A Jolly Holiday in Oxford Square

Sunset in Oxford Square from the porch of the Craftsman McQuillan/Clark Residence

On a freezing Saturday evening we drove a few miles east to Oxford Square and the 27th Annual Holiday Tour and Progressive Dinner hosted by the West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA).  We've been attending these tours and dinners, of and on, for about 10 years.  We always have a wonderful time, touring these magnificent historic homes in our great City.

This year's tour was just north of the West Adams border...north of Pico Boulevard on Windsor Boulevard and Victoria Avenue.  Most of the homes were built in the early 1900s and Craftsman in style.  We also visited some transitional Victorian/Craftsman homes, a Tudor Revival and a Colonial Revival home.  The tour homes were on a slight knoll, offering magnificent views of the City.  

From the Tour Guide about Oxford Square...."It was the introduction of the streetcar that was paramount to the growth and expansion of Los Angeles, as the young city began spreading further outward from its downtown core at the beginning of the 20th Century."

We were very lucky that the rain subsided.  It was cold, but everyone was bundled up.  As long as we were walking from home to home, we stayed reasonably warm.  

We were served a course of our dinner at each house.  We had Afternoon High Tea Appetizers; Soup; Salad; Dinner and Dessert....5 houses, in addition to the sign-in house.  There were members of WAHA in each home serving our meal to us and docents giving us tours of various architectural details of each home.  Many of the owners displayed before and after photographs, showing their renovations.  We also learned of the history of each home, ownership and title, when available.

Salad:  Winter spinach with roasted squash and sweet potatoes and warm citrus dressing

We always meet the most interesting people on this tour too.  Of course, most are fascinated with the beauty of these old homes and interested in preservation.  Our tour guides for the event were Rory Cunningham and David Pacheco....two fellows we know from the L.A. Conservancy.  We were delighted with Rory's descriptive and enthusiastic pontifications about the history of the area!

Tour Guide, Rory Cunningham and Photographer Larry "Tam-O-Shanter" Underhill

I drove back to the neighborhood on Sunday so I could take a few photos during the light of day of the exteriors of some of these magnificent homes. 

Backyard at the Welcome House

Champagne and appetizers at the McQuillan Clark Residence

Entertainment at the Salad House, Clark Residence

Dining in the Tent on the Tennis Court at the Lukei Residence

We ran into our Wilshire Vista neighbor, Judy on the tour!

WAHA Members helping prepare our feast

The Dinner House, Lukei Residence, Colonial Revival Style Architecture

Craftsman Style, McQuillan/Clark Residence

Broodeen/Quitzow Residence, Craftsman Bungalow

WAHA sponsors another interesting tour during the year,  The Living History Tour at Angelus Rosedale Cemetery.  This tour takes place at the Cemetery.  From the website:  "Each year in the fall a half dozen famous or interesting people buried at Angelus Rosedale are selected, their lives researched, and community members enlisted to portray them, in costume and at graveside."  WAHA is a most active group of enthusiastic preservationists.  I've also run into a few of their community meet-ups at The Blu Elefant Cafe.

Each year in the fall a half dozen famous or interesting people buried at Angelus Rosedale are selected, their lives researched, and community members enlisted to portray them, in costume and at graveside. - See more at: http://www.westadamsheritage.org/angelus#sthash.6ie425tZ.dpuf

Each year in the fall a half dozen famous or interesting people buried at Angelus Rosedale are selected, their lives researched, and community members enlisted to portray them, in costume and at graveside. - See more at: http://www.westadamsheritage.org/angelus#sthash.6ie425tZ.dpuf

Each year in the fall a half dozen famous or interesting people buried at Angelus Rosedale are selected, their lives researched, and community members enlisted to portray them, in costume and at graveside. - See more at: http://www.westadamsheritage.org/angelus#sthash.6ie425tZ.dpuf

Angelus Rosedale Cemetery

Next year, you MUST make reservations for this progressive dinner and tour on the WAHA website.  It's highly entertaining.

Throwback Sunday

WAHA Residents Open Mic

On Sunday afternoon I joined my crochet buddies at the Blu Elefant Cafe in West Adams for a couple of hours of yarny pursuits.   We were sitting on the couches near the windows for about an hour, when more people than usual starting entering the Cafe.  Turns out, the West Adams Heritage Association was having an open-mic mixer on Sunday from 2-4.  Yes, it was a throwback Sunday that reminded me of my days sitting around various coffee houses of my youth while knitting, sipping and listening to folk musicians sing their original tunes.

This group of residents from WAHA are a particularly preservation-minded group.  A few people looked familiar to me from recent L.A. Conservancy gatherings.  Everyone came over and asked about our knit group.  People were talking about renovations to their historic homes in the area.  A few WAHA residents got up and entertained the group.  It was a delightful afternoon with community-minded folks!

Crocheters, Dommy and Diane

Join us on the third Sunday of every month from 1-3 pm at the Blu Elefant Cafe, 2024 West Washington Blvd., L.A.

West Adams Tour

Check-In House

On Saturday, Rhoda and I attended the West Adams Annual Holiday Home Tour and Dinner. It was the 20th year that WAHA (West Adams Heritage Association) has conducted this tour and holiday dinner. It was fabulous. This year's tour was in Victoria Park (near Pico and Windsor). Most of the homes were built between 1909 and 1915. There was one 'new' house built in 1922. We had an excellent guide who explained about the history of the neighborhood, the architecture, past residents, etc. We walked to all of the houses, 15 minutes between houses and 30 minutes at each house. We were allowed to explore each house (usually upstairs and down). A different menu course was served at each house. There was the meet-up house, the soup house, the salad house, the main course house and the dessert house. Along the way we met some interesting people, had a lovely meal and got to explore a wonderful, historical neighborhood.

Appetizer House

Soup House

Salad House

Main Course House

Dessert House

I went back to the neighborhood on Sunday to take better exterior photos of the houses. It was dark as we walked thru the neighborhood on Saturday. All of the homes had been meticulously restored. The woodwork, built-ins, tile, fireplaces, etc. were elegant and custom. Below are some of the highlights from the various homes.

Built-in Dining Room Cabinets

Vintage Kitchen

Happy Guests

Judson Studios Glass Mural on Landing

Live Entertainment!

Champagne Cake

Happy Anniversary WAHA

Historic Homes & Dinner!

The Crenshaw Mansion

On Saturday Larry treated me to the very festive West Adams Heritage Association Progressive Holiday Dinner and Home Tour to kick off our holiday festivities. This is the 25th year of the tour and it took place in one of the more beautiful areas of Los Angeles, Lafayette Square. This is a photo-heavy post!
I've always loved this area of town. Most of the homes are very stately, usually at least 5,000-6,000 square feet and built in the late teens or early 20's. There are also a number of Mid-Century modern homes in the area, most designed by architect, Paul Williams (who was also a resident).

Interior Detail, Crenshaw Mansion

We chose a 4pm start, which made it possible for us to see half of the homes during daylight hours. Luckily, the weather was fairly mild with only a bit of wind. We registered at the historic Crenshaw Home. WOW! The woodwork in this place is amazing.
Here's the description from the brochure about Lafayette Square:

Originally envisioned by George L. Crenshaw as one of the region’s premier real estate tracts before the area even became a part of Los Angeles in 1909, Lafayette Square’s design was based on European cities, inspired to bring a feeling of tradition and graceful style not widely found in a very young Los Angeles. Crenshaw’s son Charles described the Square, and its central drive, St. Charles Place, as “a ‘Spanish pasear,’ a place where residents could stroll and meet socially.” Over time, Lafayette Square became home to many of Los Angeles’ luminaries including George Pepperdine, Sepulveda family descendent Princess Conchita Pignatelli, Actor Fatty Arbuckle, Alexander Pantages, Norton Simon, boxer Joe Louis, singer Little Richard, and architect Paul R. Williams.

Our tour guide, Susie, first led us to a modern home, built in the 1950's, designed by Paul Williams for the appetizer portion of our progressive meal.

Mid-Century Modern Paul Williams designed home in Lafayette Square

This house is a knockout! It's very different from the classic, older homes in Lafayette Square. The home is still occupied by descendants of the original owners. The appetizers were lovely...hot, cold and zingy. I felt like I was in a Rat-Pack movie while in this house, sipping champagne....very swanky!

Next up, the salad house. Once again, a gorgeous home filled with beautiful antiques.

Drought-Resistant Landscaping at the Salad House

Italianate-Mediterranean style soup house

The soup home housed an incredible collection of Weller Pottery in celadon green! The soup was cream of butternut squash, served in elegant glass mugs.

Weller Pottery Collection in the soup houseThe stately dinner house

The dinner house was not a tour house. However, we did see the exterior, living and dining rooms of this beautiful home. The docents rushed us into the dining area to a yummy dinner, served family style of chicken cacciatore, pasta w/ tomatoes and shaved parmesean, zucchini melange, along with white wine.


My friend and active member of WAHA, Danny Miller was the sommelier at the dinner house. All of the volunteers were really scurrying around to keep the meal on schedule. I heard that there were almost 500 people registered for this event!

Ellen and WAHA volunteer, Danny

Our last stop was an imposing Spanish Colonial Revival home. This style is sometimes referred to as Spanish Romantica. Wow! The towering, beamed ceilings, tile work, built-ins, floors....all were very impressive. The current owners have only lived here for a short time and they are still renovating. I really liked the rustic and "unfinished" look of this place. The owner is an artist and did much of the renovation herself.

Larry at the Spanish Romantica Home

Our dessert was a very rich fudge brownie cake with salted caramel sauce and a touch of whipped cream.

Child Labor at the Romantica Home

All in all, it was a wonderful tour! I urge you to check out the West Adams Heritage Association's website for upcoming events.

Happy Holidays!

West Adams Home Tour

Decorated Craftsman Home

On Saturday we attended the West Adams Home Tour and Progressive Holiday Dinner. As always, it was great. This year we were in the "Avenues" area of West Adams. The theme was a "Festival of Lights" with food from around the world. Larry and I, along with Natalie and Joe enjoyed an interesting tour of the neighborhood, good food and excellent weather.

Joe, Natalie, Larry in front of Spanish Revival Home

From the WAHA website: The West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA) is devoted to preservation of the historic West Adams section of Los Angeles. West Adams is located just south and west of Downtown and contains the city's largest concentration of Victorian and Craftsman homes, five of the city's Historic Preservation Overlay Zones, and a concentration of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments.

Transitional Federal Style Home, designed by
architect, Paul Revere Williams

We had quite a large group this year. Our "shepherds" or leaders of the group dressed in turn-of-the century garb (from the 19th -20th centuries, that is). Many of the homes were decorated, inside and out.

Built-in Hutch, Craftsman Home

Last year, Danny was our tour guide This year, he served us dinner!

We liked this house so much, we decided to stay!