HTLA: LA’s Victorian Past Is Alive In Angelino Heights

Episode 34

Brian De Los Santos  00:00

Tired of waiting LA?

News Anchor  00:01

[audio clip] [music in] Three congressional races here in California have yet to be called.

Brian De Los Santos  00:06

Yeah, us too. I'm Brian De Los Santos. And this is How to LA, the show that tries to drop a little knowledge about the city with every episode. So we still don't know who will be LA's next mayor, Karen Bass or Rick Caruso. It's a close call and ballots are still being counted.

News Reporter  00:23

[audio clip] Extremely tight race here. The Registrar-Recorder's office tallying those votes around the clock. Late last night, both candidates said they believe their campaigns have the support needed to win.

Brian De Los Santos  00:35

It's taking so long because most voters mailed in ballots, and it takes some time to count all of them. We still don't know who the LA County Sheriff will be, and some of those city council races are also super tight. But while we wait, let's go [music out] explore the city.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  00:50

See that ringer? [Brian: Mmm hmm. Yeah.] That's for the servants. [Brian: Oh!] [Andrea laughs] Yes! Ha! So obviously they had servants. And there's two staircases in this house. [music in] [Brian: Oh!] In most of these grand homes, because the servants, they are NOT come down the main staircase. [Brian: Mmm.] [music swells]

Brian De Los Santos  01:12

We're heading out for another neighborhood episode, and today, we're exploring the evolution of Angelino Heights.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  01:19

You have a feeling of hometown. It's a historical area.

Brian De Los Santos  01:25

It has some of the most beautiful architecture in LA.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  01:28

These homes were built by the titans of industry.

Brian De Los Santos  01:32

This is Andrea Martinez [music out] Gonzalez.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  01:34

[music in] Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, specifically Echo Park, and within Echo Park, Angelino Heights.

Brian De Los Santos  01:44

She's an Angelino Heights OG resident.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  01:46

My family on my mother's side, came over here in 1904 because of the Mexican Revolution, and they were in Arizona first, and you paid two cents to cross the bridge into the United States. No papers, nothing, just pay your toll, and you're good to go.

Brian De Los Santos  02:03

And she's lived here ever since.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  02:06

I have been going to Echo Park Lake since I was old enough to walk. We'd always go to the lake and fool around and then go home. Everybody went to the lake.

Brian De Los Santos  02:16

We got to visit her today at her beautiful home.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  02:18

My grandmother bought this house in 1960.

Brian De Los Santos  02:23

It's on the famous Carroll Avenue, which has more Victorian homes than anywhere else in the city.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  02:28

And when my grandmother died, I was the only grandchild, and she left this house to me.

Brian De Los Santos  02:34

As I walk into her house, it felt like I was transported somewhere else. It feels historic. The way the natural light hits the living room, the staircase, the woodwork on the outside. It looks like a film set. This area is full of these unique, beautiful vintage homes. And this didn't happen by accident.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  02:53

Well, this is an [music out] HPOZ, which means "historical preservation zone." And so you cannot do anything on the outside. You can do minimalist ultra-modern on the inside, but don't you dare touch the outside. And why would anybody do minimalist with all this woodwork? I can't imagine them knocking that down. But anyway, whatever! Whatever.

Brian De Los Santos  03:16

[music in] Angelino Heights became the city's first historical preservation zone in the 1980s. A hundred years before that, during a huge real estate boom in the 1880s, it was designed to be a suburb of downtown, which was basically all the city was back then. Those burbs were designed for and by the rich. It was a second suburban area in the city. The first, well, that was West Adams. Shout out to our prior episode where we explore West Adams, my original hood. So yeah, there's a lot of history in Angelino Heights. And just like West Adams, the neighborhood has gone through many phases since its founding.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  03:54

There's some wonderful [music out] examples of Queen Anne architecture. Very wealthy people moved here, and they have carriage houses because they had carriages in the 1890s. And there are some beautiful homes. I mean, and most of the homes have servants' quarters, service quarters. The backyards are huge. The lots are huge. It's not like today. These homes are really separated, long driveways, most of 'em, and so they had horses, and they had the hitching posts on Carroll Avenue.

Brian De Los Santos  04:29

Have you ever seen those hitching posts? Some of them are still there. It's so interesting to think about horses just chillin' on the street.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  04:36

And then I think the change came in the 30s. Immigrants started moving in here, and the affluent started moving further away. "Oh, let's not be near these poor people." And they would take these large homes and divide them into boarding homes and such.

Brian De Los Santos  04:52

As middle and upper class white people started moving out of the area after World War II, immigrants started moving in. Mostly Mexicans, but some Chinese, Filipino, and Southeast Asians, too. It became home to a lot of folks who worked behind the scenes in Hollywood film studios.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  05:07

Then they started building these [music in] little bungalows that Echo Park's very famous for. They're all over the place.

Brian De Los Santos  05:15

So because of these transformations, Angelino Heights has a diversity of architecture. There's Queen Anne and Eastlake Victorian, Mission Revival, Craftsman, California Bungalow, Brownstone, and Streamline Moderne. Now, I notice a theme that keeps popping up.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  05:32

Are you avoiding that word- "GENTRIFICATION!" [Brian mumbles in background] [Andrea laughs]

Brian De Los Santos  05:36

I've got to talk about what's happening more recently here, [music in] and basically everywhere else in LA. [music out]

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  05:40

As a homeowner, my God. My grandmother bought this home in 1960 for $49,000. Very very quote, cheap. I got an offer for $1,800,000 the other day, and I said no. [Brian: Mmm hmm.] I said no. So from that point of view for the homeowners, it's been a bonanza. For the renters, it's been horrific, and a tragedy.

Brian De Los Santos  06:09

[sounds of typing on computer] So I'm scanning the rentals online right now, and I'm seeing a nice two bedroom apartment in like, one of those converted Victorians. It's going for $2,700 a month. And a four bedroom is listed for about $7000.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  06:22

But many of the homeowners around here have not left, and they're Mexicans, Mexican-Americans now, and they still live here. I'm one of 'em.

Brian De Los Santos  06:33

Rising housing costs is a huge issue in the city. In our elections coverage, we told you that it's one of the most pressing issues to Angelenos. But Andrea did remind me of the homeowner perspective. And many of the original homeowners here, who came the second wave in the early 1900s, were immigrants, like Andrea's family.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  06:49

They've gotten top dollar that they never dreamed they would get. Here on the corner of Kensington and Douglas, they had a lovely little bungalow. They sold it for over a million bucks. And with that money, they were all able to move to their town in Mexico. They built their little house, and they were happy. So I know there's a lot of people who are angry, and I get it. [music in] But then there's a lot of people who aren't. Like in everything, Brian.

Brian De Los Santos  07:22

But here's the tea. There are more than a million more people in LA since Andrea's family bought that house on Carroll, and the amount of available housing [music out] just hasn't kept up. The hope is that some new leadership in the city can help make LA affordable again for regular folks. Time will tell, I guess. [music in] Now time for a little fun. Angelino Heights has been the backdrop to a bunch of TV shows and movies. One house on Carroll, a giant burgundy Victorian, is known now as the "Charmed" house. You know, the show with the Halliwell sisters from the 90s. Okay, to be totally honest, I'm not much of a witch guy, and I've never watched the show. Don't, don't hate me, you know.

Brian De Los Santos  08:02

[audio clip] Oh, you just came to the street for this? [woman and man answer: Yeah.] [woman laughs] That's so cool. [woman: I'm a huge fan.] Oh, awesome... [duck under]

Brian De Los Santos  08:08

But it has a total cult following, and we ran into some pretty excited tourists from all over the place. [audio clip: woman- It's amazing. (woman laughs) I have no words for that...] [music swells] [music fades out] Another fan favorite with roots in Angelino Heights? [car engine revving]

Brian De Los Santos  08:26

Yup, we're talking about Fast and Furious. Scenes from these movies were shot all over LA, but the house belonging to Vin Diesel's character is not that far away from where we've been hanging out with Andrea. And so is Bob's Market where Vin's character's family had a deli. Bob's actually became a historical landmark in 1979. Fans flock to these spots for a photo op, but residents are kinda over these movies, and in August, they protested the filming of a new Fast and Furious in the neighborhood. These neighbors say that the films glorify street racing, which has become a real problem in LA, so I get it. [music in] Okay, I don't know about y'all, but all this walking and history talk got me hungry. So now I'm gonna go eat.

Andrea Martinez Gonzalez  09:12

There's an Italian place on Sunset and Alvarado. Pizza Buona. Been there forever, since I was a kid. Good pizza. Across from the carwash.

Brian De Los Santos  09:24

Alright, let's get some of that pizza. [audio clip: Brian- Ok, there's no chicken...] It's technically in Echo Park, but Angelino Heights and Echo Park share a business district. So it counts. [audio clip: Brian- ...Mmm, chipotle.]

Brian De Los Santos  09:35

[audio clip] Well, we want to know what's the real most popular pizza? [woman: Okay... (continues in Spanish)] Okay... [woman continues: ...pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, and green pepper.] Not special. [laughter] Yeah, I can do that. Yeah. [woman: Medium or...]

Brian De Los Santos  09:51

This is an old school Italian pizzeria vibe.

Israel Palacios  09:55

It's been in the family 25 years or so. My name is Israel Palacios, owner of Pizza Buona. The original owner was Italian.

Brian De Los Santos  10:03

And these recipes, like the house pizza, haven't changed at all from the original Italian owners.

Israel Palacios  10:09

The only things that have changed is obviously throughout the years, companies come and go, so you try to find a replacement product or whatnot, but for the most part, it's all the same.

Brian De Los Santos  10:18

O-kay. First of all, it's all melty. We love to see it. For me, pizza's like 65% bread. The bread's hitting. [music swells]

Brian De Los Santos  10:28

Alright y'all. I got a bunch of pizza in front of me, so I'm a go grub. Catch you all tomorrow. We'll be headed back to West Adams and going on a bike ride. Thanks for exploring Angelino Heights with me. Hope you go check out those houses on Carroll Avenue and inhale some of those slices of my boy Israel at Pizza Buona down the street.

Brian De Los Santos  10:52

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live. This program is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people. [music out]