Wattles Mansion

Infobox Modern building

---

caption = Wattles Mansion exterior
name = Jualita or Wattles Mansion
location_town = Los Angeles
location_country = United States
coordinates =
architect = Elmer Grey, Myron Hunt
client = Gurdon Wattles
engineer =
construction_start_date=
completion_date = 1907
date_demolished =
cost =
structural_system =
style = Mission Revival|The Wattles Estate, which was originally known as Jualita, is located at 1824 North Curson Avenue in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California. It was built in 1907 by wealthy Omaha, Nebraska banker Gurdon Wattles as a winter home. Today it has been split into several areas, including the Wattles Mansion, Wattles Park and Wattles Gardens.

The estate has been recognized as "the only remaining intact example of the once plentiful Hollywood estates from the period preceding the film industry, when Hollywood was primarily agricultural and was a wintering home for wealthy Easterners and Midwesterners." [ [http://www.californiapreservation.org/res/WattlesEstate.pdf "Wattles Estate"] , California Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 2/12/08.] According to the City of Los Angeles, "'Jualita' is one of the few remaining landscapes reminiscent of another era and tradition, possessing a genuine integrity of setting, design, workmanship, and association." [ [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:N8y7Rr14h2QJ:www.laparks.org/dos/historic/wattlesmansion.htm+http://www.laparks.com/dos/historic/wattlesmansion.htm&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a "Wattles Mansion"] , City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved 2/9/08.]

History

Noted local architects Myron Hunt and Elmer Grey designed the Mission Revival residence in 1907 with grounds featuring a Japanese garden, an Italian Rose garden, a formal Spanish garden, a palm court and orchards. It was one of Hollywood's first tourist attractions. [ [http://www.herecomestheguide.com/location/detail/wattles-mansion "Wattles Mansion"] , Herecomestheguide.com. Retrieved 2/6/08.] Wattles was responsible for gradually transforming 49 acres of agricultural land intoclarify-inlineorchards, thematic gardens and naturalistic landscapes.

After Wattles' death in 1932, his wife and his son continued to live on the property. Gurdon Wallace Wattles, Jr. negotiated the sale of the residence to the City of Los Angeles in 1965. In March of that year, the City of Los Angeles Board of Recreation and Parks Commission adopted Resolution 5135, designating the Wattles estate as an acquisition area, and purchased the property for $1,917,000 in June 1968. [ [http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/archives/collections/jlsp/interpreter63a.doc "Jualita: a fond memory for a JLS graduate"] , The US Navy Japanese/Oriental Language School Archival Project. Retrieved 2/7/08.]

Hollywood Heritage, a private non-profit preservation organization, began restoration efforts in 1983, and today the estate serves as their headquarters. Over the next several years volunteers with the organization removed several feet of mud from the garden, replanted landscaping, and repainted and refinished the interior woodwork. Through their efforts, the Wattles Mansion has been returned to its original state. In 1993 the Wattles Mansion was designated as City of Los Angeles Cultural Monument No. 579. In 2000 the J. Paul Getty Trust donated $75,000 towards a Preserve L.A. planning project designed to further the site's preservation. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2000_July_27/ai_63721443 "Getty Announces $1.4 Million in Grants for Architectural Preservation of Historic Buildings and Sites in Los Angeles County"] , BusinessWire. July 27, 2000. Retrieved 2/7/08.] There have been reports of ghosts surrounding the mansion. [Dillon, C.R. (2004) "Those Pesky Spooks." iUniverse. p 126.]

Wattles Mansion

The home is two stories with a full basement. The first-floor rooms include a paneled library, a formal dining room, a large living room with a picture window to the south gardens, two large bathrooms off the entrance hall, a servant's dining hall and a kitchen and pantry. Five bedrooms and three baths are on the second floor.

Some of the original features in the Wattles Mansion include a black-and-white-checkerboard marble floor in the foyer, and intricately carved walnut bookcases and a hand-painted ceiling in the library. Hardwood moldings, white stucco walls, wood-beamed ceilings and hardwood floors with Oriental carpets are found throughout the house. There is a terracotta tile terrace and a wide, sloping lawn. Brick landings on a wide stairway go downwards towards landscaped terraces on each side, with a Spanish balustraded patio overlooking three acres of formal gardens. [ [http://www.herecomestheguide.com/location/detail/wattles-mansion "Wattles Mansion"] , Herecomestheguide.com. Retrieved 2/6/08.]

Wattles Farm

Once the avocado and fruit orchard of the Wattles Mansion, in 1975 a group of local residents converted a convert|4.2|acre|m2|sing=on section of the then-neglected Wattles estate into a community garden. Today this members-only organic garden is among the oldest community gardens in Los Angeles. It is run by a nonprofit organization called the Wattles Farm and Neighborhood Gardeners, Inc., in partnership with the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. [LaTempa, S. (2004) [http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/food/la-fo-wattles23jun23,1,6589678,full.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-food "A plot-driven garden story: Wattles Farm brings out the cook -- and picnicker -- in its gardener-members,"] "Los Angeles Times". June 23, 2004. Retrieved 2/9/08.]

Wattles Park

Many of the gardens surrounding Wattles Mansion have been designated as Wattles Park. In the 1970s and '80s the park was popular among L.A.'s punk scene. [Ruddick, S.M. (2001) "Young and Homeless in Hollywood: Mapping Social Identities." Routledge. p 113.] Gurdon Wattles met the original head gardener during his world travels in 1910, and retained him for the next 20 years until his death in 1930. Gurdon's concept for the gardens was influenced by trips to Mexico and Japan; he bought a tea house, shrines and lanterns from Japan for use in the gardens. Four gardens were eventually developed, with the first corresponding to the architecture of the house, the second Italian, the third American, and the fourth Japanese.

Today the Wattles Park occupies approximately 50 acres of a long narrow corridor of space that rises convert|950|ft|m from Hollywood Boulevard. The lower park is convert|4.13|acre|m2 in size and fronts on Hollywood Boulevard. The Wattles Mansion and formal garden area runs along the private roadway to the building. The early American garden area is directly behind the residence and was composed of rose and vegetable gardens. The Japanese teahouse along Curson Avenue was a gift to the City of Los Angeles from the City of Nagoya, its sister city in Japan. The Japanese garden portion of the grounds was designed by Fugo, an influential landscape architect in Japan. All of the shrubs, plants, and vegetation were brought directly from Japan for the garden. [ [http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:N8y7Rr14h2QJ:www.laparks.org/dos/historic/wattlesmansion.htm+http://www.laparks.com/dos/historic/wattlesmansion.htm&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a "Wattles Mansion"] , City of Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved 2/9/08.]

Eviction Notice

Hollywood Heritage has been served an eviction notice by the city of Los Angeles for failure to maintain the landmark and for throwing loud parties. Hollywood Heritage has denied the allegations and said it will meet September 29, 2008 with city officials in an effort to retain its operating license agreement. [ [http://www.knbc.com/news/17523474/detail.html] ]

Cultural references

Author Lucky McKee used the park as a backdrop in the novel "May". The mansion was featured on the television series "The O.C.", in the movie "Troop Beverly Hills", and the sanatarium scenes in the film "Rain Man" were shot there as well. [ [http://www.seeing-stars.com/OC/KaitlinsSchool.shtml "Kaitlin's School,"] Scenes from The O.C. Retrieved 2/6/08.] It was also featured in Jennifer Lopez's first film, "My Family". [Lindquist, R.B. (2006) "Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California." St. Martin's Griffin. p 245.]

ee also

*History of Hollywood, California

References

External links

* [http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/wattles/wattles.html Wattles Mansion and Gardens] webpage.