Victoria Park, Los Angeles

Located in the West Adams area,{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=J. |title=Behold a 1909 Arts & Crafts Time Capsule in Victoria Park |url=https://la.curbed.com/2013/3/2/10268182/behold-a-1909-arts-crafts-time-capsule-in-victoria-park |access-date=24 December 2023 |publisher=curbed.com |date=March 2, 2013 |quote=2012 S. Victoria Avenue, Victoria Park/ West Adams}}{{cite web |author1=Ken Bernstein, Office of Historic Resources |title=Recommendation Report |url=https://planning.lacity.org/staffrpt/CHC/6-12-07/CHC-2007-918.pdf |website=LACity.org |publisher=City of Los Angeles |access-date=24 December 2023 |page=14 |date=June 12, 2007 |quote=The location of Victoria Park in the West Adams area should have assured its success}}{{cite news |last1=Kaplan |first1=Sam |title=Historic Tour Visits West Adams Homes |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-1988-victoria-park/118783757/ |access-date=20 January 2024 |publisher=Los Angeles Times |date=October 8, 1988|quote=2012 S. Victoria Avenue, Victoria Park/ West Adams}} Victoria Park is bounded by Pico Boulevard on the north, the rear lot lines of Victoria Avenue on the east, Venice Boulevard on the south and West Boulevard on the west. The homes are arranged on a palm-lined circular street.

The neighborhood is 2.5 miles (4.02 km) south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles (4.83 km) west of downtown Los Angeles. Century City is five miles (8.05 km) to the west along Pico Boulevard.

The neighborhoods of Lafayette Square and Wellington Square are to the south. Windsor Square and Hancock Park are to the north.

A first mention of Victoria Park was on January 20, 1907, in the Los Angeles Sunday Herald:

A level, elevated block of around 1000x1000 feet, between Pico and Sixteenth streets, on the West Adams Heights hill, has been bought by a syndicate of a dozen prominent business men who will improve the tract as the highest class of residence property obtainable in the city. High class improvements are planned. Surface and subway car lines are close. David Barry & Co., the selling agents, say lots will range from $1720 to $2000 in value, corners higher.[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1907-01-20/ed-1/seq-31/#date1=1836&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Park+Victoria&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=3&state=California&date2=1922&proxtext=%22Victoria+Park%22&y=10&x=15&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=2 "Victoria Park," Los Angeles Herald, January 20, 1907, page IV-1]

The platted but undeveloped tract was owned and offered for sale by a syndicate composed of Josias J. (Jerry) Andrews, David Barry, S.R. Barry, J.A. Bowden, E.P. Clark, H.P. Hoffman, E.G. Howard, M.P. Gilbert, Isaac Kennedy, Charles Lloyd, E.N. Mathis, J.W. Willcox, M.H. Sherman, M.O. Tremaine, B.S. Tyler, F.M. Tyler and W.E. Tyler.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118645200/homes-built-in-victoria-park/ "Homes in Victoria Park," Los Angeles Times, December 20, 1908, page 84]

File:Advertisement_for_Victoria_Park_subdivision,_Los_Angeles,_California,_1907.png

Established "as a "desirable residence tract for desirable people", the subdivision was limited to "high-class homes" that would be built for no less than $4,000. It would be "lighted by handsome stone and wrought-iron electroliers, twelve to fourteen feet high, with five large electric lights on each".

The Victoria Park neighborhood design is based on the ideas of Frederick Law Olmsted, who felt that "circular shapes broke up the linear look of most urban areas". The area was intended to be upscale; for example, the streetlights were custom-designed and registered with the city as the "Victoria Park Fixture".{{cite web |title=Early Los Angeles Street Lights |url=https://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Bureau_of_Power_and_Light_Streetlights.html |website=waterandpower.org |access-date=14 February 2023 |quote=This Victoria Park special was affectionately called a 'plumber's nightmare' by maintenance forces. It graced an area of upscale Victorian-style homes from shortly after the turn-of-the-century until nearly 1960.}}{{cite book|author=Virginia Comer|title=Streetlights|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TwXnp8AELoC&pg=PA34|access-date=26 May 2013|year=2000|publisher=Princeton Architectural Press|isbn=978-1-890449-10-0|pages=34–35}}

Many of the homes were built between 1910 and 1915 and serve as fine architectural examples of the American Arts and Crafts Movement.

Although the builders had promised in 1907 that Victoria Park, being "on a high hill", had "perfect drainage", property owners found two years later that rainwater was flooding down Pico Boulevard from as far west as Vermont Avenue and turning into Victoria Park "with such volume that the street work has been torn up several times". After a complaint by property owner and police commissioner J.J. Andrews to the Board of Public Works, the city's chief public works inspector said he would look into the matter but he felt not much could be done unless the property owners would pave Pico at their own expense.[http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042462/1909-11-18/ed-1/seq-10/#date1=1836&index=3&rows=20&words=park+PARK+Victoria+VICTORIA&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=California&date2=1922&proxtext=%22Victoria+Park%22&y=10&x=15&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 "Victoria Park Is Often Flooded, Is Charge," Los Angeles Herald, November 18, 1909, page 10]

Streetcars were promised for both West 16th Street (today's Venice Boulevard) along the south boundary as well as a Pico Boulevard Line to the north. And by 1913, Pacific Electric's 16th Street Line would offer residents a 7-minute ride to downtown Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=http://www.erha.org/pewwss.htm|title=Pacific Electric West 16th Street Line}} A few years later, in 1920, Los Angeles Railway's "P" Line (Pico Line) would finally reach Victoria Park. There was also a subway line promised to and from downtown.[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118645785/victoria-park-to-be-exclusive/ "Victoria Park to Be Exclusive," Los Angeles Times, October 23, 1907, page 29]

Victoria Park had a role in a landmark zoning case that reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and was decided in 1915 as Hadacheck v. Sebastian. The court effectively ruled that the U.S. Constitution did not prohibit a local zoning ordinance from putting a commercial enterprise out of business.Hadacheck v. Sebastian 239 U.S. 394 (1915)

File:Victoria Park Neighborhood Sign.jpg

in 1995, historian Gregory Fisher met with neighborhood residents to discuss creating "Victoria Park" signage. At a cost of $150, Fischer devised a steel sign printed with a logo taken from original tract advertising to present to the community.{{cite news |last1=Pool |first1=Bob |title=L.A. by any other Name |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118786305/victoria-park-signs-2/ |access-date=16 February 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 28, 1995 |page=B16, B17 |quote=As proof, he devised a stylized "Victoria Park" logo and had it printed on a steel sign for $150.}}{{cite news |last1=Pool |first1=Bob |title=Just Dont Call It South Central |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118786876/victoria-park-signage/ |access-date=16 February 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 30, 1997 |quote=He explained that two years ago he helped residents of Victoria Park in the Mid-City area rename their neighborhood and mark it with signs approved by the city that carried a stylized logo taken from that community's original subdivision advertising.}} The sign read "Welcome to Victoria Park" with the phrase "City of Los Angeles" underneath.{{cite news |last1=Poop |first1=Bob |title=L.A. by any other Name (photo with caption)|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118786208/victoria-park-signage-installed-in-1995/ |work=Los Angeles Times |date=January 28, 1995 |page=B17 |quote=Fischer holds a sign identifying Victoria Park, whose oval street layout was planned by the designer of New York's Central Park.}} The idea of neighborhood-identifying signage was supported by both then councilman Nate Holden and then-mayor Richard Riordan. Signs were installed on both Windsor Avenue [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_Park_Sign_on_Windsor.jpg] Sign on Windsor Boulevard south of Pico Boulevard and Victoria Avenue. The back of the sign states that they were funded by MINC (Mid-City Neighborhood Council).

In 1996, a pedestrian walkway between Venice Boulevard and Victoria Park Place was closed for security reasons. The $1,000 cost was borne by Victoria Park residents.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-01-me-31131-story.html "Central Los Angeles: Council OKs Request to Close Walkway," Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1996]

On December 2–3, 2006, the West Adams Heritage Association's twentieth annual Holiday Tour, titled "A Holiday to Remember in Victoria Park", took place in the neighborhood.{{cite web|url=http://www.westadamsheritage.org/pastevents?page=3|title=Progressive dinner holiday tour in Victoria Park|work=West Adams Heritage Association|access-date=26 May 2013}}

On June 4, 2016, the West Adams Heritage Association sponsored a tour of 5 homes in Victoria Park. Titled "A Walk in the Park", the ticketed event was open to the public.{{cite web|url=http://www.westadamsheritage.org/walk-park-tour-historic-victoria-park|title="A Walk in the Park" -- a tour of Historic Victoria Park |publisher=West Adams Heritage Association}}

In 2007, an unpermitted mural was painted on the side of the "Sugar Shack", an intentional community occupying a two-story, three-bathroom house on Pico Boulevard.{{cite news |last1=Hall |first1=Carla |title=The cries of the beholders |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-12-me-house12-story.html |access-date=14 February 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 12, 2007}} Victoria Park neighbors complained to the city. The L.A. Department of Building and Safety said that the mural required a permit because it was so large and abutted a major thoroughfare. After consideration, the city granted a retroactive permit for the mural. The mural has since been removed.[https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0481179,-118.3305891,3a,75y,166.78h,82.05t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1st_y2iGoZ1CZIoalzAGMSjQ!2e0!5s20090501T000000!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en] View of Sugar Shack mural, 2009[https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0481541,-118.330593,3a,75y,166.78h,82.05t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sVFUvV3-T8m9KTtje61jcqQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en] View of Sugar Shack mural, 2022

In 2002, neighbors debated whether or not to establish a Victoria Park HPOZ. Councilman Nate Holden asked the city for funds to study five neighborhoods (including Wellington Square, Country Club Park and Jefferson Park) by October 17, 2002. Because Victoria Park residents never submitted a written application with signatures showing support for establishing an HPOZ, they were informed that their neighborhood would be studied last due to budget constraints.

{{cite news |last1=Hererra |first1=Kevin |title=Victoria Park Circle Residents Face Off Over Historical Preservation Zone|publisher=Los Angeles Sentinel |date=September 19, 2002 |page=A9}}

The city did not produce a report to determine the neighborhood's "resource significance" until 2016.{{cite web |title= Victoria Park Historic District (Primary) Victoria Park (Alternative)|url=http://historicplacesla.org/reports/07b3304d-132c-4b9a-8570-583e869cfb48 |website=HistoricPlacesLA.org |publisher=The City of Los Angeles |access-date=15 February 2023}} That report concluded that the neighborhood's "periods of significance" were from 1908 to 1930. It further stated that the neighborhood was an "excellent example of an Arts and Crafts neighborhood containing single- and multi-family residences in the Craftsman style. Contributors exhibit the essential character-defining features of their respective styles." It also said that Victoria Park was an "excellent example of streetcar suburbanization in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles, developed as a result of its proximity to streetcar lines that connected the area to downtown."

There are three Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Victoria Park:

• 4318 Victoria Park Place - On September 18, 1998, the Craftsman home was added to the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. It was built in 1912 and is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #654.
• Holmes-Shannon House, 4311 Victoria Park Drive - On August 15, 2007, it was added to both the National Register of Historic Places and the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. Built in 1911, it is described as "a residential building designed in the Tudor-Craftsman style by a prominent firm and reflective of the development of Victoria Park". It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #885.{{cite web|url=http://cityplanning.lacity.org/staffrpt/CHC/6-12-07/CHC-2007-918.pdf|title=Holmes Shannon House|date=June 12, 2007|work=Cultural Heritage Commission|publisher=Los Angeles Department of City Planning|access-date=25 May 2013}}
• The Charles C. Hurd Residence, 4359 Victoria Park Place - On August 12, 2014, it was added to the list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. Built in 1909, the Charles C. Hurd Residence is a single-family home built in the Arts and Crafts Tudor Revival style. It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1073.

{{gallery|mode=packed

|File:Craftsman Mansion (Victoria Park).jpg|Craftsman Home
4318 Victoria Park Place
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #654

|File:Holmes-Shannon House.jpg|Holmes-Shannon House
4311 Victoria Park Drive
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #885

|File:CharlesHurdResidence.jpg|Charles C. Hurd Residence
4359 Victoria Park Place
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1073}}

• Alfred St. John - 4300 Victoria Park Drive {{cite web |last1=Fleming |first1=E.J. |title=The Movieland Directory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RnIwCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22victoria+Park%22+%22los+angeles%22&pg=PA411 |publisher=McFarland, Incorporated |access-date=11 August 2023}}

Homes in Victoria Park have served as locations for the following feature films and TV shows:

• L.A. Confidential (1997) - 4439 Victoria Park Drive {{cite web|url=http://www.itsfilmedthere.com/2010/02/la-confidential.html|title=L.A. Confidential}}
• Insidious (2010) - 4350 Victoria Park Drive was used for the Lambert Home {{cite web|url=http://www.themoviedistrict.com/insidious/|title=The Movie District: Insidious (2010)}}
• This Christmas (2007){{cite web|url=http://www.itsfilmedthere.com/2010/02/This%20Christmas.html|title=This Christmas}}
• Teen Wolf (2014 episodes) - 4336 Victoria Park Drive was used as Sean's house {{cite web|url=http://www.seeing-stars.com/locations/TeenWolf/SeansHouse.shtml|title=Teen Wolf Filming Locations: Sean's House|last=GJW}}
• 9-1-1 (2018 episode) - 2143 S. Victoria Avenue {{cite web|url=https://www.itsfilmedthere.com/2019/04/9-1-1-season-1-episode-8-karmas-bitch.html|title=9-1-1: Season 1 - Episode 8; Karma's A Bitch}}
• Modern Family (2012 episode) - The interior of 4311 Victoria Park Drive was used in the episode "Open House of Horrors". (The exterior was shot at the Miller and Herriott House in North University Park.){{Cite web | url=https://www.lamag.com/downtown/scene-phils-halloween-open-house-modern-family/ | title=Scene It Before: Phil's Halloween Open House from Modern Family Los Angeles Magazine| date=9 October 2014}}

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Category:Neighborhoods in Los Angeles

Category:Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zones

Category:Populated places established in 1908

Category:Wilshire, Los Angeles

Category:1908 establishments in California