Brunson Mansion, 347 S. Grand Ave at 4th St, downtown Los Angeles (undated)

Brunson Mansion, 347 S. Grand Ave at 4th St, downtown Los Angeles (undated)Photos like this reminds us how much Los Angeles lost by neglecting its grand Victorian mansions found mostly in the Bunker Hill area of downtown, and whose ultimate fate was to be scraped when the city carved the top off the hill and make downtown LA less hilly. This place was known as the Brunson Mansion and stood at 347 S. Grand Ave on the corner of 4th St. Anson Brunson was a LA County Superior Court judge who later worked as a lawyer for the Santa Fe Railroad. Obviously, he wasn’t short of a dime. In later years, it became a hospital, a hotel, and finally a boarding house, which was a common fate for mansions of that era.

This is how Grand and 4th looks these days, specifically in February 2021.

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

 

7 responses to “Brunson Mansion, 347 S. Grand Ave at 4th St, downtown Los Angeles (undated)”

  1. mark says:

    I have a memory of my parents taking us up to Bunker hill to see the old mansions. I Think it was when they were also closing down Angeles Flight. I just remember being on a front porch and how old it seemed. I sure would have loved to have seen them in their heyday.

  2. Al Donnelly says:

    The order of decline would closely approximate the willingness of the owner to keep up all the cleaning and maintenance. A Victorian household might be constantly worked on. A hospital could dispense with some of the finery and clean with bleach and disinfectants. A hotel might use deoderizers to cover what they can’t really deal with. A rooming house would be a case of “do it yourself” or live with it. Flophouse is hitting the floorboards…might as well bring on the firehoses.

  3. Don Solosan says:

    Can you imagine what a funky, bohemian neighborhood Bunker Hill would/could be if it still existed? It’s very frustrating, all the cool things that this city just throws away!

  4. Carole Isaacson says:

    Form follows function instead of beauty for beauty’s sake. Italy does it so much better. An old building can be gutted to upgrade but the facade must remain as is. Repaint and repair only.

  5. Patti says:

    What a beautiful house!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *