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.
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.
I was looking through the 1915 Los Angeles directory and see my grandfather living at 943 s Hill. Is that part of Bunker Hill? It is the first time he is listed separately from his mother and brother.
943 S. Hill was south of (where) Bunker Hill (was.)
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.
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!
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.
What a beautiful house!