boulevards.  Several years later a green space, Palm Park, would appear.  The Secrest Construction Co. offered 90 two- and three-bedroom, hybrid, "Smartly" designed choices.

Los Angeles Times, June 25, 1950


Whittier Community Study, 1951
Courtesy of the Seaver Center

This tract, not far from where I live, is possibly the earliest tract designed by Fickett to go on the market (on April 16, 1950).  Nearly a month earlier, the infamous Paul Duncan-designed Lakewood Park tract in Lakewood, Cal. opened on March 24, 1950 to throngs of people.  (In Whittier, Duncan was also responsible for the 1948 Whittier Downs tract and Glengarry Square in 1953.)

The Palm Grove houses are not the contemporary designs Fickett is known for.  His wife Joycie explained that the developers did not want a modern layout.  These houses appear along two streets, Whitley and Lorene, and there are two examples pictured below.

Two examples of Palm Grove houses photographed recently

Another side note:  Early in his career, Fickett worked for about one or two years with the well-established architect and fellow Angeleno, Paul Revere Williams.  Williams had practiced for over a quarter century by the time Fickett arrived.  Williams designed his share of post-war tract home developments, but far below the intensity of Fickett.  In Whittier, two of Williams's tracts were built much earlier than Fickett:  Broadway Village on Broadway near Whittier Boulevard (about 135 houses by the Boulevard Improvement Co. in 1947); secondly Layne Manor came onto the market in 1949, also by the same developer.

1950     The "Boulevard Grove" community in Downey contained 292 two- and three-bedroom homes on Firestone Boulevard east of Lakewood Boulevard.  This was a Fickett project with Boulevard Improvement Co. 

Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1950

1951     The announcement below advertised the Coronet Homes development, and this may have been the first phase of the Hastings Ranch section of Pasadena.  Municipal improvements provided newly paved streets and sidewalks, street lighting and sewers.  At Sierra Madre Boulevard and Michillinda.  According to Joycie, Fickett planned and designed 2,000 houses in phases - Lower Hastings, Middle Hastings and Upper Hastings.

Los Angeles Times, April 22, 1951


1951     "Lake Marie Ranchos" by Hobart-Williams Company, are located in Whittier near the streets Mulberry and Painter of 519 two- and three-bedroom homes.  Ads referenced the post-war shortage of building materials, stating that their quality construction used materials stockpiled before the emergency.  By appearances these look to be hybridized:  traditional exteriors and roof lines, but touted to have "floor-to-ceiling heavy plate-glass windows the length of the living rooms."

"Lake Marie" started out as a swampy lagoon owned by Joe Gilleland.  He deepened the lagoon and moved the soil to fill in nearby land in order to grow crops.  He named the lagoon for his wife Ruby Marie.  By the start of 1951, two different subdivisions were on the market employing the use of the old lagoon name.  Harry Brittain, Inc developed the land at Gunn Avenue and Telegraph Road - the "Lake Marie Homes" were selling by the start of 1951.

Whittier Community Study Map, 1951
Courtesy of the Seaver Center

The much larger development at Painter and Mulberry, "Lake Marie Ranchos" listed the Fickett architect name as one of the features.



Los Angeles Times, September 9, 1951


1951     In north Orange County, "La Habra Park" offered 164 three-bedroom homes and two-car garages, located near Whittier Boulevard and Cypress Street.  They continued selling into 1952.

Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1952

1952     During this year Fickett added the following to his catalog of projects:  the Sunset Capri Apartments in Hollywood, the Golden Hotel in Reno, Nevada, and a private home in Palm Springs.  The two years earlier he had two houses in Bel Air and another house in Palm Springs under his belt.

1953     Volk-McLain Company's "Alondra Village" opened to the public in March, 1953 with their brand called "Award Homes."

Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1953

"Buena Gardens" was another collaboration of Fickett and Volk-McLain in Buena Park, Cal.

Los Angeles Times, August 23, 1953

The same year "Gladstone Park" opened with 227 units of three-bedrooms or two-bedrooms plus den, each averaging a tiny 950 square feet.  These "Award Homes" by Volk-McLain, are situated on Gladstone Street between Citrus and Cerritos avenues, just north of Covina.  Notably, many of the lots had orange trees, quite possibly from former groves.  The housing brand was called "Award Homes", featuring steel kitchens, dual gas furnaces, covered carports, wide paved driveways, sheet rock interior walls and Bermuda roofs, topped with colored crush rock.

Los Angeles Times, October 18, 1953

1954     Soon another "Gladstone Park" development by Volk-McLain opened offering 344 three-bedroom units in Covina. Model homes were at Gladstone Street and Azusa Avenue, just south of Foothill Boulevard.  These were larger, averaging 1,000 square feet.  The brand "Award Homes" emphasized windows that were walls of glass opening from the living area onto the patio.

Los Angeles Times, June 13, 1954

1954     "Cypress Gardens" was also offered in Covina by Volk-McLain with 106 units featuring Award Homes amenities.  Three-bedrooms (or 2 plus den) averaging 950 square feet, the ad describes that most of the 243 lots contain mature orange trees of the former orange grove.  Located near Cypress and Lark Ellen.  Again, the colorful Bermuda roof of white, red, pink and gray crushed rocks was a design attribute.  

Los Angeles Times, March 21, 1954

This year also brought "Chapman Gardens" in Garden Grove:

Los Angeles Times, April 11, 1954

1955     "Highland Village Contemporary" in West Covina at Amar Road, built by the McDonald Bros. featured four bedrooms and two baths.  An ad described the exteriors to "feature long, low, sweeping silhouettes."

Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1955

1955     "Weathermaker Highlands" in West Covina on Sunset Avenue at Merced offered homes that were getting bigger: three- and four-bedrooms, plus den and two master baths, along with year-round air conditioning.   
Los Angeles Times, February 26, 1956

1955     "Markdale" homes were planned near the shopping center, Norwalk Square.  This ad did not publicize Fickett:

Los Angeles Times, February 6, 1955


Meadowlark Park in the San Fernando Valley

Fickett is best known for his houses in the Valley, including tracts named Sherman Park, Granada Estates, Garden Contemporary Homes, Woodland Hills Country Estates, and perhaps his latest was the final phase of Bell Canyon in 1973.

He was hired for an expansive development referred in a planning map as Northridge Manor built by Ray Hommes & Co.  The home sites are located in present-day northeastern Reseda and spilling over into Lake Balboa, but at first the area was Northridge.  The marketing name of Meadowlark Park was used consistently.  Phases of development were in the early 1950s, as indicated by Los Angeles Times newspaper ads that ran between December, 1950 through the fall of 1954.

Piecing today information from the advertisements and from the USC finding aid, Fickett's involvement appeared to be in the early phases although his name does not appear in the Meadowlark Park brochure below.  By the time Units 2 and 3 opened in the summer and fall of 1954, another architect was listed - the flamboyant John Lindsay.

Image courtesy of the MultiCultural Music and Art Foundation of Northridge
CSUN, Oviatt Library

The above brochure and the ad below was for the earliest promotion of Meadowlark Park (with owners Brentwood Builders and Sherman Park Development Co.)

Los Angeles Times, December 10, 1950


The following is a group of ads promoting a modern housing design in late 1952 and 1953 (with owner ARACO, Inc.).  This was the location that Reseda resident Maxine Simons settled in 1953 when it was Northridge.  Her home came with a built-in 21-inch Westinghouse television.

Los Angeles Times, December 14, 1952
Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1952
Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1953
Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1953
Los Angeles Times, April 19, 1953
Los Angeles Times, May 31, 1953


When the new phases Units 2 and 3 rolled out with two-car garages, the designs were attributed to architect John Lindsay.

Los Angeles Times, June 11, 1954


Los Angeles Times, September 5, 1954


Fickett Street

For those readers who have made it this far, your reward is to learn about a street in Boyle Heights.  Named in 1876 for Charles R. Fickett, its originating length ran from Brooklyn Avenue (Cesar Chavez Avenue) to 1st Street within the "M & F Tract."  Charles was the grandfather to Edward.  At the time, Joycie said, it seemed that the far west of the city ended here, and this is where the family invested in land.


Photographs taken on a hot triple-digit afternoon September 3rd
at Cesar Chavez Avenue & Fickett
Courtesy of Gary Leonard

Thank you to Gary Leonard, Maxine Simons and Joycie Fickett for inspiring this blog post.