HomeMy WebLinkAbout960 Singing Wood DrDPR 523A (1/95) *Required information
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI #
PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial
NRHP Status Code 6Z
Other Listings
Review Code Reviewer Date
Page 1 of 6 Resource Name or #: 960 Singing Wood Drive P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. County: Los Angeles and (P2b and P2c or P2d. Attach a
Location Map as necessary.)
*b. USGS 7.5' Quad: Mt. Wilson CA Date: 1988 T 1N; R 11W ; S.B.B.M.
c. Address: 960 Singing Wood Drive City: Arcadia Zip: 91006
d. UTM: Zone: 11; mE/ mN (G.P.S.)
e. Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate) APN: 5769-013-004
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries)
This one-story Colonial Revival Ranch style home is situated on the south side of Singing Wood Drive below street grade in a
residential neighborhood. It is roughly U-shaped in plan and is surmounted by a moderately-pitched, cross-gabled roof sheathed
with wood shake. It has narrow eaves and the exterior walls are clad with wide wood clapboard, brick, and vertical boards. The
asymmetrical, north-facing façade includes a wood-framed multi-paned double-hung window, a recessed entry with a single wood
door flanked by sidelights, an ivy-covered chimney flanked by wood-framed multi-paned double-hung windows, and a projecting
wing with a ribbon of wood-framed multi-paned double-hung windows below a round attic vent. The entry features vertical boards,
the projecting wing has a very simple pedimented gable, and the windows are flanked by decorative wood shutters.
The west elevation has a wood door (possibly for the water heater), three wood-framed multi-paned double-hung windows, a
south-facing wood-and-glass door, a wood-framed multi-paned double-hung window, a pair of vinyl-framed sliding windows, a
breezeway, and a garage with a south-facing door.
The rear of the house is generally U-shaped and includes wood-framed casement windows, sliding glass doors, a wood and
glass door, and wood-framed multi-paned double-hung windows. The back yard features a swimming pool, a separate spa, and
terraced concrete-and-brick patios. The well-maintained property has several mature trees including at least one oak tree and the
house retains a high degree of integrity.
*P3b. Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP2-Single-family property
*P4. Resources Present: Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.)
P5b. Description of Photo: (View,
date, accession #) Façade, view to
the south (3/27/19)
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and
Sources: Historic
Prehistoric Both
1953 (Building permit)
*P7. Owner and Address:
Unknown
*P8. Recorded by: (Name,
affiliation, and address)
Casey Tibbet, M.A.
LSA Associates, Inc.
1500 Iowa Avenue, Suite 200
Riverside, California 92507
*P9. Date Recorded:
March 27, 2019
*P10. Survey Type: (Describe)
Intensive-level CEQA compliance
*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.") None.
*Attachments: NONE Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record
Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record
Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List):
P5a. Photo or Drawing (Photo required for buildings, structures, and objects.)
See Continuation Sheet
DPR 523B (1/95) *Required information
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#
BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
Page 2 of 6 *NRHP Status Code 6Z *Resource Name or # (Assigned by recorder) 960 Singing Wood Drive
B1. Historic Name:
B2. Common Name:
B3. Original Use: Single-family residence B4. Present Use: Single-family residence
*B5. Architectural Style: Colonial Revival Ranch
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations)
1952 – Permit issued to owner Robert Eddy for a house and garage. Builder is listed as Frank Legg.
1953 – Permit for house and garage finalized.
1961 – Permit issued to owner Robert Eddy for heat and air conditioning
1971 – Permit issued to owner W. Murphy for a water heater
1978 – Permits issued to owner William Murphy for a swimming pool and heat and air conditioning
1983 – Permit issued for solar for swimming pool
1997 – Permit issued for new driveway approach
2000 – Permit to reroof house and garage with shake
2005 – Permit issued to owners William A. and Nan B. Trust for water treatment softener
*B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date: Original Location:
*B8. Related Features:
B9a. Architect: Unknown b. Builder: Frank Legg
*B10. Significance: Theme: Postwar Residential Development 1945–1970 Area: City of Arcadia
Period of Significance: 1953 Property Type: Single-family residence Applicable Criteria: NA
(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.)
This one-story 1953 Colonial Revival Ranch style residence is not eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical
Resources under any criteria. Although it retains integrity and is associated with the post-World War II residential boom, on its own,
it is not particularly representative of that event. There is no indication that it is associated with historically significant people or that
it is the work of a master. It is a fairly common style and type and does not possess high artistic values. It is not a historical
resource for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Historic Context: Originally owned by the San Gabriel Mission and then a part of Rancho Santa Anita, the land that includes
present-day Arcadia was deeded to Scottish immigrant Hugo Reid in 1839 (City of Arcadia 2012). Reid was the first to make a
modern impact on the land, raising cattle and building the first structure (City of Arcadia 2012). After a succession of owners, in
1875 Elias J. “Lucky” Baldwin purchased the land, along with much of the surrounding area and named it Arcadia (Ibid.).
Residential development from 1875 to 1909 is one of the first important themes in the City’s history (Architectural Resources Group
2016). See Continuation Sheet
B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes)
*B12. References:
Ancestry.com
Var. A variety of records were accessed online in April 2019 at: http://home.ancestry.com/. These include city directories,
voter registration records, and United States Census Data.
Arcadia Tribune
1962 Store Displays Church’s Model. October 25, page 13.
Architectural Resources Group
2016 “City of Arcadia Citywide Historic Context Statement.”
Accessed online at: https://www.arcadiaca.gov/government/
city-departments/development-services/historic-preservation
See Continuation Sheet
B13. Remarks:
*B14. Evaluator: Casey Tibbet, M.A., LSA Associates, Inc., 1500 Iowa
Avenue, Suite 200, Riverside, CA 92507
*Date of Evaluation: April 2019
(This space reserved for official comments.)
(Sketch Map with north arrow required.)
Refer to Location Map
DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information
State of California - The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Primary #
HRI #
Trinomial
Page 3 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) 960 Singing Wood Drive
*Recorded by LSA Associates, Inc. *Date: April 2019 X Continuation Update
P5a. Photo or Drawing (continued from page 1)
Portions of the east and north (façade) elevations, view to the
west (3/27/19).
Façade, main entry, view to the southwest (3/27/19)
*B10. Significance: (continued from page 2)
In 1885, the main line of the Santa Fe Railroad, in which
Baldwin was a stockholder, was opened through Baldwin’s
property, making it practical to subdivide part of the land into a
town site. By 1887, Baldwin was actively attempting to draw
residents to the area, but sales were slow and the densest
development occurred in the core of the town near the
intersection of the railroads (Architectural Resources Group
2016:33). Residential development in this part of town was on
small lots, while development farther south was on multi-acre
parcels (Ibid.). As late as 1903, when a census was taken to
ascertain the population of the proposed City of Arcadia, the
area only had 642 residents and many lived and worked on the
Baldwin Ranch or were temporary residents working for the
railroads (Ibid.). Regardless, with a booming economy
increasingly based on entertainment, sporting, hospitality, and
gambling, Arcadia was incorporated in 1903, with Baldwin as its
first mayor (City of Arcadia 2012).
West half of façade, view to the south (3/27/19)
Moving into the 1910s, Arcadia’s growth remained slow and steady (Architectural Resources Group 2016). However, the city began
shifting away from “its sporting days to more respectable pursuits, as it outlawed liquor licensing in 1912 and embarked on a series of
civic improvements” (Architectural Resources Group 2016:44). By 1915, electric streetlights had been installed in some areas and
streets were graded and oiled (Ibid.). Residential development in the 1910s saw the subdivision of larger parcels into smaller ones (2.5
to 5 acres) that attracted a wider variety of buyers who were interested in a more suburban lifestyle with room for some agricultural
pursuits (Architectural Resources Group 2016:49). Most of the 1910s subdivisions followed a grid pattern with graded and sometimes
paved roads without curbs or sidewalks (Architectural Resources Group 2016).
After World War I, the region thrived and the 1920s were a transformative period in Arcadia’s development (Architectural Resources
Group 2016). Residential subdivision accelerated with tracts designed in grid patterns like those of the 1910s, but with smaller lots
(Architectural Resources Group 2016:36). Single-family residential construction dominated the period (Ibid.). Most of these were
modest in size and the earliest were constructed in the Craftsman style, with Period Revival styles becoming dominant in the mid-1920s
and into the 1930s (Ibid.). The smaller lot subdivisions were located closer to the original town center, Pacific Electric lines, and the
commercial district at Huntington and First, while the larger multi-acre lots were in what was then the southern part of town (Ibid.).
See Continuation Sheet
DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information
State of California - The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Primary #
HRI #
Trinomial
Page 4 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) 960 Singing Wood Drive
*Recorded by LSA Associates, Inc. *Date: April 2019 X Continuation Update
*B10. Significance: (continued from page 3)
The 1936 to 1945 period was characterized nationally by massive unemployment and economic uncertainty, but Arcadia was one of
the few places that did not experience a near cessation of construction (Architectural Resources Group 2016:65). The major factors for
this were Anita Baldwin selling off the remaining approximately 1,300 acres of the Baldwin Ranch; establishment of military facilities and
the related increase in demand for commercial businesses; and construction of a County park, which was a large Works Progress
Administration (WPA) project (Ibid.). The Baldwin acreage was parceled out into a number of residential subdivisions that jumpstarted
construction between 1936 and 1941 (Ibid.).
With the end of World War II (WWII) and the return of thousands of veterans, Arcadia and the greater Los Angeles area saw an
enormous explosion in the development of affordable housing. Much of this development took the architectural vocabulary of the pre-
war years and combined it into simplified styles suitable for mass developments and small-scale apartments (City of Los Angeles
2011). Development during the 1945–1970 period transformed the city from semi-rural to suburban earning it the nickname a
“Community of Homes” (Architectural Resources Group 2016).
Citywide Historic Resources Survey. In 2016, a citywide historic resources survey was completed for the City. This survey has not
been formally adopted by the City Council and is currently being used informally by city staff and preservationists. The subject
residence, 960 Singing Wood Drive, was not included in the survey either individually or as a contributor to a potential historic district.
People Associated with this Residence. According to building permits, the original owner was Robert Eddy and the builder was
Frank Legg (City of Arcadia var.). An online search of news articles revealed that Frank Legg was based in Pasadena and that Frank
Legg and/or Frank Legg and Son was the builder of record for the Manhattan Beach Community Church (1957); Shepherd of the Hills
Lutheran Church (1962, Pasadena); American Lutheran Church (1963, Burbank); and Church of the Foothills (1964, Duarte) (Los
Angeles Times 1957 and 1963; Arcadia Tribune 1962; Pasadena Independent 1964). No other relevant information for Frank Legg was
found.
The original owners of the house were Robert and Dorothy Jo Eddy, owner/operators of the Seafood Tavern (City of Arcadia var.;
Ancestry.com var.). Robert and Dorothy Jo opened the Seafood Tavern on the southwest corner of Foothill and Rosemead Boulevards
in 1939 with partner and chef Charles Biele (Independent Star-News 1964). The successful restaurant remained a regional favorite until
it was sold and demolished in 1967 (Pasadena Independent 1967). Robert and Dorothy Jo lived here until at least 1963 (Ancestry.com
var.). In 1965, Robert passed away in a convalescent hospital after a year-long illness (Pasadena Independent 1965). That same year
(1965), City directories list William and Nan Murphy at this address (Ancestry.com var.). In 1965, William was listed as an insurance
broker, but in 1968 he was vice-president of Touch Plate Electro-Systems in Long Beach and was also a Director of Republic National
Bank (Independent Press Telegram 1968). In 1969, he was listed as an insurance broker (Ancestry.com var.). The Murphys lived in the
house at least until 1970 (Ibid.). William Murphy died in 2015 and according to his obituary he was born in 1926 in San Francisco, grew
up in Sierra Madre, and as an adult lived in Arcadia (Los Angeles Times 2015). In 1958, he started Builders Disbursements, Inc. In
1963, he was cofounder and an officer of Silverlake National Bank along with actor James Garner and was also a founder of two
insurance firms (Ibid.). No additional relevant information was found for any of these people.
Architectural Context. According to McAlester (2013), the Colonial Revival Ranch sub-type evolved from the Minimal Traditional Cape
Cod houses of the pre-WWII period. These homes are often symmetrical or include a symmetrical central house block, are often side-
gabled or hipped, and are commonly clad in red brick or wood siding. The front door is usually prominent and may be enhanced with a
Colonial Revival surround or entry porch (McAlester 2013:696).
Significance Evaluation. In compliance with CEQA, this property is being evaluated under the California Register criteria. There is no
local preservation ordinance or criteria.
Criterion 1: Associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history
or the cultural heritage of California or the United States. This residence is part of a pre-WWII subdivision consisting of one of the
last of the Baldwin family lands. However, the majority of the homes, including the subject residence, were built during the post-WWII
period. Therefore, the residence is more closely associated with the post-WWII residential boom that made a significant contribution to
the broad patterns of local, regional, and even national history, than with the pre-WWII subdivision. “More than 40 million housing units
were built in the United States during the 30 year period following the end of World War II, and at least 30 million of these were single-
family houses” (California Department of Transportation 2011:2). These homes were typically modest in size and style and constructed
in a short time as part of large tracts marketed to the working class. “The fundamental unit for postwar housing is not the individual
house, but the tract, or a single construction phase within a larger tract or new community” and typically a single home would not be
individually significant in this context (California Department of Transportation 2011:121). As with most homes associated with this
historic context, individually this residence is unimportant and insignificant. It is not located in an area that has been identified as a
potential historic district. See Continuation Sheet
DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information
State of California - The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Primary #
HRI #
Trinomial
Page 5 of 6 *Resource Name or #: (Assigned by recorder) 960 Singing Wood Drive
*Recorded by LSA Associates, Inc. *Date: April 2019 X Continuation Update
*B10. Significance: (continued from page 4)
Criterion 2: Associated with the lives of persons important to local, California or national history. Based on the research
discussed above, the residence does not appear to be associated with persons important in history.
Criterion 3: Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region or method of construction or represents the
work of a master or possesses high artistic values. The residence retains a high degree of integrity and embodies some of the
distinctive characteristics of the Colonial Revival Ranch style such as the brick and wood cladding, the prominent entry, and the simple
pedimented gables. However, it is not a strong example of the style. There is no indication that it was designed by a master architect
and it does not possess high artistic values.
Criterion 4: Has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the local area,
California or the nation. This residence was built in 1953 using common materials and construction practices. It does not have the
potential to yield information important to the history or prehistory of the local area, California, or the nation.
*B12. References: (continued from page 2)
California Department of Transportation
2011 Tract Housing in California, 1945-1973. A Context for National Register Evaluation. Caltrans Division of Environmental
Analysis, Sacramento.
City of Arcadia
Var. Building permits for 960 Singing Wood Drive. Accessed online in April 2019 at: http://laserfiche.ci.arcadia.ca.us/WebLink/
Welcome.aspx?cr=1.
2012 History of Arcadia. http://www.ci.arcadia.ca.us/home/index.asp?page=1102.
City of Los Angeles
2011 Jefferson Park HPOZ Preservation Plan, City of Los Angeles. Accessed in 2012 online at: http://preservation.lacity.org/files/
Jefferson%20Park%20(Small%20File)%20PP.pdf.
Independent Press Telegram
1968 Elected. June 9, page 61.
Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor
n.d. Property information accessed online in April 2019 at: http://maps.assessor.lacounty.gov/GVH_2_2/Index.html?configBase=
http://maps.assessor.lacounty.gov/Geocortex/Essentials/REST/sites/PAIS/viewers/PAIS_hv/virtualdirectory/Resources/Config/
Default.
Los Angeles Times
1957 Church Ground Breaking Set. November 10, page 44.
1963 New Church Under Way. August 18, page 125.
2015 William Andrew Murphy. June 7, page 18.
McAlester, Virginia Savage
2013 A Field Guide to American Houses. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
Pasadena Independent
1964 Holy Communion to Be Celebrated Sunday. June 12, page 39.
1965 Robert Eddy Services Set for Today. August 5, page 23.
1967 Seafood Tavern Closing. February 17, page 16.
Pasadena Independent Star-News
1964 Seafood Tavern Topics, Silver Anniversary. July 5, page 80.
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FOOTHILL BOULE VARD
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BALDWIN AVENUE§¨¦210MICHILLINDA AVENUEH U N T I N G T O N D R I V EI:\MPO1901\Reports\Cultural\DPRlocation.mxd (4/3/2019)DP R 5 23J (1/95)*Required Info rmation
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*M ap Name: *Scale: 1:24000 *Date of Map: 1988; 2017
*Resource Nam e or # (Assigned by recorder) 960 Singing W ood D rive
Prim ary #
HR I #
Trin omial
Stat e of California - Resource AgencyDEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONLOCATION MAP
S IN G IN G WOOD DRIVE
AIN: 5769-013-004960 Singing Wood Drive
USGS 7.5' Quad, M t. Wilson; Google Earth