Quote:
Originally Posted by oldstuff
WOW! You guys hit the jackpot! The old house, boarded up and looking like it will fall down, is one of the oldest houses in the city still standing. It was part of the Stewart's Nursery tract and was built in 1871. It was built by John Marcellus Stewart, a New Hampshire man who came west for the Gold Rush and settled in Los Angeles in 1971. He had 17 acres and was one of the first to plant a nursery for trees and shrubs to be used as plantings here rather than agricultural products to be exported. Stewart was born in 1823 and died on the property in 1913.
in 2010- 2013 there was an application to have it declared a Historic and Cultural Monument. It is in the process now, apparently. It looks like it will be saved.
The probable reason that the building is so skinny is that Mr. Stewart subdivided part of his nursery property and the narrow lot behind the brick building was still part of Stewart's land.
See the application paperwork here:
http://clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/..._1-29-2013.pdf for lots more info.
There is a picture of Mr. Stewart in Find a Grave, or if you Google his whole name in "Images". He is buried in Rosedale Cemetery |
find a grave
You beat me to it, and very nicely too. I was charmed by that little house and was looking up everything I could find.
The Stewart's 17 acres ran from Figueroa to Grand between 30th & 31st Streets, irrigated by our old friend, Los Reyes. However, Stewart sold off the eastern 7 acres (in two parcels) facing on Charity (Grand) in 1874 and also a smaller parcel on the corner of Figueroa and 31st. He kept the rest, eventually building a second, larger home at 512 W 30th, while keeping the 1871 farmhouse:
la herald 9 Apr 1874
stevenson's survey 1884
These days the Harbor Freeway right through the middle of the original 17 acres:
google maps
Curbed LA has a couple of interesting articles
here and
here:
Quote:
"The Folk Victorian-style cottage was built by nursery owner JM Stewart and is one of "only a handful of identified, extant wood-framed residences dating from the years just after the Civil War and before the transcontinental railroad linked Los Angeles directly with the rest of America, in 1876." Back then, the area was basically rural (nearby USC wasn't established until 1880): the house "was reported in its era as being the 'first' residence built south of Sixth Street in the "southern reaches of the city," according to its nomination for historic-cultural monument status. Stewart ploughed under the vineyards that had been on the 17 acres surrounding the house and "turned the soil over to the development of a nursery supplying orchard and decorative plants to other Angelenos" (he became famed for his fruit and pepper trees, among other things)".
la herald, 12 Jan 1875
la herald 11 Dec 1875
Stewart also profited (after 1880) from the Victorian passion for pampas grass plumes:
la herald 12 Sept 1884
The owners
may be looking for a buyer who will move the farmhouse. I could not find contact info for them.
The City Heritage commission file is
here
And like you said, here he is:
find a grave
John Stewart and his wife Melissa both died in 1913. One of their married daughters, Nettie, died in 1907. Her funeral was held at the Stewart's property (probably at the larger home the Stewarts built ca 1890, facing on 30th St).
It would be real wickedness to let this one go.
It comes complete with ghost or intruder or
something:
gsv
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