Typical of a Gothic Craftsman residence, the house is decorated with pointed roofs, archways and clerestory windows. Along with beamed ceilings, stunning stained-glass windows, period lighting fixtures—which were packed and kept in the attic until Portigiani restored them to their original places—and dark-colored oak and mahogany woodwork, it is a dream holiday house for nature-loving Californians.   

The lattice windows of the nook, located right off the entrance, invite lots of sunlight into the front section of the house. The living room and dining room are relatively small by today’s standards, but the indoor planters just outside of the area give an illusion that the space is bigger than it actually is. The idea of bringing nature inside is characteristic of Craftsman-style designs. 

The carved newel post is topped with a lighted sculpture named Gloria. Behind her is a window leading to a mid-level rooftop which has been converted into a Bohemian sun porch by the current owner.

“My passion is just to bring back (the house) to what it was. I really believe that we are caretakers of stuff like this. It found me, literally,” he continued. “It’s funny, when you get into something, at first, it’s kind of overwhelming, then it just kind of takes you over and occupies your soul.”

The owner paid just under $30,000 to close escrow. It was his mother’s dying wish that Portigiani buy a house with the $25,000 she was leaving to him. A friend of his called and told him about the house a few months after she passed away.

“This is what I want to do. Finishing it and hopefully when I pass and go on, somebody else will get to enjoy it just as much as I have.”

The Emma C. Higgins Residence (1910 Swiss chalet-influenced Craftsman)

Erected by the Los Angeles Building Company, the first owner of this striking home was Emma Higgins, a widow. By 1920, Henry W. Stacy, a retired stationer who owned several Victoria Park parcels in West Adams, purchased and occupied this residence with his daughter. David W. McLean, a pioneering dental surgeon who was a founder of the International Gnathological Society, came to own the house later on. In his time, Dr. McLeran was widely quoted about improvements in dentistry. The current owners are inveterate collectors of antiques, objects d’art, and entertainment memorabilia, and have a flair for holiday décor. 

The Holmes-Shannon Residence (1911 Arts and Crafts)

Greeted by volunteer Laurie McGiee, who’s dressed in a pink Victorian dress and hat, the first thing tour participants see in this grand mansion is beautifully-detailed mahogany woodwork including a broad, hearty and solid fireplace in the living room. Current owner Jeff Theer has not only restored this Tudor- and Art Nouveau-influenced residence, but has filled it with the Greene and Greene motif wooden furniture. California architects Charles Summer Greene and Henry Mather Greene who are known for designing the Gamble House in Pasadena.

The house was originally commissioned by Nellie Holmes Shannon, who was related to poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, and her husband, Michael Shannon, one of the first Los Angeles Police Department officers and a well-known “traffic cop” who pulled horseback transgressors off the road with a hook. The Shannons hired the architectural partnership of Train and Williams. Robert Farquhar Train and Robert Edmund Williams designed some of Southern California’s more notable buildings, such as the First Congressional Church, the Pasadena Ostrich Farm, and the landmark Judson Studios in Highland Park.

What makes this house unique is an original stained glass light box installed on the wall between the spiral staircases. Theer explains that the box wasn’t made to be illuminated by natural light since it is facing north. He has installed dozens of LED light bulbs, which give off directional, almost sunlight-like light and remain cool, behind the light box to magnify its effect and beauty.

Theer, who is a screenwriter by trade, purchased the house just five months ago. He and his family previously lived in another 1911 Craftsman house and spent six years restoring it. He says he likes returning things to the period they came from.

“I am not motivated by working on houses. I am motivated by a desire to live in a historic home,” he explains. “The obligation which comes with living in a historic home is that you are going to be doing a lot of work. Old houses are like old men, they are constantly sick. They need a lot of work just to keep them running. This is not like buying a new house where everything is sort of already worked out and everything is going to run perfectly.”  

Theer tells those who are interested in restoration that it takes a lot of studying. “You are obliged to,” he says, smiling. “I do a lot of reading and I do have a lot of books and there is no getting away from it. If you want to work on something like this, you’ve got to know something. Knowledge doesn’t emanate from the atmosphere. You do have to do it.”

The Herbert and Elizabeth Clark Residence (1911 Craftsman)

The original owner of this engineering marvel was British émigré Herbert H. Clark, a mechanical engineer who was manager of the Los Angeles office of Charles C. Moore & Company, an engineering firm engaged in power plant work. Clark designed this Craftsman house himself, devising a unique curving bay window and parabolic piano niches. In 1918, Clark hired architect Andrew Graham Paul, a Scotsman, to design a master bedroom extension plus the addition of gables on the front and west sides of the house. Paul had settled in Los Angeles in 1909, soon purchasing a nearby West Adams District home himself. By the time he arrived in California, Paul had established his professional reputation as a painter, architect and decorator, and one of his first projects here was the ceiling of the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank. He was also an inventor, and the patents for his Paul Steam Heating System are now archived at the Smithsonian.

The Albert and Bertha Denney Residence (1922 Mediterranean Revival)

When Jivaro Ray and Howard Hintz saw the 2,500-foot-square home for the first time in 2004, it was in a condition of devastation. The house had been neglected and nearly gutted with most of its interior period architectural features removed, including most of the plaster. However, they saw potential to give new life to this exotic Mediterranean beauty.    

In 1921, Albert R. Denney, a Des Moines, Iowa, farmer, moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles, where he designed and built this house. The Victoria Park Co. development had not progressed quite as originally envisioned, and after World War I, there were still lots where no construction had taken place, including this one. Denney erected the house in one of the most popular architectural styles of the day.

Ray and Hintz have significantly renovated and updated the house. The kitchen, which was totally gutted at the time of the purchase, was one of their major projects. Looking at this modern kitchen equipped with the latest appliances, it is hard to see that it once belonged to rats and mice.  

The owners also added a swimming pool, terraces and significant landscaping in the front and back of the house. Ray confesses that he and his partner love the house so much that they often stay an entire weekend in the property.

In June 2007, WAHA will host another tour in the Jefferson Park bungalow area where many Japanese Americans lived before WWII. Reservation required in order to participate in the WAHA tours. For more information on WAHA and their tours, check their web site at www.westadamsheritage.com.