Hale House
Encyclopedia
Hale House is a Queen Anne style
Victorian
era mansion built in 1885 in the Highland Park
section of northeast Los Angeles, California
. It has been described as "the most photographed house in the entire city," and "the most elaborately decorated." In 1966, it was declared a Historic Cultural Monument and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 1972. The house was relocated in 1970 to the Heritage Square Museum
in Montecito Heights
where it remains open to the public.
), but was moved to 4425 North Pasadena before it was purchased by James Hale. It is believed to have been associated with the old Page School for Girls which once stood directly across Avenue 44 from Hale House.
The house was purchased by James and Bessie Hale in 1901. The Hales separated a few years after purchasing the house, and the house remained with Bessie. She operated the house as a boarding house until the late 1950s and lived there until she died in 1966 at age 97.
columnist Jack Smith
helped the preservation effort. Smith called the "faded old house" one of the few remaining from the "age of exuberance." Smith described the house's significance as follows:
in Highland Park. The move cost $10,300 and an additional $3,000 to raise wires so the house could pass under. Jack Smith, who had been an advocate of the home's preservation, attended the midnight moving of the house in July 1970. He later wrote that a "motley and festive" crowd gathered to watch, with cries of jubilation rising when the chimneys survived the move.
Shortly after the move, the house was used as a movie set for a film depicting a house bombed in a war. The house was later restored at a cost of more than $300,000.
The varied architectural style of the house has been described as Queen Anne
, Eastlake
, Carpenter Gothic
, "picturesque eclectic," and "a capricious old gingerbread." Jack Smith overheard a neighbor say of the house, "What architecture! This old house? It's a mishmuch." Smith agreed but called it "a wonderful old mishmuch." Whatever the precise style, the house is an impeccable example of Victorian craftsmanship and design, with ornate brick chimneys, stained-glass windows, wood carvings, and a "corner turret" crowned with giant copper fleur-de-lis
.
In a 1966 report to the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, Raymond Girvigian, the chairman of the historic buildings committee of the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects
said:
Noting the eclectic style, Givigian wrote that the house has "exuberance in ornamentation and detailing without academic rules, based on borrowed styles and forms of the past but mixed in unrestrained though often inventive and charming ways and fine craftsmanship." In announcing its designation of Hale House as a historic monument, the Cultural Heritage Commission gave the following reasons:
During the renovation of the house, chips from the original colors were found on the house. The exterior was painted to match the colors from the old chips. The interior has been restored to recreate the appearance that it is believed to have had in the 1890s. The Hale House and other old Los Angeles landmark structures are open for public tours, for a fee, at the Heritage Square Museum.
Queen Anne Style architecture (United States)
In America, the Queen Anne style of architecture, furniture and decorative arts was popular in the United States from 1880 to 1910. In American usage "Queen Anne" is loosely used of a wide range of picturesque buildings with "free Renaissance" details rather than of a specific formulaic style in...
Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
era mansion built in 1885 in the Highland Park
Highland Park, Los Angeles, California
Highland Park is a neighborhood in Northeast Los Angeles.-Geography:Highland Park is located along the Arroyo Seco. It is situated within what was once Rancho San Rafael of the Spanish / Mexican era...
section of northeast Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. It has been described as "the most photographed house in the entire city," and "the most elaborately decorated." In 1966, it was declared a Historic Cultural Monument and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1972. The house was relocated in 1970 to the Heritage Square Museum
Heritage Square Museum
Heritage Square Museum is a living history museum located in the Montecito Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, that tells the story of the development of Southern California through architecture. Eight historic structures, a train car, and a trolly car were all saved from demolition...
in Montecito Heights
Montecito Heights, Los Angeles, California
Montecito Heights is a small district in Northeast Los Angeles formerly known as an original East Los Angeles area of Los Angeles, California. The 2000 population is estimated at 16,768.-Geography and transportation:...
where it remains open to the public.
Early years
Hale House was built in the 1880s by real estate developer, George W. Morgan, at the foot of Mount Washington. Built at an original cost of less than $4,000, the house was originally situated at 4501 North Pasadena Avenue (now Figueroa StreetFigueroa Street
Figueroa Street is a street in Los Angeles County, California named for General José Figueroa , governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California...
), but was moved to 4425 North Pasadena before it was purchased by James Hale. It is believed to have been associated with the old Page School for Girls which once stood directly across Avenue 44 from Hale House.
The house was purchased by James and Bessie Hale in 1901. The Hales separated a few years after purchasing the house, and the house remained with Bessie. She operated the house as a boarding house until the late 1950s and lived there until she died in 1966 at age 97.
Move to Heritage Square Museum
The house was inherited by Hale's niece, Odena Johnson, who stated her desire to dispose of it as soon as possible. When plans were announced to demolish the house and build a chrome and steel gas station in its place, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission stopped the demolition temporarily by declaring the house a Historic-Cultural Landmark (HCM #40) in 1966. A column by noted Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
columnist Jack Smith
Jack Smith (columnist)
Jack Clifford Smith was a journalist, author, and newspaper columnist who wrote about Los Angeles during its period of greatest growth and increasing influence...
helped the preservation effort. Smith called the "faded old house" one of the few remaining from the "age of exuberance." Smith described the house's significance as follows:
The house has been called 'picturesque eclectic,' meaning its designer took a scroll from here and a fleur-de-lis from there and put everything together with romantic abandon. … Because of its eclectic nature, the Hale house is said to embody, in one package, many architectural inventions of the late 19th century, that buoyant and capricious era.Hale's niece agreed to sell the house for $1 if it could be moved from the site. In July 1970, the house was lifted from its foundation and moved to the nearby Heritage Square Museum
Heritage Square Museum
Heritage Square Museum is a living history museum located in the Montecito Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, that tells the story of the development of Southern California through architecture. Eight historic structures, a train car, and a trolly car were all saved from demolition...
in Highland Park. The move cost $10,300 and an additional $3,000 to raise wires so the house could pass under. Jack Smith, who had been an advocate of the home's preservation, attended the midnight moving of the house in July 1970. He later wrote that a "motley and festive" crowd gathered to watch, with cries of jubilation rising when the chimneys survived the move.
Shortly after the move, the house was used as a movie set for a film depicting a house bombed in a war. The house was later restored at a cost of more than $300,000.
Architecture
Queen Anne Style architecture
The Queen Anne Style in Britain means either the English Baroque architectural style roughly of the reign of Queen Anne , or a revived form that was popular in the last quarter of the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century...
, Eastlake
Eastlake Movement
The Eastlake Movement was a nineteenth century architectural and household design reform movement started by architect and writer Charles Eastlake . The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations...
, Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
, "picturesque eclectic," and "a capricious old gingerbread." Jack Smith overheard a neighbor say of the house, "What architecture! This old house? It's a mishmuch." Smith agreed but called it "a wonderful old mishmuch." Whatever the precise style, the house is an impeccable example of Victorian craftsmanship and design, with ornate brick chimneys, stained-glass windows, wood carvings, and a "corner turret" crowned with giant copper fleur-de-lis
Fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis or fleur-de-lys is a stylized lily or iris that is used as a decorative design or symbol. It may be "at one and the same time, political, dynastic, artistic, emblematic, and symbolic", especially in heraldry...
.
In a 1966 report to the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, Raymond Girvigian, the chairman of the historic buildings committee of the Southern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
said:
This residence, purchased by James and Bessie Hale about 1901, is a wood frame structure having exterior clapboard siding accented with fish scale shingles and cast plaster ornament around the main, east facade windows and pediments. Other notable features include a veranda at the northeast corner having turned wood posts with curved wood bracket caps and milled ballusters and an ornamental iron rail on its roof. It has brick chimneys with incised geometric detail and corbelled projections at top and a second floor turret window at the southeast corner, also curved wood brackets at the second floor cornice.
Noting the eclectic style, Givigian wrote that the house has "exuberance in ornamentation and detailing without academic rules, based on borrowed styles and forms of the past but mixed in unrestrained though often inventive and charming ways and fine craftsmanship." In announcing its designation of Hale House as a historic monument, the Cultural Heritage Commission gave the following reasons:
This picturesque structure is an outstanding example of the late Victorian period in Los Angeles. Its prime significance is that it perhaps best embodies the essence of, or the most typical features of, this historical style in one given example. The building incorporates the ornate carving of wood, both inside and out, that is fast disappearing. The chimney is characteristic of the high Victorian 'town house' of the period, and the workmanship compares with that of the best built mansions on the old Bunker HillBunker Hill, Los Angeles, CaliforniaBunker Hill, in the downtown area of Los Angeles, California, is a short, developed hill with its peak located roughly around 3rd Street. It is located directly east of the Harbor Freeway...
.
During the renovation of the house, chips from the original colors were found on the house. The exterior was painted to match the colors from the old chips. The interior has been restored to recreate the appearance that it is believed to have had in the 1890s. The Hale House and other old Los Angeles landmark structures are open for public tours, for a fee, at the Heritage Square Museum.
See also
- List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments on the East and Northeast Sides
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
