1 Glendale Historic Resource Application - Addendum
3235 Cornwall Drive, Glendale, California
Supplementary materials submitted by Graeme Whifler, homeowner.
November 6, 2023
Summary Paragraph:
The Sylvia C. Porter house, located at 3235 Cornwall Drive in Glendale, CA is a one-story post- and-beam wood, masonry, and glass building of roughly 1,500-square-feet sited next to a creek.
Floor to ceiling post framed glass walls lining the front living room and floor to ceiling glass sliders spanning the back allow for the movement of natural light throughout the day as well as panoramic views of the forested surroundings. The building has undergone few modifications since construction in 1961 and its largely unaltered condition retains high historical integrity.
Materials:
Principal exterior materials of the property: Foundation: reinforced concrete; Floor: reinforced concrete slab; Walls: vertical tongue-and-groove wood siding, unusual concrete block, post-and- beam glass walls; Chimney: concrete block; Roof: tongue-and-groove wood topped with polyurethane foam.
2 Narrative Description:
Site
The house is situated on a rectangular parcel approximately 20,961-square-feet in area. The parcel is bordered to the east by a blue-lined stream, Linda Vista Creek (as we call it) that runs parallel to Linda Vista Road. On the west it is bordered by Cornwall Drive. The house is located downslope from Cornwall Drive on a flat stretch of land next to Linda Vista Creek at the bottom of Linda Vista Canyon which lies within the eastern portion of Chevy Chase Canyon.
The surrounding Chase Canyon, a rich riparian oak woodland, is the largest canyon in the San Rafael Hills and originally home to an indigenous people’s village. It later became Canon de Sicomoro and was part of the original Verdugo Land Grant from the King of Spain. In the eighteen hundreds, gold and silver were mined in the Canyon. In the early nineteen hundreds, the canyon was a private game preserve for the Doheny family and in the 1920’s it was developed by Bert Farrar into the residential community it is today.
Overall, the parcel is rustic and wooded. The sloping east and south sides feature several 200- year-old oak trees, a hodgepodge of pittosporum trees, eugenias, and camellias. To the north are a line of mature Chinese elms. The east features oaks, yuccas, a eucalyptus cinerea, bamboo, pine, cedars, and oleanders, plus wild natives like poison oak. An ivy groundcover blankets most of the parcel. Topography combined with uncultivated foliage provide the house a secluded park-like setting.
The house is a single-story, single-family building that consists of three simple offset rectilinear forms. The front elevation of the house is set far back from Cornwall Drive and faces Linda Vista Creek and Road. An approximately 400-foot driveway leads from the southeast corner of the parcel at Cornwall Drive downslope encircling the north side of the home and terminates past the front door into a two-car carport at the southeast corner of the house.
Exterior
Spanning a gentle down slope of approximately 6 ft. from the north edge of the pad to the south edge lengthwise, the house appears to cling low to the ground. This effect is produced by two design elements. First, the continuous slab floor lies a few feet below grade on the north and a few above on the south. Second, the north third of the house has a flat roof, the south two- thirds has a sloping roof that accents the cant of the land. Below the flat roof north section are the house’s two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Beneath the larger sloping southern roof are the living room, dining room, kitchen, carport, and home office.
The front entry is defined by an expansive overhang extended out from the northern flat roof that covers a flagstone porchway. A double front door is flanked by a floor-to-ceiling glass living room wall on the right, and on the left by a narrow glass sidelight set directly into a decorative patterned masonry wall that extends into the living room.
The entry is a signature display of the decorative version of a rare if not unique mortarless concrete block material used throughout this house. Like the decorative herringbone block, the matching plane-style of mortarless concrete block system employed even more extensively in 3 the structure is likewise highly unusual not only for its dimensions but also for its circular channels for concrete reinforcement. After extensive nationwide research, no manufacturer, no photo, nor other structure has been linked to this material. The block remains a mystery. (see Block Detail photos 1-3)
-The internal circular channels are very reminiscent of the ‘Usonian Automatic’ textile block system that Frank Lloyd Wright had used from 1923 onwards.1 - I’m not familiar with this specific block, but it is very interesting. It’s possible that they were a bespoke product made specifically for the house?2
- Well, I am stumped. I have never seen this before… and I cannot find it in any of the advertising literature I’ve collected over the years.3
- Have never seen it4
- I just sent your email and photos to a concrete expert friend to see if she has any thoughts.5 - I’m afraid we don’t have anything in our resource library that would be helpful to you.
Katie E. Horak6
- That concrete block is extremely interesting. I've not seen anything like it before, unfortunately.7
- I do not have any information about this unusual concrete block.
Good luck with the hunt!8
- No, I haven’t seen this block before. It is quite unusual,9 - Thank you for reaching out, unfortunately, I have never seen these blocks before. I also spoke with a few members of my crew who have been in the restriction business for over 25 years, and they have never seen them. You have quite a mystery on your hands!10 - There were almost a dozen major block manufacturers operating in California during the era...
The rectangular blocks, with the coffered edges, are certainly elegantly formed… The late 50s and 60s were a particularly creative time in the concrete industry and architects were encouraged to come up with the "next great thing.”11
Moving from the decorative concrete block entry wall, almost the entire north section under the flat roof is enclosed by the plane version of the same rare mortarless block, punctuated with framed and louvered glass. A wall of glass sliders, and a brief section of vertical tongue-and- groove wood siding complete the flat roofed north section. The extensive use of concrete block facilitated constructing a portion of the north section a few feet below grade.
The west side, or the rear side of the house is set back 75 feet from Cornwall Street above has the entire walls of the kitchen, dining room, and bedroom composed of floor to ceiling glass.
Seclusion from the street is provided by vegetation and by being located steeply downslope. A deep overhang from both the flat and sloped provides further screening.
1 Simeon Wilkie, BEng, Ph. D Associate Scientist, Built Heritage Research Getty Conservation Institute 2 Ibid.
3 Heather David, DOCOMOMNoCal, author of books on MCM Bay Area 4 George Smart, HAIA, CEO. USMODERNIST Durham NC
5 Robert Jay Chattel, AIA, President Chattel, Inc. | Historic Preservation Consultants, Sherman Oaks, CA 6 Katie E. Horak, Principal ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES GROUP 7 Christina Varvi, MSHP, F-AIC, APT‑RP President & Co-Chief Conservator RLA Conservation, Los Angeles • Miami
8 David Weinstein, author and journalist
9 Alan Hess. Architect, Irvine, CA
10 Dustin Coad, President of The Kaptive Family of Companies. Los Angeles, CA 11 Ron & Barbara, authors of Concrete Screen Block: The Power of Pattern 4 Under the same sloping roof line, but three feet lower, the carport and office room at the southern end are separated from the rest of the house by a wall of living room glass, and from the dining room by the recurring mortarless concrete block.
Interior
The exterior decorative concrete block wall and the flagstone flooring extend through the entranceway into the interior whereupon the house’s signature design elements are revealed.
At the heart and core of the house is a massive freestanding decorative concrete block structure trimmed with sandstone masonry around which the living room, dining room, and kitchen flow.
Within this block column that extends about the roofline, a fireplace and hearth open to both the living and dining rooms. In the kitchen a gas barbeque is recessed into the central block structure which houses clay flue chimneys for both the barbeque and the living room fireplace.
The structure with its unique decorative concrete block gives definition to the three living spaces that are otherwise free flowing.
Around this masonry core, surrounding floor to ceiling glass walls of the kitchen, dining room, and living room creates the seamless transition between the warm interior and wooded exterior.
Post-and-beam, another signature modern design element, is on bold view entering the house.
Nothing structural is hidden, from the two large central weight bearing beams, the tongue-and- grove 2X6 roofing, to the supporting posts that also serve to frame floor to ceiling glass.
Another major reveal upon entering the house is the convergence of the flat and sloping roofs.
The low flat portion covering the bed and bathrooms ends as the pitched roof tops at twelve feet on the northern edge of flowing living room, dining room, kitchen, then slopes down to 9 ft at the southern edge of the central common area.
The overall composition of the central core is a sophisticated synthesis of wood, masonry, and glass elements that express the individual attributes of each material with great clarity, warmth, and respect for the human scale of the occupants.
The smaller bedroom on the eastern side has a slightly subterranean illusion created by looking out at the nearby driveway that is above floor level. The large bedroom’s east wall is entirely glass. A bathroom connected to the bedroom has a built-in sunken bathtub with shower.
The sloping roof line continues over the two-car attached carport which opens on the west and south sides. The small office room off the carport features two walls with glass sliders and a wood burning stove.
The design, construction, and detailing of the house unmistakably reflect the highly original thinking of an architect and an uncommon interest in how components and systems can be combined to achieve rational and harmonious solutions.
5 Alterations
The house undergone few significant alterations or remodeling since it’s construction except as follows. In the kitchen ceramic tiles replaced linoleum floors and Formica counters along with a updated wall oven, cooktop, and dishwasher. The small bathroom had a 1970’s update with a Victorian vanity and vinyl floors. The carport was expanded to provide for a small home office.
The exterior masonry, wood, and glass are untouched and original. Glass skylights were framed into the tongue-and-groove roof.
Integrity
Location: The building occupies its original location.
Setting: The neighborhood’s setting of single-family residential buildings has changed little since 1961.
Design: Frank B. Wilson, original design remains intact.
Materials: With very minor exception, such as the use of non-historic or substitute materials for making necessary adjustments for appliance upgrades, ordinary repairs, and conducting periodic maintenance, original materials and finishes of the house are intact.
Workmanship: The workmanship that created this house has not been altered or otherwise compromised.
Feeling: The feeling that belongs to or has long been associated with this historic mid-century modernist house is intact.
Association: The original location, a largely unchanged setting, the intact design, the presence of original materials and finishes, the absence of evidently altered or compromised workmanship, and the definitive feeling of mid-century, modernist design and construction strongly present in this house satisfy the aspect of association with a high level of integrity.
6 Mortarless Concrete Block Detail Photos
Block Detail photo #1 – Decorative herringbone mortarless concrete block wall.
7 Block Detail photo #2 – Plane-style concrete block wall.
8 Block Detail photo #3 - Internal circular channels of the mortarless block.
2 League of Women Voters. Mr. Wilson established a private practice at 2655 Mission Street and joined the Southern California Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. By the 1980s, he and his wife were living in Harbor City and his office had been relocated to the Union Bank Tower in Torrance. Mr. Wilson passed away in Anaheim at the age of 92 and is interred at the Riverside National Cemetery.
Frank Wilson is best remembered for his interpretations of the post-and-beam style which came into popularity in the 1950s. Three of his works often mentioned in the media are: the Beverly Hills Post Office (1948); a drastic remodeling in 1967 of film director Herschell Daugherty’s residence at 3346 Beverly Ranch in Beverly Hills; and the Howard Caterson residence of 1970 at 1508 Paseo del Mar in Palos Verdes Estates that featured massive open beams running through the house that extended out through glass walls. Mr. Wilson is also credited with the 1970 design of the 517-apartment Miraleste development in the San Pedro hills.
First Owner and Builder: Mrs. Sylvia C. Porter, an office bookkeeper and secretary.
She was born in New York in 1911, the daughter of Aaron Mitchel Porter, an immigrant from Odessa, Russia who was a self-employed printer. Sylvia briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley in 1929. She would marry at least three times. In the mid-1930s, she married Lee H. Murch (1876-1945), a furniture salesman from Sacramento. He was at least 35 years her senior. By 1941, Sylvia Murch was a divorcee. In that year she married James Bernard Rice (1907-1984) of Riverside. They would have a son: Bruce E. Rice (1940-2017). Divorced once again, Sylvia and her son lived in Burbank while she made a living as a cosmetics saleslady. Her third husband by the early 1950s was Robert B. Conover, born in Washington State (1907-1995) who was employed in Glendale as a mechanic for the Packer Motor Company.
Mr. and Mrs. Conover lived in Glendale.
Mrs. Porter appears to have been divorced once again by the time she moved into her Cornwall Drive home. (As many divorced women did at the time, she re-adopted her maiden name, but was still known as “Mrs.”) She was then working as a secretary for Bowen & Bowen, Inc., a Los Angeles-based professional engineering firm. Sylvia Porter passed away in 1991 at the age of 79 in Clark County, Nevada, and is interred in Las Vegas.
Although Mrs. Porter is identified on the building permit as the general contractor, the construction was probably supervised by the architect.
Other Building Permits: A water softener was installed in May 1963.
A permit was issued in April 1980 for the construction of a 370-gallon spa, to cost $4,000. The owner would serve as his own contractor.
Also in April 1980, the owner was to build a deck costing $1,000.
A permit was issued in May 1995 to add seven skylights to the house, six measuring 3 by 4 feet and one measuring 2 by 2 feet. The owner would act as his own contractor for this project, valued at $1,400.
3 In June 2004, a septic tank was to be abandoned and the property connected to the public sewer.
Copies of some of these permits are attached on pages 7 through 12.
(Note: Permits for very minor alterations, such as water heater replacement, are not included.
Also not included are permits missing from the file or whose microfilmed or digital copies are indecipherable and not otherwise recorded or described in Assessor’s records.)
Assessor’s Records: The Los Angeles County Assessor first visited the property on July 24, 1963 and recorded a newly-constructed single one-story residence and carport. The house had a concrete-slab foundation, wood-frame walls finished in concrete block, a flat shed-like roof covered in rock with exposed beams, and aluminum sash. Heat was provided by a stone fireplace and a blower furnace. There were ten plumbing fixtures.
The Assessor estimated the square footage of the house at 1,506. It contained two living rooms (one may have been a dining room), two bedrooms, a dressing room, two tiled bathrooms, and a kitchen with built-in appliances. There was a 9-by-8-foot stone entry porch. Attached to the house was a carport that measured approximately 20 by 23 feet with storage space at one end.
In August 1980, the Assessor recorded a new fiberglass spa surrounded by non-wood decking.
The Los Angeles County Assessor currently still estimates the square footage of the house at 1,506 with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Copies of the Assessor’s building records are attached on pages 13 through 16.
Other Owners and Residents: By 1980—D. A. Mackinson
By 1995—Earlene T. Watkins, a financial company executive.
By 2004—Graeme W. Whifler
4 Sources:
City of Glendale, Building Department
Los Angeles County Assessor (Sylmar district office)
Los Angeles Public Library
Gebhard, David and Robert Winter. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, 6th ed.
Santa Monica, Angel City Press, 2018.
McAlester, Virginia Savage. A Field Guide to American Houses. 2nd ed.
New York, Knopf, 2013.
City Directories: 1961-
Internet Resources, including California Index, California Death Index, Gale Biography Master Index, Ancestry.com, and Historic Los Angeles Times Database.
Tim Gregory
The Building Biographer
400 East California Blvd., #3
Pasadena, CA 91106-3763
626-792-7465 (office)
626-241-4471 (cell)
[email protected]
www.buildingbiographer.com
Copyright July 2023
by Tim Gregory
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