Historical Preservation
Living room of one of the Kelton duplexes. Note the Art Deco fireplace, just one of the many fascinating architectural touches found in the Janss Investment Co. homes from the Westwood Hills development. Photo by Ken Lee.
Historic Monuments
Application
The Cultural Heritage Commission is a body that decides historic
monument status for the LA City Cultural Affairs Department.
Their phone number is (213) 473-7700. Go to their web site (http://www.culturala.org) and follow the links to the Historical Monuments
Application. This application can be downloaded. Some items that
the applicant must fill out include very specific architectural
details of the structures, black and white photos, when the house
was built, and other information, some of it requiring research.
The application is mailed in with the pictures. The Cultural
Heritage Commission gets together to determine whether it is
worthy of a site visit to the properties. After the site visit,
they meet again to determine whether the properties are worthy of
historical monument status. The idea here is to build a case for
the house being in original condition, rarity, and historical
significance.
Unless you have some knowledge in architecture and research, the
next step is to get some help and advice. We contacted the
following organizations, who were extremely helpful in providing
information to us at all stages of our battle for historical
preservation of the homes:
Art Deco Society of Los Angeles adsla@ix.netcom.com
http://www.adsla.org/
LA Conservancy info@laconservancy.org
http://www.laconservancy.org/
Be sure to see "How To Save Historic Buildings" on the LA Conservancy web site.
If possible, try and set up a meeting between people in the
neighborhood, historical preservationists such as the Art Deco
Society of Los Angeles, the neighborhood council, and your local
district office. We set up a meeting between all the tenants, two
members of the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles,
and the Planning Deputy from the Fifth District, Jack Weiss'
office. Probably like any other District office, Jack Weiss'
office is very busy. They hear complaints constantly.
Nevertheless, if you want someone to call back, it frequently
takes persistence and lots of calls. We found that leaving lots
of messages in the evening as well as during the day seemed to be
effective in generating a call back from the office.
Councilman Jack Weiss of District Five weiss@council.lacity.org (310) 289-0353
How to find out what district the homes are in:
http://www.lacity.org/council.htm
Filling Out the Historic Monuments Application
The application, as mentioned previously, requires specific
architectural details of the building, photos, when the house was
built, and other information. It takes time and research. Try to
divide up the tasks among several reliable people in your group.
Architectural Details
Because we needed to note many architectural details on the
application but were not experts in architecture, we made an
appointment with Celeste, who is a member with the Art Deco Society, to visit the homes again. I followed her around with a
clipboard, scribbling information down as she pointed out
architectural details in all three properties. We gained an even
greater appreciation of the beauty of the homes that we lived in
that evening. A couple of us took photos of all the details.
Application for Historic Monument Status
The Cultural Heritage Commission Review Process
Arguments that a Developer May Make Against Historical Preservation
Next Steps After Properties Have Been Designated Historical Monuments
How Can I Help Save The Historic Kelton Homes?
We Are Looking For Buyers For The Historic Kelton Homes
Email the Kelton Avenue Ad Hoc Committee
