Garden apartments are celebrated.

Historic Resources Group's Principal Architect Peyton Hall, FAIA and Planning Associate Robby Aranguren, recently participated in the Los Angeles Conservancy’s “We (Heart) Garden Apartments!” tour. The event highlighted the historic significance of early garden apartments which represent important innovations in multi-family housing. Docent-led tours of several of Los Angeles's most important historic garden apartment complexes were featured.  Peyton and Robby were onsite at the Lincoln Place Apartments to share their expertise and experiences working on the rehabilitation of this iconic garden apartment complex constructed between 1949 and 1951. Designed by architect Heth Wharton and pioneering African American designer Ralph Vaughn, the residential buildings at Lincoln Place exhibit a notable degree of architectural variation that is unusual in early garden apartments.

 

HRG develops historic context statements.

Historic Resources Group recently completed historic context statements for the cities of South Pasadena and Glendale. Historic context statements highlight the development patterns that are critical to the understanding of the built environment, and act as a framework for the continuing process of identifying historic, architectural, and cultural resources in a community. Both studies were funded by Certified Local Government grants issued by the State Office of Historic Preservation. 

For the City of Glendale, HRG developed a context statement for the South Glendale neighborhood, which contains numerous historic resources dating from the late 19th through the late 20th centuries. The South Glendale Historic Context was developed as part of the new community plan for the area. The context statement  will assist in the identification and protection of historic resources, as well as inform other aspects of the Plan such as policy recommendations, zoning changes, and design review.  

For the City of South Pasadena, HRG developed a city-wide historic context to expand and enhance existing studies of the city’s history. One of the priorities for the context update was the development of a comprehensive study of the city’s resources from the recent past, which had not been previously documented. South Pasadena has an impressive collection of neighborhoods representing significant periods of the city’s growth, along with important individual examples of period architectural styles and works by prominent local architects from the 19th century through the 1960s.

Above right: House of 1964 by Robert Skinner located in South Pasadena. 

Above left: 1920s residential development along Garfield Avenue in South Glendale. 

 

 

Constance Hotel reopens as the "dusitD2 constance pasadena."

The Constance Hotel, constructed in 1926, is one of the few remaining hotels from Pasadena’s storied history as a winter resort destination during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hotel is significant for its association with the development of Pasadena tourism and as an excellent example of Mediterranean Revival-style architecture. The Constance Hotel was designed by architect McNeal Swasey. Its original owner and namesake, Mrs. Constance Perry, maintained a residence on the second floor.

As the historic preservation consultant on the project, Historic Resources Group  prepared a City of Pasadena Historic Landmark application, provided CEQA analysis, and completed a federal historic rehabilitation tax credit certification for adaptive reuse of the building. HRG also provided design consultation and construction monitoring.

After decades as an assisted living facility, the Constance Hotel has been returned to its original use and reopened as a boutique hotel. During the project’s second phase, the hotel’s attached retail building will be rehabilitated, an addition at the south side of the hotel tower will be constructed, and a new parking structure with a rooftop swimming pool will be added.

Above: Historic photo of Hotel Constance. c. 1926.

 

 

Preserving Modernism!

Principal Christine Lazzaretto discussed the rehabilitation of the Forum in Inglewood as part of the Getty Conservation Institute’s “From the Field: Conserving Southern California's Modern Architecture” event on December 9. The event showcased six recent projects by Los Angeles-area practitioners, each highlighting a different preservation challenge and building type. The Forum illustrates the challenges of preserving and reusing historic sports facilities, a topic that is particularly relevant as modern arenas continue to be threatened or lost. The project team’s success in sensitively updating the Forum for new life was recently recognized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which awarded the project a Richard H. Driehaus National Preservation Honor Award at its national conference in Savannah, Georgia. 

Left: Christine Lazzaretto speaks at "From the Field: Conserving Southern California's Modern Architecture" at the Getty Center. 

 

HRG commemorates its founding.

Historic Resources Group was established on October 1, 1989. As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of our founding, we continue to reflect on past projects while preparing for future challenges yet to come. Please take a look at our website, recently revamped to commemorate 25 years of preservation practice. We are also excited to announce our new URL, www.historicresourcesgroup.com!