Lawrence B. Burck moved from Galveston, Texas, to Los Angeles in January 1905. On July 3, 1905, he got a permit
to build a house at 665 Wilshire Place for himself and his bride-to-be,
Phila:
LADBS
1907 Sanborn; the empty lot to the left of 665 Wilshire Place is on the SW corner of Wilshire Place and Wilshire Blvd:
Proquest via LAPL
There is an August 24, 1909 building permit to add "three rooms and porches." There were also permits for
additions to the
carriage house in August 1907 and to the kitchen in January 1913. This is how 665 Wilshire
Place appeared on the 1921 Sanborn (which shows Lucerne Blvd. south of Wilshire Blvd. was at that time
known as Burck Place):
Proquest via LAPL
This photo of 665 Wilshire Place appeared in the February 1910 issue of the presumptuously titled
The American Globe.
I have no idea if the photo was taken before or after the 1909 additions to the rear of the house:
GoogleBooks
c. 1910:
Greater Los Angeles and Southern California (1910) @
HathiTrust
1913 LACD:
fold3.com
Despite the newly remodeled kitchen, Burck relocated to Altadena in late 1913 or early 1914. The next residents at
665 Wilshire Place were
John E. Blackman and his extended family. They had decamped for San Diego by 1920, and
there seems to be an interregnum in the Los Angeles city directories from 1918 until 1922 regarding which family
lived at 665 Wilshire Place:
1922 LACD @ fold3.com
On the 1921 Baist Map, 665 Wilshire Place is on the west side of the street, the second house down from Wilshire Blvd:
USCDL
This 1930 photo looks east on Wilshire Blvd; the house at right is on the SE corner of Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Place.
There was a similar flora-covered sidewalk "entrance" on the SW corner, too:
00009338 @ LAPL
Sadly,
Lawrence Burck did not outlive 665 Wilshire Place, which the Simpsons seem to have sold in 1928; they
subsequently relocated to
647 S. June.
This November 1, 1928, photo shows the SW corner of Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Place, but 665 Wilshire Place and
its neighbor on the corner appear to have been demolished. I couldn't find a demo permit for 665 Wilshire Place, so
perhaps it was moved somewhere, but it seems unlikely:
001378552 @
CA State Library
As many NLA readers already know, the site of 665 Wilshire Place was occupied by Bullock's Wilshire, seen here in 1929.
At left is the house on the SE corner of Wilshire Blvd and Wilshire Place:
00059178 @ LAPL