Los Angeles is a city of eclectic architecture. If you look long and hard enough, you’ll find pretty much every style represented here, including this one inspired by a famous castle in Yorkshire in Britain. Known locally as Castle York, it was more properly known as the J.J. Haggarty mansion, named for the man who owned a high-end department store which he named after himself. Castle York stood at 3330 W. Adams Blvd, in the West Adams section of L.A., and from the looks of it, Haggarty really did believe that man’s home is his castle.
Here are some other shots of it:
As far as I can tell, that land is now occupied by the Holman church. This image is from February 2021:
My thanks to Johnny Yuma for his help with this post.
You’re welcome!
Let’s do another one!
Truly amazing & a little scary being constructed of (unreinforced?) brick. Entrance hall staircase appears to be filled with pipe organ pipes both on the first landing back wall & adjacent alcoves behind the staircase newel posts. Something else never, ever, seen before; when did it become fashionable to place Persian rugs pillows on the floor at the base of the stairs & against the staircase first landing posts? In that “oh so proper” Edwardian Age people lounged on the floor & staircase? I know eclectic was the decorating order of the day, but that’s just strange!
Yes, that’s an odd choice to put a pipe organ, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just for show? As for those two weirdly placed cushions, I think they were just for the photo. Although why they’d do that beats the hell out of me!
Knew this property remined me of another. Castle Sans Souci (castle without a care) was built in 1912 in Hollywood. Apparently castle building was a popular building style early on in Southern California; at least for the eccentric with a statement to make – As Castle Sans Souci was built in 1912, or 3 years earlier that the one shown, Mr. Haggerty must have been aware of it.
Also thought about your comment perhaps the organ pipes were fake. Doubt it. At that time home organs were the “ultimate” home entertainment feature. Comparable to dedicated home theaters today. Placing the organ pipes in the entrance hall, or the first thing noticed upon entering, screams (at least to me) nouveau riche. As in I’m so rich I have the best, most expensive, home entertainment available.
It is an organ according to the American Guild of Organists.
https://www.laago.org/historic-photos
I thought of Sans Souci too! So yes, I guess it was a trend among the super wealthy. And your point about the organ being “home entertainment” is very valid.
Johnny Yuma was a rebel. He roamed through the west…
Sorry! That brought back old memories.
He also built a beautiful mediterranean style home on the Palos Verdes peninsula for his wife that they never lived in, as she felt it was too far away for their friends to travel to for entertaining. The remains of the pier that was built to transport building materials are still visible at the bottom of the cliffs. It’s been the “Neighborhood Church” for some decades now and is still something to behold.
Thanks, Celia. I didn’t know that!
Oh, wow, I googled that church, and it’s where one of my cousins was married. The location is stunning. I can imagine living there very happily.
Ms. Gonzales was “spot on”. Mr. Haggerty’s “summer house” survived & what a house it remains – Thirty rooms on an ocean bluff at a cost of $750,000 in the late 1920s!
https://www.palosverdeshistory.org/islandora/object/pvld%3A1365
Never been to this church but, like Paula, went to a wedding at the historic church at the top of the peninsula, which can’t remember the name of now. Also built in the ’20s with a “Queens Necklace” view of the coast.