1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica, CA

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica, CA

Historic Assessment Report

Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning and Community Development Department

Prepared by:

Architectural Resources Group, Inc. 360 E. 2nd Street, Suite 225 Los Angeles, CA 90012 September 2, 2021

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica | Historic Assessment Report ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2 1.1. Executive Summary............................................................................................................................ 2 1.2. Preparer Qualifications ...................................................................................................................... 3

2. Architectural Description................................................................................................................. 4 2.1. General Setting .................................................................................................................................. 4 2.2. Building Exterior................................................................................................................................. 5 2.3. Site and Landscape Features.............................................................................................................. 6

3. Development Chronology and Alterations ..................................................................................... 11 3.1. History of the Subject Property ....................................................................................................... 11 3.2. Development Chronology ................................................................................................................ 12 3.3. Alterations........................................................................................................................................ 12

4. Historic Contexts ............................................................................................................................ 14 4.1. Neighborhood Development: Seaside Terrace ................................................................................ 14 4.2. Multi-Family Housing ....................................................................................................................... 16

5. Evaluation of Significance............................................................................................................... 18 5.1. Previous Surveys and Evaluations.................................................................................................... 18 5.3. Evaluation of Local Significance ....................................................................................................... 18 5.3. Evaluation of Integrity...................................................................................................................... 23

6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 26 7. Bibliogaphy .................................................................................................................................... 27

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica | Historic Assessment Report ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP

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1. Introduction

1.1. Executive Summary

At the request of the City of Santa Monica's Planning and Community Development Department (the City), Architectural Resources Group, Inc. (ARG) has prepared this Historic Assessment Report for the property located at 1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica. The property contains a one-story, four-unit multi-family residential building that was constructed in 1914.1 Designed in a vernacular style, the building was constructed by building contractor F.N. Jones for original owner John S. Stotler.

The property is included in the City of Santa Monica's Historic Resources Inventory (HRI). In the most recent update of the HRI, which was completed in 2018, the property was identified as individually eligible for local designation as a Santa Monica Landmark and was assigned the corresponding California Historical Resource Status Code of 5S3: "appears to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation."

In March 2021, an application nominating the property as a Santa Monica Landmark was submitted to the City. ARG was asked to complete a Historic Assessment Report for the property to determine if it satisfies the City's designation criteria for Landmark and/or Structure of Merit eligibility. Preparation of this report included the following tasks related to research, documentation, and analysis:

? Site visit in July 2021 to document existing conditions with digital photographs;

? Review of pertinent federal and state technical bulletins, local ordinances, and other reference materials related to the evaluation of historical resources;

? Review of applicable background materials including historical building permits and the State of California's Built Environment Resource Directory (BERD) database;

? Supplemental research about the property's development history, design, occupancy, and potential historical significance;

? Identification of applicable historic contexts and themes;

? Evaluation of the property against Santa Monica Landmark and Structure of Merit eligibility criteria; and

? Evaluation of the property's integrity.

Research materials were obtained from the following sources:

? Online collections of the Los Angeles Public Library and the Santa Monica Public Library;

? Archives of the Los Angeles Times, the Santa Monica Outlook, and other local periodicals;

1 Original construction date gleaned from the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor.

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica | Historic Assessment Report ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP

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? Building permit records obtained from the City of Santa Monica Planning and Community Development Department;

? Technical assistance bulletins published by the National Park Service (NPS) and the California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP);

? Online repositories including and ; and

? ARG's in-house collection of architectural books and reference materials.

To conform with public health directives and safety protocols associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, most research was conducted remotely using online repositories. A complete list of sources is included in Section 7: Bibliography of this report.

In summary, ARG concludes that the property at 1665-1671 Appian Way appears to satisfy one of the City's Landmark Criteria (Criterion 1). In addition, ARG concludes that the property appears to satisfy two of the City's Structure of Merit Criteria (Criteria A and B.1). The following sections provide a description of the property and its history, and a discussion of how the above-listed determinations of eligibility were made.

1.2. Preparer Qualifications

This report was prepared by a qualified team of ARG architectural historians and historic preservation planners who meet the Secretary of the Interior's Professional Qualification Standards, 36 CFR Part 61, in the discipline of Architectural History.

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica | Historic Assessment Report ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP

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2. Architectural Description

2.1. General Setting

1665-1671 Appian Way is located in an interstitial zone between the Downtown and Ocean Park neighborhoods of Santa Monica. Located just south of the Santa Monica Pier and about a block west of Santa Monica City Hall, this neighborhood is adjacent to the ocean and exhibits a moderate downward slope as it approaches the water. Streets adhere to the skewed grid that is etched across most of Santa Monica and approximates the contour of the coastline. Circulation consists of both vehicular streets and pedestrian thoroughfares, most of which are oriented northeast-southwest. Two streets ? Ocean Avenue and Appian Way ? travel northwest-southeast and transect the neighborhood lengthwise.

The neighborhood contains an eclectic mix of property types dating to multiple periods between the early twentieth century and the present day. Key property types in the vicinity of the subject property include multi-family dwellings of various sizes and scales, and hotels that take advantage of the neighborhood's adjacency to the ocean and nearby attractions. The neighborhood is anchored by the Santa Monica Pier on the north, and by the Casa del Mar ? a historic hotel dating to 1926 ? on the south.

Location map. The location of the subject property is marked in yellow (Google Maps)

1665-1671 Appian Way, Santa Monica | Historic Assessment Report ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP

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