Community Corner

Palm Avenue Bungalows are Cultural Resources, Says WeHo HPC

Should the West Hollywood City Council heed the recommendation of the historic preservation commission, the bungalows would be saved from demolition.

The West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission on Tuesday evening voted to recommend that a pair of condos located on North Palm Avenue be be designated as cultural resources, a move that could squash the owner's plans to demolish the century-old buildings.

Should the West Hollywood City Council heed the commission's advice, the houses located at 927 and 931 N. Palm Ave. would be added to the city's Old Sherman Thematic Grouping, a cluster of architecturally similar homes that date back to the pre-WeHo settlement of Sherman.

According the commission's report, both properties were built in 1902 and "reflect significant geographical patterns associated with different eras of growth and settlement and transportation modes because of their association with the development of Sherman, and thereby exemplify special elements of [West Hollywood]."

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The commission denied the request of applicants Katherine Eggert and Kristin Gosney to also recommend that the property at 923 N. Palm Ave. be designated as a cultural resource.

The commission found that the property "does not meet any of the City’s criteria for designation because the building has been altered and has therefore lost its ability to sufficiently evoke its historic feeling and association with the past."

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The city council will take up the commission's recommendation following a ten-day appeals period; the item has not yet been officially added to the city council's agenda. 

Should the motion pass in council, it would spell the end of property owner David Vayner's efforts to demolish the three vintage bungalows that were built in the early 1900s and replace them with two four-story, 12-unit condo complexes.

In December, Vayner told Patch that the redevelopment project was inspired by the fact that the bungalows were no longer profitable as rental properties.

"Financially it's not supporting itself ... it's very old," Vayner told Patch.


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