Victorian Residences on Bunker Hill

In 1867, a wealthy developer, Prudent Beaudry, purchased a majority of the hill's land. Because of the hill's excellent views of the Los Angeles Basin and the then-attractive Los Angeles River, he knew that it would make for an opulent subdivision. He developed the peak of Bunker Hill with lavish two-story Victorian houses that became famous as homes for the upper-class, educated residents of Los Angeles.Angels Flight, dubbed "The World's Shortest Railway", took residents from the top of the hill to the bottom of the 33% grade and thus to the main business district. Much like today's Bunker Hill, the land of the hill was zoned for dense uses, and was therefore always a very busy area. Let's take a view to some of those glamorous victorian homes, all of them gone and vanished.

The Miller home on Bunker Hill on the southwest corner of 2nd Street and Bunker Hill Avenue. It was located across from the Berke mansion and was built in 1890.

The Llewelyn Bixby home at 138 North Hill Street, which later became the Harmonia Apartments.

The Llewelyn Bixby home at 138 North Hill Street, which later became the Harmonia Apartments.

Rev. Edward T. Hildreth's home on Bunker Hill at 357 South Hope Street. Built in 1891, it occupied the northwest corner of the intersection, later the southeast corner of Security Pacific Plaza.

Exterior corner front view of the two-story Victorian Gothic style home of Miss Almira Parker Hershey on the northwest corner of 4th Street and South Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill in Los Angeles.

The home of Fred Baker located on the southeast corner of Fort Moore Place and Broadway.

The Bunker Hill residence of Frank A. Gibson at 520 Court Street. His son, Hugh Gibson, also lived here and later became the U. S. Ambassador to Switzerland.

Houses located on Fort Moore Hill at 426 North Broadway. The Milo Baker residence is on the left. The Hilliker house was the last residence to be built on the hill, according to the Los Angeles Times of April 1, 1934, Roto. section, page 2. Milo Baker was president of Baker Iron Works and he built his house prior to 1889. The Newsom brothers contributed as architects but their extent is not known.

This victorian house was located at 321 S Bunker Hill Avenue. It was owned by Lady Macdonald. The building had some excentrities, such an elevator in it.

Early years

Above, a view from across the street on Bunker Hill of two Victorian style hotels on the 100 block of S. Grand Ave., the Richlieu on the right and the Hotel Melrose on the left.

Bellow, an unpaved Olive Street, looking north from approximately 7th or 8th Street in a time when it was a residential area. Bunker Hill can be seen in the distance. Horse-drawn vehicles are also visible.

ESPAÑOL:

Arriba, vistos a pie de calle en Bunker Hill, dos hoteles de estilo victoriano, localizados en el número 100 al sur de Grand Avenue: el hotel Richlieu a la derecha, y el hotel Melrose a la izquierda. La fotografía es de fecha incierta, pero debe situarse a finales del siglo XIX.

Abajo, vista al norte de Olive Street aún sin pavimentar, a la altura de los números 7 o 8. En aquel tiempo Olive Street era una zona residencial. Podemos ver parte del Bunker Hill al fondo, así como diversos vehículos tirados a caballo.

Court Hill

Probabbly taken in the last decade of the 19th century or at the beginning of the XX century, the view shows a section of Court Hill, another famaus hill where Downtonw Los Angeles got settled.

Hill. The neighborhood is still very much in its heyday. Note that the Court Flight funicular railway (1904) has not yet been built on the dirt slope in the foreground at center right. And, in case you're curious, that large, remarkable Victorian residence at Court and Hill Streets is the Bradbury Mansion (1887-1929).

Do click on the images and have a look at the enlargements. The detail that can be seen is really quite impressive.

From: http://losangelespast.blogspot.com/ and LAPL.

Sepulveda House

Sepulveda House is a 22-room Victorian house built in 1887 in the East lake style. The original structure included two commercial businesses and three residences. It is now the site of the Plaza District's Visitors' Center, which includes an 18-minute video of the Pueblo's early history.

Source: www.wikipedia.org

Español:

Esta es la Casa Sepúlveda, tal y como se ve a día de hoy. Esta mansión, de estilo victoriano, cuenta con 22 habitaciones y, originalmente fue concebida para albergar 2 negocios y 3 residencias. Su construcción fue encargarda por doña Eloisa Martínez de Sepúlveda (1863-1903), quien, oriunda de Sonora, México, llegó a Los Ángeles en 1874. Curiosamente, la señora Sepúlveda se convirtió con el tiempo en la primera mujer de negocios independiente de la ciudad (principalmente se dedicó a la ganadería, llegando a tener su propio sello de ganado) y su fortunua la llevó hasta la calle Olvera donde su mansión y sus megocios relucían con todo lujo.

Esta residencia también fue salvada del abandono y hoy se ha convertido en el centro de visitantes del Plaza Distric o del distrito de la Plaza, y en él se proyecta para los turisticas un video que explica la historia de la fundación de El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Ángeles. El inmueble ya figura en el Registro Nacional de Lugares Históricos de Estados Unidos.