Place
Maycrest Bungalows
The Maycrest Bungalows are a rare example of a Tudor Revival-style bungalow court in El Sereno.
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Support our Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) nomination at the Cultural Heritage Commission on July 18th!
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Maycrest Bungalows, 2020. | Erik Van Breene/ L.A. Conservancy
Overview
The Maycrest Bungalows, one of El Sereno’s few remaining bungalow courts, has been owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for the failed 710 freeway extension since 1968 and has sat vacant since 1991.
In June 2024, the L.A. Conservancy nominated the bungalow court as a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM). HCM status would protect the building’s character defining features, and allow for new on-site development that is compatible in scale and aesthetics. This is especially important in a neighborhood like El Sereno that has been unjustly affected by the planned (but never built) 710 Freeway for decades, and should help uplift and stabilize the neighborhood.
If designated, the Maycrest Bungalows would be the first HCM in El Sereno.
About This Place
About This Place
The Maycrest Bungalows reflect an important property type that combines density with affordability and community. The eight-unit bungalow court retains its original site plan, hardscaping, and architectural features where each unit faces into a central courtyard. The Maycrest Bungalows were constructed in the Tudor Revival architectural style, as evidenced by its steeply-pitched clipped gabled roofs, irregular form, decorative half timbering, and stucco finish.
While bungalow courts, a quintessential Southern California housing typology, once proliferated in Los Angeles, they are increasingly rare today. The Maycrest Bungalows are one of only three bungalow courts in El Sereno identified by SurveyLA as eligible for designation. The application of Tudor Revival architectural style to a bungalow court is also rare; no other Tudor Revival-style bungalow courts have been identified in Northeast Los Angeles, and only one Tudor Revival-style bungalow court has been designated in Los Angeles.
In the 1960s, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) acquired the 1920s Tudor Revival bungalow court and displaced residents from more than 500 homes as part of a plan to extend the 710 Freeway to connect Pasadena and Alhambra. Community opposition to the freeway extension successfully delayed the construction of the freeway, but the Bungalows sat vacant as the legal battles dragged on. In 1994, the Northridge earthquake thrust the building into further disrepair.
The plan to extend the 710 Freeway, followed the logic of many urban planning ventures of the era: increase the flow of commerce at the expense of Black and brown communities. For the El Sereno Community Land Trust and their partners, the fight for the bungalows offers a way to make repairs for historical harm by promoting land ownership and self-determination for El Sereno residents.
The 710 Freeway extension officially died on Gavin Newsom’s desk in 2019. The next year, activists with Reclaiming Our Homes (ROH) brought the Caltrans buildings back into the public eye. Following Governor Newsom’s stay-at-home order, thirteen unhoused and housing-insecure families moved into vacant homes in El Sereno. They drew state-wide attention to the ways the pandemic exacerbated the homeless crisis and demanded public officials work to make these houses into homes. The El Sereno Community Land Trust proposal affirms their accountability to El Sereno residents and tenants organized with ROH and Untied Caltrans Tenants.
Our Position
The Conservancy has supported efforts to rehabilitate the Maycrest Bungalows since at least 2010. We believe the Bungalows demonstrate the role of historic preservation in repurposing existing community assets to create new spaces for connection.
In 2007, the Eastside Café, an autonomous cultural space in El Sereno, saw the Bungalows’ potential to meet community needs. They founded the El Sereno Bungalows Collective and conducted widespread outreach to learn what residents envisioned. The response was overwhelming: residents wanted to preserve and rehabilitate the bungalows as a cultural center. However, conversations with Caltrans stalled and the Eastside Café was unable to purchase the property
In 2012, we assisted the Eastside Cafe in applying for a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to complete a feasibility study to rehabilitate the property. Today, we advocate for Caltrans to transfer ownership to the El Sereno Community Land Trust to realize this longstanding community vision.
In 2022, the Eastside Café, now part of the El Sereno Community Land Trust (ESCLT), ESCLT released a proposal to transfer the Maycrest Bungalows and other Caltrans properties to community-ownership, sensitively add density, and ensure the properties would remain affordable in perpetuity. The same year, Councilmember Kevin De León released the Vision El Sereno plan where the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) would manage the properties and add new units all with 55-year affordability clauses.
In 2024, Caltrans sold the bungalows and adjacent single-family residence to HACLA. The Conservancy believes that there is ample opportunity to rehabilitate and modernize the bungalows to contemporary living standards, while adding new units of affordable housing on site, but is concerned about the possibility the bungalow court might be razed for new construction. We ultimately felt that the Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) status was needed as a safeguard to preserve this important place in El Sereno, so in June 2024, we formally nominated the Maycrest Bungalows as an HCM.
How You Can Help
Voice your support for the Maycrest Bungalows at the Cultural Heritage Commission on July 18th! Public comment can be made in person, via zoom, or in writing.
Comment In Person
Attend the Cultural Heritage Commission (CHC) meeting on July 18th at 10am. CHC is located at City Hall, 200 N. Spring Street, in Room 1010.
Comment via Zoom
Audience members can participate in the hearing via Zoom. Zoom link will be posted as soon as it is made available.
Comment in Writing
Letters of support may be emailed to chc@lacity.org up to 24 hours before the meeting. Please include the case number, CHC-2024-3940-HCM, and the proposed monument name, Maycrest Bungalow Court in your email subject line. If you live in Council District 14, please cc Councilmember de Leon’s office at: councilmember.kevindeleon@lacity.org
