Gentle reader,
We’ve told you before about the gorgeous house called Beaulyland that was designed in 1912 by master architect Arthur B. Benton, who is famous for the Mission Inn and his pioneering work in historic preservation.
You may have listened to our piece on LAist’s Morning Edition about the threat facing this potential landmark, including that the developer is in pre-foreclosure and may lose the building. But the story we shared there is only one piece of the puzzle.
In the latest edition of
’s essential historic preservation and public policy newsletter The Dusty Archive, he looks into the Beaulyland conundrum and makes an alarming discovery.We recommend you click over and read his post BEAULYLAND, A BEAUTY NO MORE? The City Should Promote Adaptive Reuse in its entirety, but we’ll briefly call out his main points here—and then share how YOU can help fix the City’s serious error and protect not just Beaulyland, but every potential Los Angeles landmark that has the misfortune of being owned by someone who wants to tear it down and submits any kind of new building plan to the City.
Mike starts with a scoop: Although the proposed new project for the site is described in the LADBS building permit portal as a “major remodel/addition” of the existing two story house into a three story, 7-unit apartment building, that’s not true.
Through a public records request, Mike obtained the unpublished plans that were submitted to the City, and learned that this so-called “remodel” is actually a demolition, with scraps of wall retained for purely symbolic reasons.
There were no questions asked when this project application was submitted. The City simply reviewed the landscape plan and approved it. If there is consciousness after death, Arthur B. Benton must be pissed!
We told you in a previous newsletter that we asked Emma Howard, the Community Development & Planning Director for Council District 13, about initiating potential landmark designation to protect this unique and remarkable house. She checked with the City Planning Department, and replied that they say their hands are tied by State housing law and no nomination can be considered.
Mike says this is simply not true, either. Here’s why:
City Policy vs. State Law: The City Planning Department and its Office of Historic Resources (OHR) claim they cannot halt the project or accept an Historic Cultural Monument (HCM) nomination because a housing application is filed and the house is not yet designated historic, citing department policy rather than State law.
The Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) Has Authority: Mike argues that under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), specifically referenced in State law (Government Code 65913.10 Part c), the CHC retains the authority to stay demolition in order to assess an historic designation, and this action is not considered a project denial under the Housing Accountability Act (HAA).
Fines Are Not Automatically Imposed: The City’s expressed fear of substantial fines for project denial is a “red herring,” as fines are only imposed if the City disobeys a court order. Simply taking a potential landmark under consideration is the City’s right and duty.
The City Wrongly Grants Rights, Thus Aiding Developers: By refusing to accept valid HCM nominations, the City is erroneously granting developers vested rights that do not exist in the context of existing historic preservation law. The Planning Department’s deliberate inaction—refusing to accept HCM nominations, which prevents the Cultural Heritage Commission from exercising its authority under CEQA—heavily favors developers and denies the public their rights as stakeholders.
Why does the City Treat Westlake and Brentwood Differently? Refusing to accept an HCM application for Beaulyland goes against the precedent set by recent case law, e.g. Brinah Milstein vs. the City of Los Angeles, in which the City responded to public outcry by submitting a landmark nomination for Marilyn Monroe’s house after a demolition application had been submitted, thus temporarily staying demolition, then successfully argued in court that it had the right to declare the house as a protected landmark.
The law is clear: the appointed Cultural Heritage Commissioners are the only ones who have the power to decide if Beaulyland should be considered as a City landmark and if so, sent on to City Council for a vote. The Planning staffers who assist the CHC in their work have no right to keep Beaulyland’s existence and the demolition threat from them nor to inhibit discussion of this matter.
So here’s how YOU can help save Beaulyland, and by extension many other fine Los Angeles buildings that might have the bad luck to be owned by someone who wants to tear them down.
Please send an email to the Cultural Heritage Commissioners, Ken Bernstein in the Office of Historic Resources and Council District 13 councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez. Basic suggested text is below, and you can change it to reflect your personal opinions.
Send the email to: chc@lacity.org, ken.Bernstein@lacity.org, Councilmember.Soto-Martinez@lacity.org
Subject: Request to put discussion of Beaulyland at 284 S Coronado St. (Arthur B. Benton, 1912) on the CHC’s agenda as soon as possible
Suggested text:
Dear friends:
Beaulyland, a beautiful house that has just been discovered to have been designed by master architect Arthur B. Benton is threatened with demolition due to the City Planning Department’s policy, which conflicts with State law.
The preservation advocates who discovered Benton’s association with the property asked Council District 13 to bring the matter to the CHC for consideration, but OHR wrongly claims that the application for a “major remodel/addition” (with plans actually showing near total demolition) prevents this from happening. This policy grants erroneous vested rights to the developer that do not exist: under State law (CA Govt Code § 65913.10 - 2024), CEQA applies, and the Cultural Heritage Commission has authority to take the matter up.
I care about this historic house and about there being a level playing field when historic preservation is concerned. No demolition permit has been granted. Instead of being demolished for a new building containing 7 apartments, Beaulyland could be preserved and turned back into 6 apartments, which it was until recently, and an ADU added.
Please put Beaulyland on the CHC’s agenda as soon as possible, so that the commissioners can honor the will of the people and give Beaulyland a fair chance to be considered for HCM designation.
Please share my email with the Commissioners, and let them know they can visit this link for additional information: https://thedustyarchive.substack.com/beaulyland-a-beauty-no-more
Sincerely, [your name and city/neighborhood]
We really hope you’ll take a moment to speak out, and that when you do, that your voice is heard. And as a special treat for reading this far, and for watching our mini tour of this beautiful block, we’ve got an architectural and spiritual Easter egg just for you.
When we first wrote our Charles Bukowski walking tour—which is happening tomorrow morning, join us, do!—we noticed this beautiful house next to the bungalow court where Bukowski found his voice as a poet and wondered about the odd name Beaulyland.
It wasn’t until we dug into the archives after learning about the demolition plans that we discovered the original owner was Scottish and had lived near the River Beauly.
Ah! but while Beaulyland is indeed a sweet call back to the old country for its immigrant first owner, it’s also a Biblical pun. The nearly identical phrase Beulah Land comes from Isaiah 62:4, a passage about finding a home place where one feels welcome and protected by a power greater than oneself. And there’s even a rousing gospel song about it.
Let’s crank it on up for Sweet Beaulyland, may this home place last another century and change—and how about restoring and turning it back into apartments instead of just tearing it down?
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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Our work—leading tours and historic preservation and cultural landmark advocacy—is about building a bridge between Los Angeles’ past and its future, and not allowing the corrupt, greedy, inept and misguided players who hold present power to destroy the city’s soul and body. If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING WALKING TOURS
• Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (10/4) • Know Your Downtown LA: Bradbury Building, Basements, Dutch Chocolate Shop(10/11) • The Run: Gay Downtown History (10/18) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (11/1) • Highland Park Arroyo Time Travel Trip (11/8) • Richard’s Birthday: Alvarado Terrace & South Bonnie Brae Tract (11/15) • The Real Black Dahlia (11/22) • Hollywood Noir (11/29) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (12/6) • Westlake Park Time Travel Trip (12/13) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (Sunday, 12/21) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher Cases(12/27)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
On Wednesday, before checking in on Beaulyland, we went down to Rancho Los Amigos, the historic Poor Farm property, to watch the water truck that we have been pestering the County to bring in soak the heritage big trees that are designated for protection in the Environmental Impact Report. We hope this video vignette brightens your spirits. You’ll find more here.
City-owned Warner Grand Theatre is closed for restoration, with a bad decision to ditch the vintage Snap Lok letters marquee for glitchy, period-inappropriate LED quietly made by city staff. Cheers to Random Lengths for spotting this threat to heritage.
Here’s a sweet stewardship story: Corona’s beloved Silver Dollar Pancake House has been saved from demolition after the late owners’ kids sold to the folks that want to keep it around forever instead. And they’re restoring the c. 1962 neon sign, too!
The Real Deal reports that the Dream Hotel in Hollywood is heading to foreclosure auction in October, with its lender seeking to recoup over $30 million in unpaid debt. We’re still steamed about what they did to the Morrison Hotel.
Joy! The amazing 90-something Vine American Party Store, displaced when its Melrose building was sold, found a new spot in one of those generic new apartments which usually has perpetually vacant street level retail. And Halloween goods are half off.
As more and more ADUs are crammed into dingbat parking spaces all over Los Angeles, much to the tenants’ dismay, Empty Los Angeles reports on four such units nobody wants to rent. Can’t imagine why not. Such charm. Just $1,650. And that view!
Are you tired of seeing historic Hollywood neglected, demolished and disrespected? Hollywood Heritage seeks preservation committee volunteers to work on an advocacy plan to revitalize the boulevard. Email info@hollywoodheritage.org to get involved.
We checked in on the underfunded Pershing Square remodel. It’s not Agence Ter’s "winning design from Jose Huizar’s suspiciously opaque design competition, but it is an improvement over this section of the park with its dirty concrete, never leased cafe space and deteriorating Barbara McCarren public art installation (the three copper telescopes that let you look back in time are to be restored and returned to the park at a future date). We’re still calling on the city to restore Pershing Square!
UCLA Library Special Collections—where we found the red hot Clifford Clinton private investigation files that feature in our new Hollywood Noir tour—is holding a Curatorial Open House on October 9. These happy gals are collecting signatures for Clinton’s recall efforts against Mayor Frank Shaw. It worked!
A special exhibition opens at Beyond Baroque on October 11 - East of Western: Close Ups of Charles Bukowski by Joan Ganny, followed by weeks of programs celebrating the L.A. poet and the photographer who snared his ragged soul.
Very interesting timing for councilmember Curren Price to suffer a highly visible health crisis in the course of his work, just as things are going so poorly for him in his public corruption case. Will he seek a continuance?
Plus, spotted in Tujunga, far from Curren Price’s CD9: a billboard promoting the free Taste of Soul, which is in Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s CD8. Is this pre-trial publicity intended to give a positive impression of Price to potential jurors?
