Item 09 2024-00596 (Pass for Publication) Ordinance Listing 1950 Arden Way (Home Savings and Loan Building) as a Landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources (M23-011)

City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2024-00596 8/13/2024 Consent Item 9.
(Pass for Publication) Ordinance Listing 1950 Arden Way (Home Savings and Loan Building) as a Landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources (M23-011) File ID: 2024-00596
Location: 1950 Arden Way (277-0271-007-0000), District 2, Represented by Mayor Steinberg Recommendation: 1) Review an ordinance listing 1950 Arden Way (Home Savings and Loan Building) as a landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historical and Cultural Resources; and 2) pass for publication the ordinance title per Sacramento City Charter section 32(c) for City Council consideration on August 27, 2024.

Contact: Sean de Courcy, Preservation Director, (916) 808-2796, [email protected], Community Development Department
Presenter: None.

Attachments:
1- Description/Analysis
2- Background
3- Ordinance
4- Historic Evaluation
5- Public Comment Letters
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: In August 2023, the owners of the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way approached the City regarding a proposal to demolish the building and replace it with drive- through restaurants. At the request of the Preservation Director, the property owner retained the services of Dudek to evaluate the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way (found in Attachment 5). The historical evaluation concluded the property lacked sufficient historic significance necessary for listing as a historical resource on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources (Sacramento Register), the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR), or the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). This evaluation was circulated to neighborhoods and interest groups, and to certain experts with knowledge of this period of architecture and the company that built the building at 1950 Arden Way. In response to the Dudek evaluation, staff received comments from Preservation Sacramento, Sacramento Modern, Vintage Arden Arcade, and Adam

Page 1 of 4 ends

File ID: 2024-00596 8/13/2024 Consent Item 9.

Arenson, Professor and Chair of History at Manhattan College and a renowned art scholar and expert on Millard Sheets, the artist who acted as Design Director for Home Savings and Loan and maintained creative control of its branch design and corporate identity.

These comment letters provided substantial new information not included in the Dudek evaluation, leading the Preservation Director to question the findings presented in the Dudek report and to direct preservation staff to research the property further and if justified, prepare their own historic evaluation of the building and a Statement of Nomination. After review of the background research, staff presented a Statement of Nomination to the Preservation Director, at a public hearing on January 4, 2024, which concluded that the property appears eligible for listing in the Sacramento register pursuant to the criteria provided in Sacramento City Code section 17.604.210.A.1.iii, iv and v, and the Preservation Director concurred with Staff’s recommendation of the building’s eligibility. The Preservation Director then directed staff to draft an Ordinance (Attachment 2) for review by the Preservation Commission, who reviewed the Ordinance on February 21st, 2024, and made a recommendation to the City Council to list 1950 Arden Way on the Sacramento Register under criteria iii. iv, and v.

Policy Considerations: The City has an interest in maintaining the relevance and integrity of the Sacramento register and ensuring that properties listed on the Register meet the criteria for listing specified in City Code sections 17.604.210 and 17.604.220. To this end, City Code directs the Preservation Director, to “make preliminary determinations relative to properties’ eligibility for listing on the Sacramento register” and to “initiate proceedings to nominate resources for listing on the Sacramento register” (Pursuant to City Code sections 17.604.100.C.2 and 17.604.220.).

The nomination of 1950 Arden Way for listing as a landmark on the Sacramento Register is consistent with Sacramento 2040 General Plan goal HCR-2.3, which provides for the identification and preservation of historical and cultural resources. General Plan policy HCR-2.3 states, “The City shall maintain and update the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources on a regular basis, including proactively identifying and listing additional unidentified landmarks and historic districts, and deleting resources that do not meet the criteria for listing.” Economic Impacts: Not applicable.

Environmental Considerations: The listing of 1950 Arden Way as a historic landmark on the Sacramento register is exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15308. Section 15308 exempts from review acts that are undertaken to assure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement, or protection of the environment where the regulatory process involves procedures for protection of the environment. Listing the property as a historic landmark would ensure that future development on the site would undergo preservation review, as part of the city’s site plan and design review process, prior to the granting of any entitlements, thereby protecting the historic resource, which would be considered part of the

Page 2 of 4 ends

File ID: 2024-00596 8/13/2024 Consent Item 9.
environment.

Sustainability: Not applicable.

Commission/Committee Action: On January 4, 2024, the City of Sacramento’s Preservation Director, in conformance with Section 17.604.220 of the City Code, held a public hearing, reviewed the historic analysis prepared by staff (Attachment 4) and concurred with a draft statement of nomination and directed staff to prepare a draft Ordinance (Attachment 3) for review and consideration by the Preservation Commission. On February 21, 2024, the Preservation Commission, in conformance with Section 17.604.220 of the City Code, held a public hearing, reviewed a draft ordinance and recommended the City Council adopt an ordinance listing 1950 Arden Way on the Sacramento Register as a landmark.

Rationale for Recommendation: Listing of 1950 Arden Way (Figure 1) as a landmark on the Sacramento Register is consistent with the Historic Preservation Chapter (17.604) of the City Code and the goals of the 2040 General Plan. Listing the nominated resource on the Sacramento register will help ensure its preservation and encourage rehabilitation consistent with the U.S. Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The Home Savings and Loan Building has significant historic and architectural worth. To people who lived in California during the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s, the local Home Savings and Loan buildings were distinctive and immediately recognizable. They helped foster an interest in local history and helped to create a sense of place in a rapidly changing world. They were important buildings in their time period and their high-quality materials, design, and artwork were rightly seen as a gift to the community and urban landscape. 1950 Arden Way is an excellent late example of the work of Millard Sheets and the Millard Sheets Studio for the design of Home Savings and Loan buildings (17.604.210.A.1.a.iv). As discussed in Dr. Adam Arenson’s “Banking on Beauty,” Sheets evolved his architectural style over time, learning from what worked and didn’t work in each commission and community. In 1976 when the first plans were created by Sheets for 1950 Arden Way, he was over 70 years old and had built over 100 individually designed buildings for Home Savings. Although the buildings were mostly in the New Formalist style, each was an original design solution to a specific lot. The lot in question, 1950 Arden Way, is one of the finest, largest, and most visible of the sites chosen for Home Savings and Loan in Northern California. Its three-story stature is unusual, as is its lavish use of figured, bookmatched Italian travertine (17.604.210.A.1.a.iii). The large exterior mosaics featuring local Sacramento area history are treasures in and of themselves (17.604.210.A.1.a.v). In light of the unique design and association with Millard Sheets, Susan Hertel, and the Millard Sheets Studio; the unique building design in a refined late-New-Formalist style; the importance of the building to its time period; and its decorative smalti glass mosaics and murals, it is reasonable and appropriate that 1950 Arden Way, the Point West branch of Home Savings and Loan be listed on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources under Criterion iii, iv and v.

Page 3 of 4 ends

File ID: 2024-00596 8/13/2024 Consent Item 9.

Figure 1: Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way Financial Considerations: Not applicable.

Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Not applicable.

Page 4 of 4 ends

Background

Preservation Staff Conclusions and Recommendation

Staff is recommending that City Council list 1950 Arden Way on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources as a landmark because this building embodies an incredible amount of energy, as well as historical and artistic value that the City should recognize through its historic designation process. Adaptive reuse of historic bank buildings is common, as can be seen in projects like The Bank (7th & J Street) and 4701 Freeport Blvd. Therefore, staff rejects claims that reuse of the building are infeasible.

Staff’s historical research (Attachment 4), as well as comments provided by experts in the field of art history and historic preservation (Attachment 5) have clearly provided substantial evidence the building’s significance under Sacramento City Code section

17.604.210.A.1.iii, iv and v; as well as the requisite California Register Criteria. Each criterion and their justification are explained below:

A. Criterion iii - It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction.

17.604.210.A.1.a.iii and California Register of Historical Resources Criteria 3.

B. Criterion iv - It represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age.

The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way was designed by celebrated visual artist Millard Sheets, with Frank Homolka and Associates acting as the architect of record. Sheets, founder of Millard Sheets Studio, while not an architect, was sought by Howard F. Ahmanson, owner of Home Savings and Loan, to design their branches beginning in the 1950s. Sheets’ Home Savings branches became renowned in Southern California due to their distinctive designs and Sheets’ use of mosaics depicting local imagery. He continued to design Home Savings branches until the early 1980s. While Sheets was not always involved with the full design process for every Home Savings building, documentation supports that Sheets participated in and oversaw the entire design process for this branch, including the design of the mosaics over each entrance and the interior murals which were executed by Sheets and Millard Sheets Studio. This building is a rare intact example of Sheet’s work in Northern California, with only one other Sheets-designed bank building in the region. Dudek argued that since Sheets was not an architect the building could not be considered the work of a master designer. The Preservation Commission considered this argument and dismissed it, noting that the criteria specifically allows for a “master designer” and not necessarily an architect. Therefore, 1950 Arden Way represents the work of an important creative individual or master designer making it eligible under City Code section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iv and California Register of Historic and Cultural Resources Criteria 3.

C. Criterion v – Possesses high artistic value.

1950 Arden Way is a unique commercial building that includes Sacramento specific public art as an integral part of its architectural design. The two large exterior mosaics in traditional, hand-cut smalti tiles were designed by Millard Sheets and translated into full sized working drawings by Susan Hertel, Sheets’ main assistant and a master in her own right. With its extremely prominent diagonal lot at the intersection of four major streets and its monumental size and bookmatched travertine exterior, the building and its park-like grounds were intended to be a landmark, and to signal Home Savings and Loan’s commitment to becoming a respected member of the Sacramento community.

Public art was included in the buildings design to show respect for the city and its history. The Ahmanson family, who continued to helm Home Savings and Loan following the death Howard F. Ahmanson in 1968, and Millard Sheets, the multi- disciplinary artist and educator who created the Home Savings and Loan branches, agreed that community specific public art would set them apart from competitors and would make their bank branches beloved landmarks that would stand the test of time.

Proposed Project and Dudek Historical Evaluation

In August 2023, the owners of the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way approached the City regarding a proposal to demolish the building and replace it with drive-through restaurants. Although the building is not yet 50 years old, the building was identified in the City’s Mid-Century Modern Context Statement and Survey (2017) as a notable example of New Formalist architecture. According to Public Resources Code (PRC) section 15064.5.a.2, identification of a building in a historical resources survey requires a public agency to “treat any resource as significant unless the preponderance of evidence demonstrates that it is not historically or culturally significant.”

In order to proceed with the development process, consistent with state law, the Preservation Director instructed the applicant to provide an updated historic resource evaluation prepared by a qualified preservation professional. The applicant provided a historic resource evaluation prepared by Dudek to the City on September 27, 2023, which found that the building did not meet any criteria for listing on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources, the California Register of Historical Resources, or National Register of Historic Places. The Dudek report was circulated to various applicable neighborhood and interest groups to provide comment on the proposal and historic analysis with a comment deadline of October 27, 2023. The Preservation Director received comments from Preservation Sacramento, Sacramento Modern, Kathy Stricklin, historian for Arden Arcade, and Adam Arenson, professor at Manhattan College and expert on Millard Sheets, all disputing the findings in the report and encouraging the building be listed as a landmark.

Also, in disagreement with the findings of the Dudek historic evaluation, the Preservation Director instructed Staff to draft a historic evaluation of the building, the findings of which supported nomination for listing on the Sacramento Register under Criteria iii, iv, and v. The staff-prepared evaluation contradicts many of the findings of the Dudek report that had initially determined the building was not historically significant due the building’s unknown architect, the insignificance of the mosaics and building design, and the age and integrity of the building. The Dudek evaluation has been attached to this report within Attachment 5 since this historic nomination relies on the substantial new information within the staff-prepared historic evaluation (Attachment 4).

The Preservation Commission considered both the Dudek evaluation as well as the Dudek response submitted in advance of the hearing by the Preservation Commission and dismissed each argument made by Dudek as discussed above under each of the criteria unanimously recommending the City Council affirm the building’s landmark status by listing the building on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources.

Millard Sheets and the Home Savings and Loan Artistic Monumental Design

I do all of the designing, every bit of it. I detail everything, but I have marvelous people working with me who put it all down in final working drawings. In the old days we did everything. At one time I had four architects working for me and about ten draftsmen and engineers. We did the whole thing right in our office. But as time has gone on, I have been working with Home Savings in a new dimension. I'm now the director of their design program. I still design the buildings, and I have my own staff. I have two architects, who are excellent collaborators with me, and they finish up the preliminary phases of the design, which I present to the client. [….]Then I do all the supervision for the final stages, when we put in all the final finishes and the landscaping. (Goodwin Interview, 1977)

Millard Sheets employed a full studio of artists who he trained to execute handmade mosaics, stained glass, tapestries, murals, furniture, and sculpture based on his designs. Sheets contracted with architects, builders, structural engineering firms to build his bank designs. On the design of 1950 Arden Way, Home Savings and Loan contracted with Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach to act as the architect of record, but Sheets maintained design oversight and control over the final branch design.

Sheets’ utilization of community-specific artwork into his building design is a character defining feature of this building. This building is a rare intact example of Sheet’s work in Northern California, with only one other Sheets-designed bank building in the region.

Other notable works include the Scottish Rite Temple (Los Angeles), Word of Life mosaic mural at Hesburgh Library (Notre Dame University), and the Lombard/Van Ness Home Savings Branch (San Francisco), among others.

Figure 1: Close-up Detail of Mosaics Prior to Installation

The two large exterior mosaics in traditional, hand-cut smalti tiles were designed by Millard Sheets and translated into full sized working drawings by Susan Hertel, Sheets’ main assistant. The full-sized drawings were then used to lay the carefully color selected and hand-cut tiles on. Traditional mosaics have been made in the same fashion since classical antiquity and require a high level of artistic skill to execute. The artists of the Millard Sheets Studio were highly skilled mosaicists and included artists educated at some of the world’s foremost art schools.

In light of the high level of artistry evidenced by the two exterior mosaics and interior murals at 1950 Arden Way, which are integral and character defining parts of the building’s architecture, the building clearly exhibits high artistic values.

Figure 2: Mosaic on Eastern Elevation at 1950 Arden Way

Historic Integrity of 1950 Arden Way

The Dudek evaluation goes on to suggest that the building does not retain sufficient integrity to qualify for listing. They note that while the building’s integrity of setting and location remain, they note that the integrity of design, feeling, and material are only generally intact. Specifically, the report mentions the possible removal of tiles in the frieze, which were a typical feature seen on many other Sheets-designed buildings.

Upon review of historic photographs of the building shortly after construction, the conjectural argument has proven to be unfounded as the building appears nearly identical to how it appeared shortly after completion. While there may have been some exterior alterations, such as the potential replacement of entrance doors, windows, and building signage, there have been no alterations to the building that alter the overall forms and distinguishing design elements. With limited interior access, the interior features appear to be mostly intact, with at least one of two murals still extant and the tiled (Gladding McBean) teller counter seemingly covered in wood paneling (likely a reversible alteration). Nevertheless, there appear to be ample extant historical elements present to conclude the interior retains sufficient historic integrity for listing. While the central fountain on the eastern side of the building has been converted to a planter, there is sufficient photographic evidence showing the former fountain, and supporting that all other landscape elements remain. There is no evidence to support Dudek’s claim that the planters located at the corners of the building formerly held fountains.

Evidence suggests these features exist in their original form.

Figure 3: Western Elevation of Home Savings and Loan Building Under Construction

Buildings Achieving Significance within the Past 50-Years

According to the California Register of Historical Resources (Title 14, Chapter 11.5) and City Code section 17.604.210.2.e: in order to understand the historic importance of a resource, sufficient time must have passed to obtain a scholarly perspective on the events or individuals associated with the resource. A resource less than fifty (50) years old may be considered for listing in the California Register if it can be demonstrated that sufficient time has passed to understand its historical importance and the Sacramento Register if the resource is of exceptional importance.

In the case of 1950 Arden Way, the property has achieved significance within the past fifty years as a result of several factors. The foremost of these is that scholars now understand that commercial architecture has changed drastically since the late 1970s and early 1980s. Earlier California commercial development, such as 1950 Arden Way, reflects that some businesses once sought to become long term partners in the community by creating high quality, artistic and long-lasting buildings that would stand the test of time. Rather than making generic buildings which could be built quickly and cheaply in any city in America, Home Savings and Loan chose to entrust their entire branch branding strategy to a highly acclaimed California artist, Millard Sheets.

Scholars of architecture, especially in Southern California which has a much greater concentration of former Home Savings and Loan buildings, have recognized the exceptional architectural significance of these buildings since the mid-2000s. The Getty Museum and The Huntington Library have sought to help preserve them through scholarly research, and the acquisition of archival collections. The Getty Museum, as a part of its Pacific Standard Time project (which seeks to bring scholarly attention to art and artists from California), brought thousands of interested visitors to tour Millard Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan buildings in Los Angeles and nearby communities, including examples from the late 1970’s. Sacramento is very lucky to have such a large, well-sited, and intact Millard Sheets Home Savings and Loan building. The rarity of Home Savings and Loans in Northern California should also be considered when assessing the exceptional significance of the building despite its being only 46 years old. Dudek has argued that other Home Savings and Loan buildings existed in the region, but only two attribute designs of the building and artwork to Millard Sheets.

A further factor contributing to the exceptional significance of 1950 Arden is the scholarly interest in the multi-disciplinary work of Millard Sheets and his atelier, the Millard Sheets Studio. It is highly unusual and quite unique in modern American architectural history that a respected artist, rather than an architect was hired as Design Director to oversee the process of building over 100 commercial bank buildings. Sheets’ work, as an architectural designer, a watercolorist, an oil painter, and a muralist, continues to receive scholarly attention and is regularly included in museum collections across the United States. Several monographs have been published on Sheets work and a documentary was released in 2015. The work of the Millard Sheets Studio artists has recently begun to receive its own fair share of scholarly interest with the acquisition of the Denis O’Connor archives by The Huntington Library.

The Home Savings and Loan Building has significant historic and architectural worth. To people who lived in California during the 1960’s, 1970’s, and 1980’s, the local Home Savings and Loan buildings were distinctive and immediately recognizable. They helped foster an interest in local history and helped to create a sense of place in a rapidly changing world. They were important buildings in their time period and due to their high- quality materials, design, and artwork, were rightly seen as a gift to the community and urban landscape. 1950 Arden Way is an excellent late example of the work of Millard Sheets and the Millard Sheets Studio in the design of Home Savings and Loan buildings. As discussed in Dr. Arenson’s “Banking on Beauty”, Sheets evolved his architectural style over time, learning new design strategies from each commission and community. In 1976, when the first plans were created by Sheets for 1950 Arden Way, he was over 70 years old and had built over 100 individually designed buildings for Home Savings. Although the buildings were mostly in the New Formalist style, each was an original design solution to a specific lot. The lot in question, 1950 Arden Way, is one of the finest, largest, and most visible of the sites chosen for Home Savings and Loan in Northern California. Its three-story stature is unusual, as is its lavish use of figured, bookmatched Italian travertine. The large exterior mosaics featuring local Sacramento area history are treasures in and of themselves. In light of the unique design by Millard Sheets, Susan Hertel, and the Millard Sheets Studio, the unique building design in a refined, late New Formalist style, the importance of the building to its time period and its association with Millard Sheets, a Californian artist of major significance, it is reasonable and appropriate that 1950 Arden Way, the Point West branch of Home Savings and Loan be listed on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources under Criteria iii, iv and v.

ORDINANCE NO. ___

Adopted by the Sacramento City Council

[Date Adopted]

AN ORDINANCE LISTING THE HOME SAVINGS AND LOAN BUILDING AT 1950 ARDEN WAY AS A

LANDMARK ON THE SACRAMENTO REGISTER OF HISTORIC AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

BACKGROUND

A. The city council has found “that significant aspects of the city’s rich and diverse historic resources deserve recognition and preservation to foster an understanding of our heritage, and to promote the public health and safety and the economic and general welfare of the people of the city. The preservation and continued use of historic resources are effective tools to sustain and revitalize neighborhoods and business districts within the city, enhance the city’s economic, cultural and aesthetic standing, its identity and its livability, marketability and urban character.” (Sacramento City Code section 17.604.100.A.)

B. To this end, the city code provides a mechanism for listing landmarks, historic districts, and contributing resources on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources (“Sacramento register”).

C. On January 4, 2024, the Preservation Director reviewed a statement of nomination and determined that the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way is eligible for listing on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources as a landmark. On February 21, 2024, the Preservation Commission concurred with the findings of the Preservation Director and recommended the City Council list the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way as a landmark in the Sacramento register.

B
E IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO:

SECTION 1
A. 1950 Arden Way meets the criteria for listing on the Sacramento register provided within City Code section 17.604.210.A.1.a. iii, iv, v.
i. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction (Sacramento City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iii).

The building is a monumentally scaled three -story New Formalist style commercial building with mosaic tile detailing. The New Formalist style is characterized by its symmetry, smooth wall surfaces typically of travertine or marble, and a close attention to detail. The style was a reinterpretation of classical design made apparent by the use of prominent entablatures, grand scale and proportions, an d symmetrical landscapes with fountains and sculpture. The Home Savings and Loan Building embodies these distinctive elements of the New Formalist style with its grand symmetrical stature and prominent cornice, bookmatched travertine exterior, and the plac ement of the building diagonally on the site surrounded by concrete planters, wide exposed aggregate pathways, and a circular plaza facing east which formerly held a central fountain. Most notably, the building also has two large smalti (glass) mosaics, one over each entrance. These mosaics, along with the mural in the interior, are very distinctive works that depict impressionistic chronological stories of local significance, such as the California Gold Rush, riparian habitats, and Native Miwok and Nisenan people from pre-colonization through to the period of construction. For these reasons the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction making it eligible for listing under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iii.

ii. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way embodies represents an important creative individual or master (City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iv).

The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way was designed by celebrated visual artist Millard Sheets, with Frank Homolka and Associates acting as the architect of record. Sheets, founder of Millard Sheets Studio, while not an architect, was sought by Howard F. Ahmanson, owner of Home Savings and Loan, to design their branches beginning in the 1950s. Sheets’ Home Savings branches became renowned in Southern California due to their distinctive designs and Sheets’ use of mosaics depicting local imagery . He continued to design Home Savings branches until the early 1980s. While Sheets was not always involved with the full design process for every Home Savings building, documentation supports that Sheets participated in and oversaw the entire design process for this branch, including the design of the mosaics over each entrance and the interior murals which were executed by Sheets and Millard Sheets Studio. This building is a rare intact example of Sheet’s work in Northern California, with only one other Sheets-designed bank building in the region. Other notable works include the Scottish Rite Temple (Los Angeles), Word of Life mosaic mural at Hesburgh Library (Notre Dame University), and the Lombard/Van Ness Home Savings Branch (San Francisco), among many others. For these reasons the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way represents the work of an important creative individual or master making it eligible under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iv

iii. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way possesses high artistic values (City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.v).

1950 Arden Way is a unique commercial building that includes Sacramento specific public art as an integral part of its architectural design. With its extremely prominent diagonal lot at the intersection of four major streets, its monumental size and bookma tched travertine exterior, the building and its park-like grounds were intended to be a landmark, and to signal Home Savings and Loan’s commitment to becoming a respected member of the Sacramento community. Public art was included in the buildings design to show respect for the city and its history. The Ahmanson family, who continued to helm Home Savings and Loan following the death of their brother in 1968, and Millard Sheets, the multi -disciplinary artist and educator who created the Home Savings and Loan branches, agreed that community specific public art would set them apart from competitors and would make their bank branches beloved landmarks over time.

The two large exterior mosaics in traditional, hand -cut smalti tiles were designed by Millard Sheets and translated into full sized working drawings by Susan Hertel, Sheets’ main assistant and a master in her own right. The full- sized drawings were then used to lay the carefully color selected and hand-cut tiles on. Traditional mosaics have been made in the same fashion since classical antiquity and require a high level of artistic skill to execute. The artists of the Millard Sheets Studio were highly skilled mosaicists and included artists educated at some of the world’s foremost art schools.

In light of the high level of artistry evidenced by the two exterior mosaics at 1950 Arden Way, which are integral and character defining parts of the building’s architecture, it is reasonable to conclude that the building exhibits high artistic values. Fo r these reasons it appears that the building at 1950 Arden is eligible under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.v as possessing high artistic values.

iv. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way has integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and association.

The building retains strong historic integrity in all six elements. Therefore, the building overall retains sufficient historic integrity to qualify for listing on the Sacramento Register.

Location: Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred. The subject property retains its original location at the intersection of Arden Way and Exposition Boulevard, and therefore retains historic integrity of location.

Design: Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property. The building retains essential physical features related to the New Formalism commercial style. This modern interpretation of classical styling is present in the grand scale of the building, building proportions, large windows, prominent cornice, symmetrical plan and landscape, flat roof, and bookmatched travertine cladding. Beyond the replacement of the windows with a similar metal window and the rebranding of Home Savings and Loan sign, there has been little alteration to the design of the building outside the period of significance, therefor it retains historic integrity of design.

Setting: Setting is the physical environment of a historic property. The building was constructed within 10 years after the opening of the new Cal Expo in an area that was rapidly developing as an auto -centric commercial zone. When the building was completed in 1978, the region was a thriving commercial district of large stores, the Arden Fair mall, gas stations, and restaurants. The commercial makeup and design of the area remain largely unchanged. The parcel still retains its axial front plaza facing the intersection of Arden Way and Exposition Boulevard and associated rear parking lot. The majority of the parking lot is located on a separate parcel and is of secondary importance and is not included in this nomination but appears to retain its original symmetrical design. The setting of the Home Savings and Loan building has experienced minimal change and retains historic integrity.

Materials: Materials are the physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property. Millard Sheets designed the Home Savings and Loan Building to have a grand appearance, matching the vast auto- centric setting, and as a reflection of Home Savings and Loan as a stable institution. The New Formalist style was used, as with other buildings he designed, for its mixture of classical and modern design elements. The building retains its bookmatched travertine exterior, cornice, and smalti mosaic tile murals over each entrance. Many interior features appear to be present as well, such as two Sheets -designed murals, teller stations with Gladding McBean tiles, and wood paneling and ceiling details. While the windows have been replaced, the new windows were installed in a manner that preserved the pattern of openings and matched the existing windows. Other minor changes include the replacement of the original “Home Savings and Loan” sign with the badge of each subsequent tenant, most recently Chase Bank. There have not been any new materials added to the Home Savings and Loan building outside of its period of significance that are not consistent with the original materials, therefore it retains a strong level of historic integrity of materials, despite the replacement of the windows.

Workmanship: Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory.

Millard Sheets designed the building to have a unique exterior that conveyed a sense of grandeur in the large, auto-centric landscape of Arden. Sheets was involved in all elements of the design, construction, and ornamentation of the building. The work of Sheets and his associate, Susan Hertel, who installed the smalti mosaic s, is highly apparent in the existing building. The building has experienced very little irreversible alteration since initial construction, and new elements installed outside of the period of significance, such as the replacement windows, are consistent with the original workmanship; therefore, it retains a high level of historic integrity of workmanship, despite the replacement of windows and the alteration of some interior features.

Feeling: Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time. Considering the Home Savings and Loan Building’s setting and original design, it is clear that it retains its historic integrity of feeling. The New Formalist style reflects a time in the United States’ history when the country was focused on depicting stability and power during an uncertain time of inflation, political upheaval, and the transition of the US economy from manufacturing to a service-based economy. The Home Savings and Loan Building, with its dominant size, forms and classical influence, conveys this message of a stable banking institution in a landscape dedicated to the purchasing of goods and leisure activity. The mosaics and murals are also reflective of the time in several ways. The depiction of Native Miwok and Nisenan People, both prior to colonialization and in the contemporary period, coincided with the Red Power movement of the 1960s and 70s which resulted in the increased awareness of Native People and tribe recognition. Other elements include the increased awareness of environmental protection, which is evoked in the interior mural of Sacramento’s riparian habitat, and the depiction of the Gold Rush Era, which harkens to the region’s initial settlement by non-native populations which coincided with the increased interest in US history spurred by the 1976 bicentennial. While ma ny of the buildings in the area have been altered or expanded, the area retains its auto -centric, commercial character. The Home Savings and Loan Building, due to its prominent size, location, and New Formalist style and details, is able to convey the feeling of what 1970s life looked like in Sacramento.

Association: Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property. The Home Savings and Loan Building is associated with Millard Sheets and his vision for creating buildings that depicted a trusted community banking institution. Sheets utilization of community-specific artwork in his buildings is also an extant dominant feature of this building. As mentioned, this building has had very few alterations that have affected its integrity, therefore the association with Sheets is still very strong. For these reasons, the Home Savings and Loan Building retains a high degree of historic integrity of association.
v. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way has significant historic or architectural worth, and its designation as a landmark is reasonable, appropriate and necessary to promote, protect and further the goals and purposes of this chapter.

The lot in question, 1950 Arden Way, is one of the finest, largest, and most visible of the sites chosen for Home Savings and Loan in Northern California.

Its three -story stature is also unusual, as is its lavish use of figured, bookmatched Italian travertine. The large exterior mosaics featuring local Sacramento area history are treasures in and of themselves. In light of the unique design by Millard Sheets, Susan Hertel, and the Millard Sheets Studio, the unique building design in a refined, late New Formalist style, the importance of the building to its time period and its association with Millard Sheets, a Californian artist of major significance, it is reasonable and appropriate that 1950 Arden Way, the Point West branch of Home Savings and Loan be listed on the California Register of Historic Resources under Criteria 3 and additionally on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources under Criterion iii, iv and v.
vi. The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way has achieved significance within the past 50 -years because it is of exceptional importance to the history of architecture, the work of an important individual and master Millard Sheets, and possesses high artistic values in the two mosaic murals designed by Sheets and executed by Susan Hertel (City Code Section

17.604.210.A.2.e).

Pursuant to the California Register of Historical Resources (Public Resources Code Section 4852), in order to understand the historic importance of a resource, sufficient time must have passed to obtain a scholarly perspective on the events or individuals associated with the resource. A resource less than fifty (50) years old may be considered for listing in the California Register if it can be demonstrated that sufficient time has passed to understand its historical importance. The Sacramento Register special considerations states that a building must be of exceptional importance if less than 50 -years old in order to be eligible for listing.

Rather than making cookie cutter buildings which could be built quickly and cheaply in any city in America, Home Savings and Loan chose to entrust their entire branch branding strategy to a highly acclaimed California artist, Millard Sheets. Sheet s and his Studio sought to create branch buildings that would contribute to the beauty of the city around them. 1950 Arden Way was meant to be seen as a landmark and was meant to show Home Savings and Loan’s commitment to Sacramento by its park-like site, its exceptionally high-quality construction and materials as well as by its inclusion of Sacramento specific public art. The site chosen for Sacramento’s first purpose -built Home Savings and Loan branch is a remarkably prominent one which required a monumentally scaled building. Beyond its monumentality, 1950 Arden Way reflects its Millard Sheets “jewel box” New Formalist design through its flat roof with broad, sheltering eaves, its bookmatched Italian travertine exterior, its park-like grounds and its large circular plaza with seating and a fountain. 1950 Arden Way was designed to be a pleasant place for both customers and employees. It shows respect for the community which surrounds it, offering beauty and community specific art for everyone’s enjoyment. The quality of design and attention to detail at 1950 Arden Way is nowadays rarely seen outside of Civic architecture.

Scholars of architecture, especially in Southern California which has a much greater concentration of former Home Savings and Loan buildings, have recognized the exceptional architectural significance of these buildings since the mid-2000s. The Getty Museum and The Huntington Library have sought to help preserve them through scholarly research, and the acquisition of archival collections. The Getty Museum as a part of its Pacific Standard Time project (which seeks to bring scholarly attention to art and artists from California) brought thousands of interested visitors to tour Millard Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan buildings in Los Angeles and nearby communities, including examples from the late 1970’s. Sacramento is very lucky to have such a large, well-sited, and intact Millard Sheets Home Sav ings and Loan building. The rarity of Home Savings and Loans in Northern California should also be considered when assessing the exceptional significance of the building despite its being only 46 years old.

A further factor contributing to the exceptional significance of 1950 Arden is the scholarly interest in the multi -disciplinary work of Millard Sheets and his atelier, the Millard Sheets Studio. It is highly unusual and quite likely unique in modern American architectural history that a respected artist, rather than an architect was hired to design and oversee the entire process of building over 100 commercial bank buildings. Sheets’ work, as an architectural designer, a watercolorist, an oil painter, and a muralist continues to receive scholarly attention and is regularly included in museum collections across the United States. Several monographs have been published on Sheets work and a documentary was released in 2015. The work of the Millard Sheets Studio artists has recently begun to receive its own fair share of scholarly interest with the acquisition of the Denis O’Connor archives by The Huntington Library.

Table of Contents:

Exhibit A: Significant Features and Characteristics

A. Primary and Alternate Elevations

Significant Features and Characteristics of the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way include the smooth travertine bookmatched cladding, classically inspired shapes and proportion, monumentality, minimal ornament, deep overhanging eaves, strong central axis, recessed central entryways, bi-lateral symmetry, flat roof, central plaza and fountain, triangular landscape design surrounding the building, sheltered planters at the building corners, projecting window banks, interior murals, exterior smalti mosaics, double height lobby with exposed wooden beams and walls, central skylight-like lobby light fixture, teller counter with glossy brown Gladding McBean three-dimensional ‘compass point’ ceramic tiles.

Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way- Western Elevation

Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way- Eastern Elevation

Page 1 ends

*P11. Report Citation: Paul, Daniel: 2023 Historical Evaluation, Dudeck Environmental*Attachments:None Location Map Sketch Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph RecordOther (list) DPR 523A (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________PRIMARY RECORD Trinomial _____________________________________NRHP Status Code Other Listings _______________________________________________________________Review Code __________ Reviewer ____________________________ Date ___________P1. Other Identifier:_Point West Home Savings and Loan______________________________________________________*P2. Location:Not for Publication Unrestricted *a. CountySacramentoand (P2b and P2c or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.) *b.Date T___; R___; ___ ¼ of Sec B.M. c. Address: 1950 Arden Way________City: Sacramento______________Zip: 95815____________________ e. Assessor Parcel Number: 277-0271-007 and 277-0271-017__________________________________________________*P3a. Description:(Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries)1950 Arden Way is a monumentally scaled three-story New Formalist style commercial building and associated parking lot at the intersection of four major streets: Arden Way, Exposition Boulevard, Alta Arden Expressway, and Ethan Way in Sacramento. Rectangular in plan, the 29,300 square foot building faces southeast and is positioned at an angle on its wedge shaped and park-like lot. (See Continuation Sheet page 3)*P3b. Resource Attributes:1-3 Story Commercial Building, HP6.*P4. Resources Present:Building Structure Object Site District Element of DistrictP5b. Description of Photo: Photo#1. Northeast View 10/23/2023.*P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources:Historic Prehistoric Both1978; City of Sacramento, Building Inspections Division Record Card, April 8, 1977*P7. Owner and Address:MSD DV Arden Way LLC, Attn: Sam Colson. 105 Tallapoosa Street, Suite 307. Montgomery Alabama, 36104.*P8. Recorded by: Ella Cross, Preservation Intern; and Henry Feuss, Preservation Planner, City of Sacramento Department of Community Development*P9. Date Recorded:October 23, 2023.*P10. Survey Type:Intensive_________P5a. Photograph or Drawing

Page 2 ends

DPR 523B (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD B1. Historic Name: Home Savings and Loan_________________________________________________________________B2. Common Name: Home Savings Bank: Home Savings_______________________________________________________B3. Original Use: Commercial__________________________B4. Present Use: Vacant_______________________*B5. Architectural Style:New Formalism_______________________________________________________________*B6. Construction History:(Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations)Building plans were created in 1976, the building was completed in 1978 with the construction firm Continental Heller of Sacramentolisted on the building permit, and the final interior mural was installed in 1980 as shown by extensive correspondence between Millard Sheets identified as program design director of Home Savings and Loan corporation and Frank Homolka and Associates, the architect of record discussing the budget, interior design, artwork, and progress of the building. There have been minor alterations to the building over time, including the removal of corporate signage visible in the original photographs of the building provided by the Huntington Library(photo #2). Additionally, two of the four planters at the base of the building have had metal fencing installed around them to deter -dimensional geometric patterned ceramic tiles from Gladding McBean terracotta manufacturers in a glossy brown. While these tiles are still mounted to the base of the counter, during a later renovation of the lobby they were encased in blonde wooden frames and obscured. (See Continuation Sheet) *B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date:1978______ Original Location: Yes___________________*B8. Related Features: Fountain, garden, parking lot; Three integrated murals designed by Millard Sheets and executed by artist Susan Hertel. B9. Architect: Building designed by artist, Millard Sheets._____ b. Builder:Continental Heller, Sacramento._________*B10. Significance: ThemeDistinctive characteristics of type and the work of a master. High artistic value.____________ AreaLocal and Regional Significance_________________________________________________Period of Significance 1976-1980________ Property Type Commercial Building________________________________ Applicable CriteriaCalifornia Register Criteria 3, Sacramento Register Criterion iii, iv, and v._________________________The building at 1950 Arden appears to meet the criteria for listing under the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) under Criteria 3 and the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources under Criterion iii, iv and v, as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, represents the work of an important creative individual or master and possesses high artistic values. The building was a collaborative design by artist and Home Savings and Loan design director Millard Sheets (1907-1989) and Frank Homolka and Associates, the architect of record in the New Formalist style for Home Savings and Loan in 1976 and opened for business in 1978. Susan Hertel and DenisSheets Studio collaborated with Millard Sheets on the design of the The final interior painted mural was hung in 1980. (See Continuation Sheet)B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP 26. MuralB13. Remarks: See continuation sheet. *B14. Evaluator:Ella Cross, Preservation Intern; and Henry Feuss, Preservation Planner, City of Sacramento Department of Community Development*Date of Evaluation:October 23, 2023(This space reserved for official comments.)

Page 3 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________P3a. Description (continued):One of the two original interior murals is not visible, and it is unknown at this time if it is simply covered by a layer of vinyl wallpaper or if it has been removed. Although the final cost of constructing the building is not known, there is significant correspondence at the Smithsonian Museum Archive between the Home Savings and Loan corporate office, Millard Sheets, and Frank Homolka and Associates discussing all aspects of the building design, including asking Sheets and Homolka to try to keep the costs down since the three-story building with huge windows, large exterior mosaics and a fully landscaped park-like lot were expensive even by the luxurious standards of Home Savings and Loan branches.The building is of steel frame construction clad in bookmatched golden toned Italian travertine slabs. It has a flat roof, plain cornice, and broad overhanging boxed eaves. At the ground floor level, the building is notched at all four corners, creating four sheltered planter beds, edged in concrete with bench seating. These four seating areas are shaded by the slightly projecting upper floors and by the deep n the main entry and rear entry respectively. Both facades are identical, and feature deeply recessed central entryways with two sets of double doors flanked by similarly sized fixed pane glass windows, all set in bronze toned aluminum frames. Above each entry is a large mosaic drawn by Millard Sheets and The mosaic above the main (southeast facing) entry depicts an impressionistic chronology of Sacramento history from the Native Californian Miwok and Nisenan era to the present day. The mosaic above the rear entry depicts scenes from the Gold Rush. Originally, in the central area above the mosaics, large, gildedhistoric photographs (see photo # 2). The side elevations facing Exposition Boulevard and Arden Way are the longer sides of the rectangular building. The fenestration at the ground floor level is located at the center of each of these longer facades and consists of floor to ceiling fixed pane glass windows set in bronze-colored aluminum frames, as used throughout the building. The second and third floor of each of the longer facades are punctuated by 32 floor to ceiling fixed pane glass windows set in bronze-colored frames. These windows are grouped in two sets of four on either side of a broad travertine expanse at the center of the elevation which formerly contained the glazed ceramic Home Savings and Loan shield logo, designed by Millard Sheets (see photo #3). The building sits in a large triangular garden with concrete planters and wide exposed aggregate walkways. The main entry fronts a circular fountain area surrounded by a raised circular plaza and concrete benches which define the outer edge of the circle. Walkways lit by lampposts surround the building and lead to the fountain, parking lot and the sidewalks along Exposition Boulevard and Arden Way. The original landscaping is still mostly present, with two mature pink crepe myrtles at the rear entrance, while bradford pear, pines, crepe myrtle and clipped hedges set in lawn surround the building on three sides. The associated parking lot contains its original planters, smaller lawn areas, mature trees and walled trash enclosure as well. From the aerial view of the property shown above, it is apparent that the carefully considered layout of the parking spaces and the walkways running into the center of the building and out the other side terminating in the circular fountain create an eye-catching and bi-laterally symmetrical design with a strong vertical axis. Visible from the main entrance to the building, the southeast facing mosaic depicts a chronology of Sacramento history that strongly emphasizes the importance of the Sacramento and American rivers. From left to right, the mural begins with the Native Miwok and Nisenanera, followed by the Mexican period, the American settlement period and finally, people enjoying the rivers in the present day (see Continuation Sheet Photos 4 and 5). Visible from the parking lot side of the building, the northwest facing mosaic depicts early Sacramento history, focusing on the Gold Rush and early settlement era, again the Sacramento and American rivers are emphasized. Miners working sluice boxes, gold panning, and celebrating, along with images of the overland emigrant trail combine to give an image of the history of the area (see Continuation Sheet Photos # 6, 7, 8, 9 ).The interior originally featured two large murals, in oil paint on canvas, also designed by Sheets Studio, one of which is visible today and depicts two children in a local riparian environment filled with water, trees, deer, and migratory geese. The mural is partially visible in Photograph 11. The status and subject matter of the second mural, which faces the main entrance, is unknown. It is possible that the mural is beneath a later wall covering which is currently in the location. The extant mural was painted and signed by Millard Sheets Studio artist Susan Hertel.Over the years, there have been minor alterations to the exterior of the building, mostly necessitated by changes in corporate ownership. These include the removal of Home Savings and Loan, Washington Mutual, and Chase Bank signage from all four sides of the buildingand its glass doors. The exterior thresholds originally were concrete with the words Home Savingsinlaid into them, as seen in

Page 4 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________Continuation Sheet Photo # 2. They are no longer extant. Additionally, the original fountain has been filled in and planted with shrubs. It plumbing is still present. Finally, the two ground floor planter boxes on the main facade have had metal fencing installed around them. In 1978 when the building was completed, its setting was defined by Cal-Expo, the home of the California State Fair on the southern side and on the other three sides it was surrounded by a thriving commercial district of large stores, a shopping mall, gas stations and restaurants. The same is true today although the names of the stores and gas stations have changed. Overall, the historic integrity of the exterior is extremely high, and the alterations are either reversible, as in the case of the metal fencing and the soil filled fountain, or do not alter the original design, as in the case of the removed signage. On the ground floor there are several cracked and broken windows. B10. Significance (continued):Home Savings and Loan and Howard AhmansonHome Savings and Loan was a Southern California institution, originally founded in the nineteenth century but gradually expanded under owner and philanthropist Howard Ahmanson and after his death in 1968, by his family, into an organization with branches throughout California.performing arts complex of the city, The Music Center, which contains the Ahmanson Theatre. He was also a major supporter of Otis Art Institute, University of Southern California, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Ahmanson made his fortune in banking, acquiring Home Building and Loan, which later became Home Savings, in 1947. Ahmanson acquired 18 additional institutions which organized under the Home Savings and Loan name and grew to become the largest savings and loan in the United States, and it remained so until its merger with Washington Mutual in 1998.Florida, Missouri, Texas and Ohio.In 2008, following the failure of Washington Mutual in the Great Recession, assets, including 1950 Arden Way, were sold to JP Morgan Chase, who operated in the location for several years. Although perhaps not the case today, savings and loan institutions were seen as community-based organizations since theyspecialized in local home loans. 1950 Arden Way was the first purpose-built branch of Home Savings and Loan in Sacramento. By 1980, Sacramento had two branches, a situation very unusual in Northern California. Only San Francisco and Sacramento had two branches. According to author Dr. Adam Arenson, three story buildings, such as 1950 Arden Way, were created as regional headquarters.The Home Savings and Loan buildings designed under direction fromdesigns, high quality architectural finishes, mosaic work, and for their inclusion of community specific public art in most branches. They were conceived as total works of design, where everything, from the view inside the building from the parking lot to the comfort of the chairs inside, was carefully considered with the goal of making the Home Savings and Loan brand a trusted community financial institution. d murals designed by Sheets. In some locations there were also tapestries, stained glass windows and sculpture by Sheets, Millard Sheets Studio, or commissioned artists. Sheets and the Ahmanson family agreed that including public art illustrating themes of community, leisure, and family, was a good way to build client relationships and loyalty. The monumental and very permanent look of each branch was meant to emphasize stability and dependability. The unique building design of 1950 Arden exhibits character defining features associated with New Formalist architecture including strong bi-lateral symmetry, classically influenced proportions, monumentality, smooth stone cladding, s effect. 1950 Arden Way represents a unique building san architect. The Home Savings and Loan buildings by Sheets, such as 1950 Arden Way, are unique in that they represent one of the only times in modern American architectural history where an artist rather than a trained architect was commissioned to design and decorate over 100 commercial buildings. Millard Sheets Studio and Susan HertelMillard Owen Sheets was born in Pomona, California in 1907 and had become a locally prominent painter by the age of 15. Sheets began his art career by winning first prize at the Los Angeles County Fair, held in his hometown of Pomona. The director of the fTheodore Modra, became a lifelong mentor to Sheets. Graduating from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles in 1929, Sheets began rector of the fine arts program at the Los Angeles County Fair, a position he held for 25 years. A gifted and hard--disciplinary and

Page 5 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________ard, administering a WPA Public Works of Art committee that employed hundreds of out of work artists during the depression, Art jurist for Burma with the US Army, builder of racially integrated affordable housing for Scripps College, designer of restaurants, corporate buildings and residences, Director of Otis Art Institute, designer of the Los Angeles County seal, and throughout all of this, he continued to exhibit and sell his art. His paintings are held in the permanent collections of the Chicago Art Institute, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. Millard Sheets was hired by Howard Ahmanson buildings that will be exciting seventy-Between 1955 and his retirement in 1980/81, Millard Sheets oversaw over 100 Home Savings and Loan offices, inside and out, despite having no formal training in architecture. He and his Studio also oversaw their construction, managing the projects from start to finish.Giving his oral history in 1977, Millard Sheets described the design of Home Savings and Loan branch buildings this way: I do all of the designing, every bit of it. I detail everything, but I have marvelous people working with me who put it all down in final working drawings. In the old days we did everything. At one time I had four architects working for me and about ten draftsmen and engineers. We did the whole thing right in our office. But as time has gone on, I have been working with Home Savings in a new dimension. I'm now the director of their design program. I still design the buildings, and I have my own staff. I have two architects, who are excellent collaborators with me, and they finish up the preliminary phases of the design, which I present to the client. When those are approved, then I associate with an outside architect, generally in the vicinity where we do the building. If it's in the north, we try to work with architects in the north, for obvious reasons: it's good for them, they know the problems, and they can take the plans in and push them through the building department. They can do the supervision in the early part of the work, when you're excavating and putting in all your rough framing and steel and all that. Then I do all the supervision for the final stages, when we put in all the final finishes and the landscaping. (Goodwin Interview, 1977)Millard Sheets employed a full studio of artists who he trained to execute handmade mosaics, stained glass, tapestries, murals, furniture, and sculpture based on his designs. Sheets contracted with architects, builders, structural engineering firms to build his bank designs. On the design of 1950 Arden Way, Home Savings and Loan contracted with Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach to act as the architect of record, but Sheets maintained design oversight and control over the final branch design. The administrative staff of the Millard Sheets Studio also helped to keep these large projects on track. Sheets was intimately involved in the design of all aspects of 1950 Arden as evidenced by the extensive correspondence, held at the Smithsonian, between Sheets, Homolka, his studio, vendors, and the Home Savings and Loan corporate offices. This highly unusual design process allowed Sheets to retain creative control over the Home Savings and Loan commissions and to accomplish much more than one man working alone could have done. s and their work is represented at 1950 Arden Way. Hertel was a former graduate student of art taught by Sheets at Scripps Collegefrom Great Brittan and had attended the Royal Academy of Art in London.as it represents ets.main assistant. At the Studio, Hertel learned how to create traditional mosaics and also worked in stained glass. A mother, artist, avid gardener, and horsewoman, Hertel and Sheets shared an exceptional capacity for hard work and project management. Hertel was a longtime employee of the Studio and as Millard Sheets slowly moved into retirement, she took on more and more -1981, the Millard Sheets Studio, headed by President Susan Hertel, continued to design and build branches for Home Savings and Loan around the United States. 1950 Arden WayAt 1950 Arden Way, the southeast and northwest facades feature two large mosaics in hand cut Venetian smalti tiles, drawn by Millard son in his monograph on Home Savings and Loan buildings, Millard Sheets and the Sheets Studio researched the history of each location in preparation for the design of its artwork and worked from historic images, illustrations, and text-based sources. Millard Sheets, in an

Page 6 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________way back, While some locations were rather short on historic events, Sacramento, as one of the oldest cities in California, was not. While perhaps seeming to be non-specific depictions of California history to Dr. Arenson, the mosaics at 1950 Arden depict local Sacramento area scenes easily identifiable by the community. The mosaic work is highly accomplished, with subtle shading. Venetian glass smalti manufactured with real silver and gold foil are effectively used as accents (see Continuation Sheet Photos 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9). The photographs provided by on of hands and faces in mosaic, which are considered the most difficult details to execute. The photographs show the mosaics in Sacramento, before installation, which is why the images appear reversed. Traditional mosaic is created face down and only upon installation is the image flipped to its correct orientation. Visible from the main entrance to the building, the southeast facing mosaic depicts a chronology of Sacramento history, beginning with the Native Miwok and Nisenan people and the rich ecological bounty of pre-colonization. The next vignette is of a buckskin wearing hunter of the Mexican period (see Continuation Sheet Photos # 4 and 5). The central vignette represents the mid nineteenth century American s captain and a man unloading supplies. In the background, ships of various eras sail up and down the Sacramento River including the locally beloved steam powered paddle wheelers. The final vignette represents the present, showing a Native Californian man with a modern fishing rod during the annual salmon run up the American River. Next to him is a. The inclusion of Native Californians in the present day emphasizes their continued connection with the cycles of the salmon, the rivers, and the land. In the background behind them is a canoe and two American outdoorsmen. Visible from the parking lot side of the building, the northwest facing mosaic depicts early Sacramento history, focusing on the Gold Rush and early settlement era, some images apparently drawn from frequently reproduced local daguerreotypes of the 1860s. In the foreground, the American River is flecked with gold nuggets as miners work sluice boxes and pan for gold. On the left side of the mosaic, covered wagons filled with pioneers arrive in early Sacramento from their long journey on the overland Emigrant Trail. In the center background, men on horseback gallop past an early commercial building. On the right side, miners and women dance enthusiastically as a man plays fiddle. On the far right, a miner, in front of a bank counter protected by a substantial grille, holds a bag of gold (see Continuation Sheet Photos 6, 7, 8, 9).Both mosaics at 1950 Arden Wayoriginal design or execution. It does indicate her role as leader of the mosaic work, as we know the mosaics of the Millard Sheets Studio were created in a uniquely collaborative environment which included an initial design by Millard Sheets. Talented artists including Denis and others worked alongside Hertel to create the very large mosaics at 1950 Arden Way.Again, speaking in 1977 in his oral history interview, Sheets testified of the mural design process, saying: I have designed most of the mosaics myself completely, and Sue, in these latter years, has done a few mosaics herself. She's marvelous. She does the most beautiful work. But I've designed most all of them, which means that I make a small sketch, a color sketch in scale, an inch to a foot. I then blow it up full size. Sue has always helped me tremendously on the cartoons. We work together so closely that we don't know where one works and the other leaves off, really, we've worked so long together. Then with my color sketch she goes into the mosaic studio every day and checks on the color that the cutters are using, so that they can't get it out of value or out of color. That's been our routine for twenty-some years because we've been making our own mosaics for over twenty years. We started out by having them made in Italy. I used to go over to Italy and give them the cartoons and the color sketches. (Goodwin, 1977)The interior originally featured two large murals, in oil paint on canvas, also designed by Sheets, one of which is visible today and depicts a local riparian environment filled with water, trees and migratory geese which arrive in Sacramento each fall due to its position as an overwintering spot on the Pacific Flyway. Two children are shown at play, a young girl holds a fawn, and a young boy plays in the water. The mural is partially visible in Photograph 11. The status and subject matter of the second mural, which faces the main entrance, is unknown. New Formalist Architecture

Page 7 ends

Page 8 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________LocationThe building remains in its original location and has not been moved, therefore it retains integrity of location.Design- The building has undergone only minor exterior changes since its completion in 1978 which in no way compromise the original design by Millard Sheets and Millard Sheets Studio. The building retains its character defining features and therefore retains integrity of design.Setting -Expo, the home of the California State Fair. The setting has not changed and the area remains a bustling commercial zone and the home of Cal-Expo therefore the building retains integrity of setting.MaterialsThe building has experienced minor exterior changes which include the installation of metal fencing surrounding two nal changes include the removal of corporate signage from all four sides of the building, the windows, doors, and thresholds as ownership changed. These changes do not affect the integrity of the building and therefore the building retains integrity of materials.Workmanship1950 Arden Way retains its original character defining features and materials which reflect the work of Millard Sheets and the Millard Sheets Studio, master craftsmen and artists. Therefore, the building retains integrity of workmanship. Feeling Because the property has retained integrity of location, design, setting, materials, and workmanship, it continues to convey its original character and the intent of its original design. Therefore, the property retains integrity of feeling.Association Integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling combine to convey integrity of association. Because the property at 1950 Arden Way retains all of these aspects of integrity, it continues to convey its New Formalist design by artist and architectural designer Millard Sheets and the talented craftspeople of the Millard Sheets Studio, including Susan Hertel, who led the studio in realizing his designs and therefore, the building retains integrity of association.Statement of SignificanceThe property at 1950 Arden Way meets the following California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR) and Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources Criterion:Criterion 3 and iii - It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction.The building is a monumentally scaled three-story New Formalist style commercial building with mosaic tile detailing. The New Formalist style is characterized by its symmetry, smooth wall surfaces typically of travertine or marble, and a close attention to detail. The style was a reinterpretation of classical design made apparent by the use of prominent entablatures, grand scale and proportions, and symmetrical landscapes with fountains and sculpture. The Home Savings and Loan Building embodies these distinctive elements of the New Formalist style with its grand symmetrical stature and prominent cornice, bookmatched travertine exterior, and the placement of the building diagonally on the site surrounded by concrete planters, wide exposed aggregate pathways, and a circular plaza facing east which formerlyheld a central fountain. Most notably, the building also has two large smalti (glass) mosaics, one over each entrance. These mosaics, along with the mural in the interior, are very distinctive works that depict impressionistic chronological stories of local significance, such as the California Gold Rush, riparian habitats, and Native Miwok and Nisenan people from pre-colonization through to the period of construction. For these reasons the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction making it eligible for listing under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iii and California Register of Historical Resources Criteria 3.Criterion 3 and iv - It represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age.The Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way was designed by celebrated visual artist Millard Sheets, with Frank Homolka and Associates acting as the architect of record. Sheets, founder of Millard Sheets Studio, while not an architect, was sought by Howard ecame renowned in Southern California due to their. He continued to design Home Savings branches until the early 1980s. While Sheets was not always involved with the full design process for every Home Savings building, documentation supports that Sheets participated in and oversaw the entire design process for this branch, including the design of the mosaics over each entrance and the interior murals which were executed by Sheets and Millard Sheets Studio. This building eets-designed bank building in the region. Other

Page 9 ends

DPR 523L (1/95) *Required Information State of California The Resources Agency Primary # _____________________________________DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI # ________________________________________CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial ____________________________________________notable works include the Scottish Rite Temple (Los Angeles), Word of Life mosaic mural at Hesburgh Library (Notre Dame University), and the Lombard/Van Ness Home Savings Branch (San Francisco), among many others. For these reasons the Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way represents the work of an important creative individual or master making it eligible under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.iv and California Register of Historic and Cultural Resources Criteria 3.Criterion v Possesses high artistic value.1950 Arden Way is a unique commercial building that includes Sacramento specific public art as an integral part of its architectural design.With its extremely prominent diagonal lot at the intersection of four major streets, its monumental size and bookmatched travertine exterior, the building and its park-like grounds were intendeda respected member of the Sacramento community. Public art was included in the buildings design to show respect for the city and its history. The Ahmanson family, who continued to helm Home Savings and Loan following the death of their brother in 1968, and Millard Sheets, the multi-disciplinary artist and educator who created the Home Savings and Loan branches, agreed that community specific public art would set them apart from competitors and would make their bank branches beloved landmarks over time.The two large exterior mosaics in traditional, hand-cut smalti tiles were designed by Millard Sheets and translated into full sized working and a master in her own right. The full-sized drawings were then used to lay the carefully color selected and hand-cut tiles on. Traditional mosaics have been made in the same fashion since classical antiquity and require a high level of artistic skill to execute. The artists of the Millard Sheets Studio were highly skilled mosaicists and included artists educated at In light of the high level of artistry evidenced by the two exterior mosaics at 1950 Arden Way, which are integral and character defining For these reasons it appears that the building at 1950 Arden is eligible under City Code Section 17.604.210.A.1.a.v as possessing high artistic values. Criteria for Buildings Less than 50-years OldAs per the California Register of Historical Resources (Title 14, Chapter 11.5) and City Code Criteria 17.604.210.2.e: in order to understand the historic importance of a resource, sufficient time must have passed to obtain a scholarly perspective on the events or individuals associated with the resource. A resource less than fifty (50) years old may be considered for listing in the California Register if it can be demonstrated that sufficient time has passed to understand its historical importance and the Sacramento Register if the resource is of exceptional importance. In the case of 1950 Arden Way, the property has achieved significance within the past fifty years as a result of several factors. The foremostof these is that scholars now understand that commercial architecture has changed drastically since the late 1970s and early 1980s. Earlier California commercial development, such as 1950 Arden Way, reflects that some businesses once sought to become long term partners in the community by creating high quality, artistic and long-lasting buildings that would become landmarks. Rather than making cookie cutter buildings which could be built quickly and cheaply in any city in America, Home Savings and Loan chose to entrust their entire branch branding strategy to a highly acclaimed California artist, Millard Sheets. Sheets and his Studio sought to create branch buildings that would contribute to the beauty of the city around them. 1950 Arden Way was meant to be seen as a landmark and gateway to the emerging Fair Oaks community and park-like site, its exceptionally high-quality construction and materials as well as by its inclusion of Sacramento specific public art. purpose-built Home Savings and Loan branch is a remarkably prominent one which required a monumentally scaled building. Beyond its flat roof with broad, sheltering eaves, its bookmatched Italian travertine exterior, its park-like grounds and its large circular plaza with seating and a fountain. 1950 Arden Way was designed to be a pleasant place for both customers and employees. It shows respect for the community which surrounds it, offering beauty and community specific arnowadays rarely seen outside of Civic architecture. Scholars of architecture, especially in Southern California which has a much greater concentration of former Home Savings and Loan buildings, have recognized the exceptional architectural significance of these buildings since the mid-2000s. The Getty Museum and The Huntington Library have sought to help preserve them through scholarly research, and the acquisition of archival collections. The Getty Museum as a part of its Pacific Standard Time initiative (which seeks to bring scholarly attention to art and artists from California) brought thousands of interested visitors to tour Millard Sheets designed Home Savings and Loan buildings in Los Angeles and nearby communities,

Page 10 ends

Page 11 ends

Page 12 ends

Page 13 ends

Page 14 ends

Page 15 ends

Page 16 ends

Page 17 ends

Page 18 ends

Page 19 ends

Page 20 ends

Page 21 ends

Page 22 ends

Page 23 ends

Page 24 ends

Page 25 ends

Page 26 ends

Page 27 ends

PO Box 162140, Sacramento CA 95816 [email protected] - PreservationSacramento.org - (916)604-8320 Preservation Sacramento Founded in 1972 as Sacramento Old City Association Sean deCourcy, Preservation Director City of Sacramento, Community Development Department 300 Richards Blvd. Sacramento CA 95811 October 27, 2023 RE: Home Savings Bank, 1950 Arden Way Dear Director DeCourcy, The Board of Directors of Preservation Sacramento wishes to express our support for the eligibility of Home Savings Bank, at 1950 Arden Way, as an eligible historic resource. Despite its relatively recent construction (45 years ago), the design of the building is a locally significant example of Late Modernism, and its decorative murals, by Millard Sheets studio artist Sue Hertel, are a rare and masterfully executedartistic embellishment. The building was also mentioned in the City of Sacramentos Mid-century Modern study. We encourage the Preservation Director to find the property eligible and forward it to the Preservation Commission and City Council. Sincerely, William Burg President, Preservation Sacramento Board of Directors

From: Adam Arenson, Professor of History <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, October 3, 2023 1:02 PMTo: Ella Cross <[email protected]>Cc: [email protected]: Re: Home Savings Bank - 1950 Arden Way, Sacramento- Preservation Question 13 5694 Sacramento, //Arden// Point West building, Correspondence, 1972-1979 Lawyer William Holliman Jr to H Michael WyantGeorge UnderwoodArlin Eddington13 5694 Sacramento, //Arden// Point West building, Job costs and billing statements, 1976-1980Dan Clapp13 5694 Sacramento, //Arden// Point West building, Notes, drawings, and miscellaneous background material, 1972-1976, undated

Adam ArensonProfessor and Chair of History
Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in CaliforniaThe Great Heart of the Republic: St. Louis and the Cultural Civil WarCivil War Wests: Testing the Limits of the United StatesFrontier Cities: Encounters at the Crossroads of Empire From:gretchen steinbergTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Re: 1950 Arden Way Historic Resource Evaluation - SacMod Initial CommentsDate:Friday, October 27, 2023 3:39:35 PMAttachments:2013.10.21_Former Home Savings Mosaics in Sacto.pdfSacMod encourages and supports a separate historic evaluation of 1950 Arden Waybe conductedRebuttal to DUDEK’s weak arguments (Dudek Eval, page 10) relating to the Mid-Century Modern in the City of Sacramento Historic Context Statement and SurveyResults (page 3-14), reiterated by Downey Brand, LLP

Submitted via e-mailDudek’s evaluation of 1950 Arden Way is insufficient and incomplete.

City of Sacramento Preservation staff’s evaluation of 1950 Arden Way is thorough and comprehensive.Former Home Savings & Loan in Redlands demonstrates that adaptive reuse of intact banks can be successful. 2023.12.26 SacMod re: M23-011 - Point West Home Savings & Loan Page 2

From: Michael Seaman <[email protected]> Sent:Monday, February 19, 2024 5:38 PMTo: Sean deCourcy <[email protected]>Cc: [email protected]; Kathleen Stricklin <[email protected]>Subject: Item 2, Preservation Commission meeting of 02/20/24Due to a schedule conflict, I am unable to attend the Preservation Commission meeting tomorrowevening, February 20th. With this email, though, I give strong support the staff recommendation todesignate the former Home Savings and Loan Building at 1950 Arden Way as an historic property.The staff report substantially details and supports the validity of such designation.As an Emeritus Member of the American Institute of Architects, I care deeply about the importanceof American architecture. The notion that buildings once intended as community monuments shouldbe torn down for fast food joints appals me. I am grateful for the impressive intelligence andsensitivity displayed by your staff in the analysis of the historic value of the building at 1950 ArdenWay. Furthermore, as a long-time elected member of a local recreation and park district across thestreet from the building, I know that good design and public art matter to our community. Thus Isupport the preservation of the 1950 Arden Way building as a prime example of Mid-CenturyModern design and the New Formalist style, along with its extraordinary public artwork - the MillardSheets Studio murals. I would be happy to see the building undergo adaptive reuse, the clearpotential for which was pointed out in the staff report.Having lived in unincorporated Arden Arcade for 46 years, I have observed with dismay the vastarray of poor land use decisions at the interface between the City of Sacramento and the County ofSacramento that have degraded the local area. The Preservation Commission's staff reportacknowledged the importance of respecting community in our immediate vicinity and preserving the historic attributes of the area. I urge the Preservation Commission to join in due regard byapproving and forwarding to the City Council the recommended actions that would preserve thebuilding at 1950 Arden Way as a landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic and CulturalResources.Respectfully,Michael Seaman--Michael SeamanArden Arcade CA 95825Local control was a good idea in 1776 and it still isEnergy efficiency 1st in the loading order.Take a ski or snowboard lesson from a Pro.

From: Susan Jones <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2024 8:51 PMTo: Sean deCourcy <[email protected]>Subject: 1950 Arden Way - Millard Sheets building needs to be preserved!What a beautiful example of his work - art work and architecture. It would be a shame to lose thispiece of Sacramento heritage! Please do not let this building be torn down or lost. This previousinvestment in art and architecture are what brand a city as interesting and beautiful and worth livingin and visiting.Thank you,Susan Jones1573 49th St, Sacramento, CA 95819916-549-3758 From:Lita MunichTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Historic Building 1950 Arden WayDate:Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:44:09 AMSean de CourcyIf you have any sensibility around preservation (your job description indicates you might) I urgeyou to protect this building. I am in Arden Arcade 8 years now after leaving East Sacramento.It would be a crime to remove this building and its priceless mural to replace it with a tackystructure of the Fast Food genre. Sacramento should be hiding its head as its record forpreservation is spotty at best.And yes I remember the Alhambra Theater debacle a failure to see our communal soulpreserved.Please do your job and do not cave to these vultures, the owners of 1950 Arden Way.Ms Munich From: Lynne Sperry <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, February 19, 2024 10:34 PMTo: Sean deCourcy <[email protected]>Subject: Demolition of 1950 Arden WayDear Mr. de Courcy, What sense would it make to demolish a unique building, 1950 Arden Way, to replace it withanother drive through fast food? In Europe they repurpose old buildings to preserve the uniquecharacter of their cities. Americans pay high prices to fly to Europe to appreciate the old buildings. Who would intentionally go to Arden Arcade to view the interesting architecture? This older officebuilding can be updated in the interior with offices for less expense than demolishing it. I grew up inthe 50's & 60's on Gwen Drive, along the creek near Fulton & El Camino, with huge oak trees thatgrew there long before the housing development.. The area was a pleasant family area and safe. Ithas deteriorated considerably so I moved to Folsom. Knocking down a unique building where peoplecould be employed in good paying office jobs & help redevelop the Arden Arcade neighborhood inpreference for another plastic, fast food drive-thru with minimum wages is not a contribution toCommunity Preservation nor is it a contribution to Community Development. Please consider my viewpoint. Your decision is important to many people. Thank you, Lynne Sperry Folsom, CA From:Debra VTo:Sean deCourcySubject:1950 Arden WayDate:Sunday, February 25, 2024 8:31:37 AM From:Kristen StaussTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Preservation Director, Community Development DepartmentDate:Thursday, February 22, 2024 5:40:14 PM From:Suzanne HerreraTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Attn: Sean de Courcy, Preservation DirectorDate:Tuesday, February 27, 2024 12:58:01 PM From:Melissa MourkasTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Fwd: Support Listing 1950 Arden Way as Historic LandmarkDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 10:13:27 AMSean:Below is my personal letter to Council re: support for 1950 Arden Way. FYI.Melissa MourkasCA LA # [email protected] forwarded message:From:Melissa Mourkas <[email protected]>Subject: Support Listing 1950 Arden Way as Historic LandmarkDate:April 23, 2024 at 11:01:27 AM PDTTo:"[email protected]" <[email protected]>,[email protected], Rick Jennings<[email protected]>Cc:[email protected], [email protected],[email protected], [email protected],[email protected], Dennis M Rogers<[email protected]>, [email protected], PreservationSacramento <[email protected]>, [email protected] Mayor Steinberg and Council Members: I urge you to vote in favor of listing as a landmark the former Home Savings &Loan bank building located at 1950 Arden Way. The building is one of many ina unique family of former Home Savings Bank buildings in California. Theproperty is historically and culturally significant for the following reasons: 1950 Arden Way was designed and executed by a well-known Californiaartist/designer, Millard Sheets.The Home Savings bank buildings, including 1950 Arden Way, areunique due their community-based public art, usually in the form ofexterior tile mosaics and interior painted murals, depicting regional andlocal history. The 1950 Arden Way building’s art depicts Mexican,Spanish and Gold Rush themes, important to the Sacramento region.Another example of community-based artwork can be seen on theformer Home Savings Bank building in Orange County, paying homageto Knott’s Berry Farm and the area’s agriculturalroots:https://socallandmarks.com/index.php/2024/04/23/home-savings-and-loan-3/ 1950 Arden Way’s exterior and interior is largely intact and in its originalform, with minor alterations, as are the landscape features. Please note that demolishing and replacing the building with fast foodrestaurants would not be in conformance with newly adopted General Plan2024. The building and public art are a community benefit. This is anopportunity to demonstrate your commitment to adaptive reuse for a moresustainable city. Other such adaptations in Sacramento include The Bank building(629 J Street) and former Chase Bank building at 4701 Freeport Boulevard. Please vote to add 1950 Arden Way to the Sacramento Register of Historicaland Cultural Resources as a Landmark.Sincerely,Melissa Mourkas1117 Theo WaySacramento, CA [email protected] From:Michelle La GrandeurTo:Sean deCourcy;Shoun Thao;EngageSubject:1950 Arden Way Should Be Registered on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural ResourcesDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 12:28:45 PM From:Letische BevanTo:Sean deCourcySubject:SAVE 1950 ARDEN WAYDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 12:38:52 PM From:Theresa SafleyTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Home Savings & Loan bank 1950 Arden WayDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 3:53:22 PM From:Carol BuckTo:Sean deCourcySubject:Please vote YES to preserve the former Bank- Home Savings and Loan located at 1950 Arden Way in SacramentoDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 2:39:35 PM From:James OzanichTo:Sean deCourcy;Engage;Shoun ThaoCc:[email protected];[email protected]:Save 1950 Arden WayDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 6:30:05 PMIF YOU FORWARD THIS EMAIL, PLEASE DELETE ALL THE FORWARDING HISTORYWHICH INCLUDES MY EMAIL ADDRESS.ERASING THE HISTORY HELPS PREVENT SPAMMERS FROM COLLECTINGADDRESSES AND VIRUSES FROM BEING PROPAGATED.THANK YOU From:[email protected]:Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcy;[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected]:Home Savings & Loan BankDate:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 9:53:14 PM From:Barbara ThalackerTo:Engage;Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcy;[email protected];[email protected]:Re: Tell City Council: List Home Savings Bank as a Sacramento Landmark!Date:Wednesday, April 24, 2024 4:32:59 PM Sacramento Register Hearing May 7Tell City Council:List 1950 Arden Way (Home Savings Bank) as aCity Landmark! recommended forlisting in the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural ResourcesWe're asking for yourhelp--send an email to City staff & City Council.banned We are asking our members and supporters to take action. three drive-throughrestaurants, with parking lotsThis plan wouldreplace a mid-century architectural gem, featuring artwork that tells the story of theCity of Sacramento, with parking lots and drive-throughs.

Contact City Staff: Save 1950 Arden Way
Coming in May: Jane Jacobs WalksBig Fight in Little ChinatownMembership Join today by visiting www.preservationsacramento.org/joinOr click JOIN below!Find us on Facebook Preservation Sacramento | PO Box 162140, Sacramento, CA 95816Unsubscribe [email protected] Profile | Constant Contact Data NoticeSent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!
PO Box 162140, Sacramento CA 95816 [email protected] - PreservationSacramento.org - (916)604-8320 Preservation Sacramento Founded in 1972 as Sacramento Old City Association Hon. Mayor Darrell Steinberg Sacramento City Hall 915 I Street, 5th Floor Sacramento, CA 94814 April 23, 2024 RE: 2024-00258, Listing 1950 Arden Way (Home Savings and Loan Building) as a Landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources (M23-011) Dear Mayor Steinberg and members of the City Council, The Board of Directors of Preservation Sacramento urges the Sacramento City Council to list Home Savings Bank, at 1950 Arden Way, in the Sacramento Register, for two reasons. First, despite its relatively recent construction (45 years ago), the design of the building is an exceptionally significant local example of Late Modernism, and its decorative murals by Millard Sheets and the Millard Sheets Studio artists are a rare and masterfully executed artistic embellishment. Second, because the project proposed for this site, drive-through restaurants-frequency transit corridors, and the section of Arden Way where this property is located has been designated by a future high-frequency transit corridor. By listing this property in the Sacramento Register, this corner can become a catalyst for subsequent transit-oriented development on the adjacent parking lot, instead of condemning the site to an obsolete, autocentric use that will endanger pedestrians on a planned transit corridor. Figure 1: Arden Way High-Frequency Transit Corridor Showing 1950 Arden Way Site

PO Box 162140, Sacramento CA 95816 [email protected] - PreservationSacramento.org - (916)604-8320 Preservation Sacramento Founded in 1972 as Sacramento Old City Association According to the 2040 General Plan, Item LUP-A.10, Planning and Development Code Update, the revised city code will prohibit new drive-through restaurants in areas where a strong pedestrian and transit orientation is desired. Item LUP-4-12, Drive-Through Restaurants, notes that The City shall prohibit new drive-through light rail station platform and high-frequency transit stop. multiple drive-through restaurants, will be prohibited by city code, and they apparently hope to clear the site and cement this autocentric use before the change in regulation takes place. The repercussions of that decision will last for decades, on a prominent corner of what the City of Sacramento hopes to become a transit corridor with potential for mixed use development and walkability. Demolishing a historic building designed by a master artist and featuring artwork that tells the story of Sacramento, to be replaced with drive-through restaurants, violates multiple city policies regarding protection of property in the Sacramento Register, the City can simultaneously support and protect our architectural Sincerely, William Burg President, Preservation Sacramento Board of Directors Cc: Preservation Director Sean deCourcy, Sacramento City Council

From:Dan ScottTo:Engage;Sean deCourcy;Shoun ThaoCc:[email protected];[email protected]:1950 Arden WayDate:Thursday, April 25, 2024 9:57:41 PM From:JuliaTo:Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected]:Please save 1950 Arden WayDate:Friday, April 26, 2024 8:54:38 AMDear Director deCourcy,Please vote YES to listing the former Home Savings & Loan bank located at 1950 ArdenWay in the Sacramento Register. Please do not allow it to be demolished and replaced withfast food restaurants. The building and art are a community benefit, located on a prominent boulevard at theeastern end of the city. Buildings like this not only reflect our rich architectural history, butalso bolster our ongoing cultural identity. Our cultural identity is only as strong as ourcommitment to the preservation of our history.This is an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to adaptive reuse for a moresustainable city.Thank you for your time,Julia M. Beckner From:Susan BallewTo:Engage;Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected]:Home Savings & Loan Building, 1950 Arden Way -- SUPPORTDate:Friday, April 26, 2024 9:08:01 AM From:Aubri DarkTo:Engage;Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected]:Important: Mid Century Home Savings & Loan bank, 1950 Arden WayDate:Friday, April 26, 2024 3:14:02 PM1950Arden Way From:Lola AcostaTo:Engage;District 2;Sean deCourcySubject:Add Home Savings & Loan Bank- 1950 Arden Way to the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural ResourcesDate:Saturday, April 27, 2024 11:32:20 AM From:Lynne PerryTo:Engage;Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected]:1950 Arden WayDate:Monday, April 29, 2024 8:24:34 AM From:Gretchen SteinbergTo:Engage;Sean deCourcyCc:Preservation SacramentoSubject:Fwd: Home Savings BuildingDate:Monday, April 29, 2024 8:46:41 AMFrom:Subject: Re: Home Savings BuildingDate:To:Cc:

From:Datel, Robin ETo:Engage;Shoun Thao;Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected]:Vote Yes to listing Home Savings and Loan on the Sacramento RegisterDate:Tuesday, April 30, 2024 4:39:25 PM Robin Datel
May 3, 2024City of Sacramento Mayor Darrell SteinbergSacramento County Third District Supervisor Rich DesmondCity of Sacramento District 2 Councilmember Shoun ThaoRoger Dickinson, Former Assemblyman/Candidate for Sacramento City Council, District 2Submitted via e-mailRe: Adaptive Reuse of 1950 Arden Way, an Eligible Historic LandmarkDear Honorable Mayor Steinberg, Supervisor Desmond, Councilmember Thao, and Candidate Dickinson,Given the pause in City Council’s vote on the proposed ordinance to list 1950 Arden Way on the City of Sacramento’s Register of Historic and Cultural Resources, this an excellent opportunity reimagine the site and reflect on what provides greater community benefits for the neighborhood and City. The advantages of adaptive reuse versus demolition with fast food drive-throughs are consistent with several elements, goals, and policies delineated in the Sacramento 2040 General Plan. In the spirit of optimism, good faith, and encouragement of problem solving / positive change-oriented thinking, we are sharing some ideas below.We have reviewed all publicly available documents relating to the historic eligibility of 1950 Arden Way. The site is a former Home Savings and Loan site designed by renowned artist/designer Millard Sheets, engineered by architect Frank Homolka & Associates, and includes mosaics and a mural designed by Sheets that were fabricated by his talented assistants and valued artisans, Susan Hertel and Denis O’Connor. We conducted intensive and independent research. Our findings and conclusions wholeheartedly concur with the City of Sacramento Preservation Director and staff; City of Sacramento Preservation Commissioners, who unanimously voted in favor of landmarking; internationally recognized Millard Sheets expert historian and professor Adam Arenson; historian and professor Robin Datel; our colleagues at Preservation Sacramento and Vintage Arden Arcade; and dozens of people who have written letters of support thus far in favor of landmarking. We are happy to meet with you in person to underscore the relevant elements, policies, and goals of the 2040 General Plan and identify each of the shortcomings of the owners’ / owners’ representatives’ analyses.Below is a short list of spontaneously crowdsourced ideas. This list is not intended to be final. Some of the suggestions are relatively common among adaptive reuse; others are ambitious. We are sharing these ideas to promote further discussion and brainstorming:

Civic:Library (books, audio-visual, things)Community Center with meeting spacesArchiveCultural CenterArts & Recreation:MuseumArt Gallery / Studios / Exhibit SpaceSmall Performing Arts Venue (music; theater; etc.)Small Event Rental CenterArt / Craft / Maker Workshop Space with equipment and facilitiesDance StudiosPlant NurseryEducation & Tech:Local University / Extension Satellite SiteTrade schoolCharter/private schoolJob CenterInnovation HubDemonstration LabHealth:Clinic (Medical / Dental / Psychology / Other)Rehabilitation CenterCare FacilityHospice CenterPhysical Therapy CenterFitness CenterSpaVeterinarian / Animal HospitalFood:Co-opGrocery Store(s) / Market(s)Permanent Indoor Public Market with additional outdoor Farmer’s MarketsRestaurant(s) (minus drive-throughs)Fresh Food Distribution CenterCommercial KitchenCulinary Arts CenterFood Truck HubHousing & Hospitality:Boutique HotelLive / Work Collective for CreativesSpecialty Temporary ShelterApartments / CondominiumsWarming and Cooling CenterRetreat SpaceInfrastructure:Communications (radio; television; etc)Data Center2024.05.03 SacMod re: Adaptive Reuse of 1950 Arden Way Page 2 Call CenterSafety CenterSolar Array with EV Charging Stations (parking lot)Traditional / Other:RetailLaw OfficesMediation CenterFinancial CenterBusiness CenterReal Estate Services (Realtors; Lenders; Title Company)Headquarters (Public / Private / Joint Venture)Co-working SpaceOf note, it is our understanding that a charter school contacted Community Development staff to conduct an inquiry regarding the building/site once this issue was reported by local media. We hope every effort will be made to encourage and accommodate any adaptive reuse requests. The artwork, craftsmanship, and quality building materials at 1950 Arden Way are exemplary, and the amount of embodied energy it represents is huge. Demolishing and replacing it with disposable stucco drive-through restaurants is wasteful—and demonstrates a lack of vision for the intersection, neighborhood, and the community. This is an opportunity for decision-makers to demonstrate their promise and commitment to encourage adaptive reuse for a healthier and more sustainable city and county.Respectfully submitted,Gretchen Steinberg, President, SacMod 2024.05.03 SacMod re: Adaptive Reuse of 1950 Arden Way Page 3 From:Roger DickinsonTo:Sean deCourcyCc:Henry FeussSubject:Re: Nomination for 1950 Arden WayDate:Wednesday, March 20, 2024 4:13:38 PMAttachments:image001.pngimage002.pngTeam Dickinson(916) [email protected]

Interested in the City’s General Plan Update and Climate Action & Adaptation Plan? VisitSacramento 2040 to learn more! Advisory:Begins on July 1, 2023
From:G LeyvaTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;[email protected];District 5;Eric Guerra;RickJennings;District 8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Landmark and resume of the historic bank at 1950 Arden WayDate:Friday, July 19, 2024 4:06:17 PMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office andbacked by experts, historians, and the preservation community, I support thelandmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way andam asking you to do the same. The proposed demolition of the existing building andreplacement with drive-throughs would have terrible consequences for theneighborhood/adjacent communities—resulting in more traffic problems and carbonemissions. The area is already saturated with other fast food franchises.If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that is completelyout of compliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which youoverwhelmingly supported in February. Relevant goals and policies in the GeneralPlan specifically address drive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transit orientation,enhanced gateways, sustainability, and underserved communities’ access to healthyfood and better air quality. Point West and adjacent West Arden Arcadeneighborhood, an Economic Justice Community, are home to many residents inmultifamily housing with limited access to community-friendly services. They deservebetter.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse thehistoric bank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, andMontebello have successful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings &Loan banks. In Sacramento, examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca diBeppo on Howe and Crawford & Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor oflandmarking 1950 Arden Way and adding it to the City of Sacramento Register ofHistoric and Cultural Resources. Thank you.G Leyva & Kelly Brown4037 Don River LaneSacramento, CA 95834

From:Penny WebbTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;[email protected];District 5;Eric Guerra;RickJennings;District 8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Save Historic Bank at 1950 Arden WayDate:Saturday, July 20, 2024 9:27:50 AMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking andadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way and am asking you to do thesame. The proposed demolition of the existing building and replacement with drive-throughs would have terrible consequences for the neighborhood/adjacent communities—resulting in more traffic problems and carbon emissions. The area is already saturated withother fast food franchises.If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that is completely out ofcompliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which you overwhelminglysupported in February. Relevant goals and policies in the General Plan specifically addressdrive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transit orientation, enhanced gateways, sustainability,and underserved communities’ access to healthy food and better air quality. Point Westand adjacent West Arden Arcade neighborhood, an Economic Justice Community, arehome to many residents in multifamily housing with limited access to community-friendlyservices. They deserve better.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse the historicbank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, and Montebellohave successful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings & Loan banks. InSacramento, examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca di Beppo on Howe andCrawford & Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor of landmarking 1950 Arden Wayand adding it to the City of Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. Thankyou.Sincerely, Penelope Webb From:Penny WebbTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Save Historic Bank at 1950 Arden WayDate:Saturday, July 20, 2024 9:30:18 AMBased on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking andadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way in Sacramento, CA—a sitethat Shake Shack has submitted an offer to purchase in order to demolish and build adrive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for Something Good®” by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existing building and site fora walk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptive reuse is more sustainable—andsaving the only public art in the area would be remembered and appreciated by potentialcustomers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectiveswithout destruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—asdemonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the Ice Blocks.Please reconsider your proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950 Arden Way.Thank you.Sincerely, Penelope Webb, lifelong resident From:Jennifer GordonTo:District 1;District 3;District 5;District 8;Eric Guerra;Engage;[email protected];Rick Jennings;Shoun ThaoCc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:URGENT: Save 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan Bank!Date:Sunday, July 21, 2024 7:07:47 AMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking andadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way and am asking you to do thesame. The proposed demolition of the existing building and replacement with drive-throughs would have terrible consequences for the neighborhood/adjacent communities—resulting in more traffic problems and carbon emissions. The area is already saturated withother fast food franchises.If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that is completely out ofcompliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which you overwhelminglysupported in February. Relevant goals and policies in the General Plan specifically addressdrive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transit orientation, enhanced gateways, sustainability,and underserved communities’ access to healthy food and better air quality. Point Westand adjacent West Arden Arcade neighborhood, an Environmental Justice Community, arehome to many residents in multifamily housing with limited access to community-friendlyservices. They deserve better.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse the historicbank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, and Montebellohave successful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings & Loan banks. InSacramento, examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca di Beppo on Howe andCrawford & Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor of landmarking 1950 Arden Wayand adding it to the City of Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. Thankyou.Jennifer Gordon From:Jennifer GordonTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:URGENT: Save 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan Bank!Date:Sunday, July 21, 2024 7:10:07 AMBased on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking andadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way in Sacramento, CA—a sitethat Shake Shack has submitted an offer to purchase in order to demolish and build adrive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for Something Good®” by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existing building and site fora walk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptive reuse is more sustainable—andsaving the only public art in the area would be remembered and appreciated by potentialcustomers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectiveswithout destruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—asdemonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the Ice Blocks.Please reconsider your proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950 Arden Way.Thank you.Jennifer Gordon From:Gabriella PalmeriTo:District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District 8;[email protected];Sean deCourcy;[email protected];Engage;[email protected]:Save 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan Bank!Date:Monday, July 22, 2024 8:00:20 PM From:[email protected] on behalf of Hospitality TeamTo:Gretchen SteinbergCc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Re: Thank you for contacting Shake ShackDate:Saturday, July 20, 2024 1:28:29 PM

From:Emily EdmondTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Don"t ruin an interesting building!Date:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 5:39:50 AM From:Emily EdmondTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Save architectural history! Keep Sacramento a beautiful and interesting city!Date:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 5:36:13 AM From:Miguel SantosTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Please support Adaptive Reuse of 1950 Arden Way, an Eligible Historic LandmarkDate:Tuesday, July 23, 2024 7:34:23 PM From:Andrew DanishTo:Engage;Sean deCourcy;[email protected]:Home Savings & LoanDate:Tuesday, July 23, 2024 2:45:39 PMPLEASE reconsider your demolition of the historic reuse the historic Home Savings & Loanbuilding and create a better community experience like at The School Yard. This buildingholds invaluable public art and there is room at the former Home Savings & Loan bank site foradaptive reuse of the historic building PLUS additional room for further growth. Furthermore,there is no need for drive-through as demonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento at the IceBlocks.

From:[email protected]:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcy;Mary Kay ValleSubject:Save 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan Bank!Date:Friday, July 26, 2024 3:47:55 AMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office andbacked by experts, historians, and the preservation community, I support thelandmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way andam asking you to do the same. The proposed demolition of the existing building andreplacement with drive-throughs would have terrible consequences for theneighborhood/adjacent communities—resulting in more traffic problems and carbonemissions. The area is already saturated with other fast food franchises.If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that is completelyout of compliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which youoverwhelmingly supported in February. Relevant goals and policies in the GeneralPlan specifically address drive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transit orientation,enhanced gateways, sustainability, and underserved communities’ access to healthyfood and better air quality. Point West and adjacent West Arden Arcadeneighborhood, an Environmental Justice Community, are home to many residents inmultifamily housing with limited access to community-friendly services. They deservebetter.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse thehistoric bank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, andMontebello have successful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings &Loan banks. In Sacramento, examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca diBeppo on Howe and Crawford & Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor oflandmarking 1950 Arden Way and adding it to the City of Sacramento Register ofHistoric and Cultural Resources. Thank you.

From:Alexa RobertsTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan Bank- do the right thing!Date:Thursday, July 25, 2024 9:55:44 AMBased on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking and adaptivereuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way in Sacramento, CA—a site that ShakeShack has submitted an offer to purchase in order to demolish and build a drive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for Something Good ®”by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existing building and site for awalk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptive reuse is more sustainable—andsaving the only public art in the area would be remembered and appreciated by potentialcustomers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectives withoutdestruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—as demonstratedelsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the Ice Blocks. Please reconsideryour proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950 Arden Way. Thank you.Alexa RobertsFounder & PresidentBelvedere Preservation Alliancewww.savehistoricroseville.orgIG: @belvederepreservationalliance From:Alexa RobertsTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Landmarking 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan BankDate:Thursday, July 25, 2024 9:51:27 AMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking and adaptivereuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way and am asking you to do the same. Theproposed demolition of the existing building and replacement with drive-throughs would haveterrible consequences for the neighborhood/adjacent communities—resulting in more trafficproblems and carbon emissions. The area is already saturated with other fast food franchises.If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that is completely out ofcompliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which you overwhelminglysupported in February. Relevant goals and policies in the General Plan specifically addressdrive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transit orientation, enhanced gateways, sustainability, andunderserved communities’ access to healthy food and better air quality. Point West andadjacent West Arden Arcade neighborhood, an Environmental Justice Community, are hometo many residents in multifamily housing with limited access to community-friendly services.They deserve better.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse the historicbank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, and Montebello havesuccessful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings & Loan banks. In Sacramento,examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca di Beppo on Howe and Crawford &Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor of landmarking 1950 Arden Way and adding it tothe City of Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. Thank you.Alexa RobertsFounder & PresidentBelvedere Preservation Alliancewww.savehistoricroseville.org IG: @Belvederepreservationalliance
From:Ski TaylorTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:I support landmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic Savings and Loan at 1950 Arden Way.Date:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 3:47:57 PMHello, Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office andbacked by experts, historians, and the preservation community, I support thelandmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way inSacramento, CA—a site that Shake Shack has submitted an offer to purchase in orderto demolish and build a drive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for SomethingGood ®” by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existing buildingand site for a walk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptive reuse is moresustainable—and saving the only public art in the area would be remembered andappreciated by potential customers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectiveswithout destruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—asdemonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the IceBlocks. Please reconsider your proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950Arden Way. Thank you, Sk Taylor From:Ski TaylorTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Adaptive reuse and landmarking of 1950 Arden WayDate:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 3:45:39 PM From:Melissa MourkasTo:Engage;Rick JenningsCc:District 1;District 3;District 4;District 5;Eric Guerra;Dennis M. Rogers;District 8;Preservation Sacramento;[email protected];Roger Dickinson;Sean deCourcySubject:Support Listing 1950 Arden Way as a Landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic Resources- July 30.Date:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 2:54:30 PMI strongly support the landmarking and potentialadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way and am asking you to do thesame.

From:Justin McNiffTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:1950 Arden Way - Former Home Savings & Loan Bank!Date:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 1:37:16 PM Justin McNiff
From:Justin McNiffTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Arden Way - Former Home Savings & Loan BankDate:Wednesday, July 24, 2024 1:34:29 PM Justin McNiff
From:Angelina SorokinTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8Cc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Re: Demolition of 1950 Arden WayDate:Friday, July 26, 2024 12:10:45 PMAttachments:Please Save Art at 1950 Arden Way.pngPlease Save Building at 1950 Arden Way.png Dear Mayor and City Councilmembers,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office andbacked by experts, historians, and the preservation community, I (AngelinaSorokin) support the landmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic banklocated at 1950 Arden Way and am asking you to do the same. The proposeddemolition of the existing building and replacement with drive-throughs wouldhave terrible consequences for the neighborhood/adjacent communities—resultingin more traffic problems and carbon emissions.

The area is already saturated with other fast food franchises and if we continuedemolishing historic landmarks with timeless/priceless art instead ofrepurposing them, what will be left for your great great grandchildren? ...thecrumbs from Shake Shakes, that's what will be left. If you fail to support landmarking, it means you support a project that iscompletely out of compliance with the City of Sacramento’s 2040 General Plan—which you overwhelmingly supported in February. Relevant goals and policies inthe General Plan specifically address drive-throughs, pedestrian safety, transitorientation, enhanced gateways, sustainability, and underserved communities’access to healthy food and better air quality. Point West and adjacent West ArdenArcade neighborhood, an Environmental Justice Community, are home to manyresidents in multifamily housing with limited access to community-friendly services.They deserve better.A local developer with a back-up offer wishes to preserve and adaptively reuse thehistoric bank. Other cities, such as Pacific Beach, La Mesa, Redlands, Coronado, andMontebello have successful examples of adaptive reuse of former Home Savings &Loan banks. In Sacramento, examples of adaptively reused banks include Buca diBeppo on Howe and Crawford & Associates on Freeport. Please vote in favor oflandmarking 1950 Arden Way and adding it to the City of Sacramento Register ofHistoric and Cultural Resources. Thank you for taking the time to actively listen to what people in thecommunity have to say for the buildings who cannot speak for themselves,Angelina Sorokin From:Angelina SorokinTo:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:1950 Arden Way.Date:Friday, July 26, 2024 12:11:30 PMAttachments:Please Save Building at 1950 Arden Way.pngPlease Save Art at 1950 Arden Way.pngHello there,Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office andbacked by experts, historians, and the preservation community, I support thelandmarking and adaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Wayin Sacramento, CA—a site that Shake Shack has submitted an offer to purchase inorder to demolish and build a drive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for SomethingGood ®” by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existingbuilding and site for a walk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptivereuse is more sustainable—and saving the only public art in the area would beremembered and appreciated by potential customers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectiveswithout destruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—asdemonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the IceBlocks. Please reconsider your proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950Arden Way. Thank you for taking the time to actively listen to what people in thecommunity have to say, Angelina Sorokin

From:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Please Save 1950 Arden Way/Former Home Savings & Loan BankDate:Monday, July 29, 2024 7:24:47 AMGood Morning, Based on the facts presented by the City of Sacramento Preservation Office and backed byexperts, historians, and the preservation community, I support the landmarking andadaptive reuse of the historic bank located at 1950 Arden Way in Sacramento, CA—a sitethat Shake Shack has submitted an offer to purchase in order to demolish and build adrive-through.As a member of the community, I am calling on Shake Shack to “Stand for Something Good®” by setting aside your drive-through plans and restoring the existing building and site fora walk-in restaurant—like you did in Sandy, Utah. Adaptive reuse is more sustainable—andsaving the only public art in the area would be remembered and appreciated by potentialcustomers.If you acquire the site, it is large enough to accommodate the company’s objectiveswithout destruction of the historic bank. There is no need for a drive-through—asdemonstrated elsewhere in Sacramento by the success of your restaurant at the Ice Blocks.Please reconsider your proposed business model and adaptively reuse 1950 Arden Way. Thank you, Erin Newbold From:David PetersonTo:Engage;District 1;Shoun Thao;District 3;Katie Valenzuela (City);District 5;Eric Guerra;Rick Jennings;District8;[email protected];Sean deCourcyCc:[email protected];[email protected];Sean deCourcySubject:Save the Home Savings building!Date:Saturday, July 27, 2024 12:45:20 PMDear Mayor and City Councilmembers,

Amy R. [email protected] Direct 415.848.4801 Fax Downey Brand LLP621 Capitol Mall, 18thFloorSacramento, CA 95814 916.444.1000 Main downeybrand.com VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL ONLY

Page1of*Resource Name or #:(Assigned by recorder)Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branchP1. Other Identifier: Home Savings Bank; Home Savings branch no. 51; Washington Mutual Bank; Chase Bank.

DPR 523A (9/2013) *Required information
State of California The Resources AgencyPrimary #DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # PRIMARY RECORDNRHP Status Code6ZOther Listings Review Code Reviewer Date *P2. Location: Not for Publication Unrestricted*a. County Sacramentoand(P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.)*b. USGS 7.5' Quad Date T; R; of of Sec; B.M.c. Address 1950 Arden Way City Sacramento Zip95815d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone,mE/ mNe. Other Locational Data:(e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, decimal degrees, etc., as appropriate)*P3a. Description:(Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, andboundaries)*P3b. Resource Attributes: (Listattributes and codes) HP6.1-3 Story Commercial Building*P4. Resources Present: xBuildingStructurexObjectSiteDistrictElement of District Other(Isolates, etc.) P5b. Description of Photo:(view, date, accession #) Front elevation, view: NW. August 29, 2023. Fallin Steffen*P6. Date Constructed/Age andSource:xHistoric PrehistoricBoth1978; City of Sacramento, Building Inspections Division Record Card, April 8, 1977. *P7. Owner and Address:Market Street Development LLC5930 Granite Lake Drive, Ste. 110Granite Bay, CA 95746*P8. Recorded by:Daniel PaulDudek Environmental Consulting1810 13th St #110 Sacramento, CA 95811*P9. Date Recorded:01/17/2024*P10. Survey Type:(Describe)Intensive*P11. Report Citation:(Cite survey report and other sources, or enter "none.")none*Attachments:NONE Location Map x Continuation Sheet x Building, Structure, and Object RecordArchaeological Record District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art RecordArtifact RecordPhotograph RecordOther (List):

P5a. Photograph or Drawing

*NRHP Status Code 6Z*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan- Arden branchPage 2 of DPR 523B (9/2013) *Required information
State of California The Resources AgencyPrimary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI# BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD (This space reserved for official comments.) (Sketch Map with north arrow required.) B1. Historic Name: Home Savings and LoanB2. Common Name: Home Savings Bank; Home Savings B3. Original Use: Commercial B4. Present Use: Vacant*B5. Architectural Style: New Formalism*B6. Construction History:(Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations)Temporary Home Savings branch completed onsite in 1974. Temporary branch demolished for subject property, constructed between April 1977 and September 1978 when subject building opened. Acquired by Washington Mutual Bank in March, 1998, and remodeled c. 1998 as Washington Mutual bank branch; reopened as Chase Bank branch March, 2009. *B7. Moved? X No YesUnknown Date: Original Location: *B8.Related Features:Three integrated murals: two mosaic upon the exterior, and one painted lobby mural, by artist Susan Hertel, chevron plan parking lotB9a. Architect: unknown b. Builder: unknown*B10. Significance: Theme N/AArea N/APeriod of Significance N/A Property Type N/A Applicable Criteria N/A(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP 26. Mural *B12. References: Please see continuation sheet page 12. B13. Remarks: *B14. Evaluator: Daniel Paul*Date of Evaluation: January 16, 2024 Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ContextNew York TimesArtcloud Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________Banking on BeautyBanking on Beauty Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ A Field Guide to Contemporary ArchitectureEvaluation
Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ The architect of record for the former Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way was not Millard Sheets. Instead, the firm of record was likely Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach, CA, as Homolka is mentioned repeatedly by historian Adam Arenson in his research files (Arenson, October 3, 2023). On pages 183 and 184 of Banking on Beauty, Dr. Arenson states of the 70s-era work that “most of the designs were by Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach, with Homolka, his fellow architect Jess Gilkerson and interior designer Don Betzsold working closely with Home Savings, the Millard Sheets Studio, and the engineering firm of Bole and Wilson.” As quoted in Banking on Beauty, according to structural engineer Frank Bole, by outsourcing the architectural and engineering work, “Home Savings could use Sheets for what we really want him for- these classic murals.” By the time Home Savings Arden Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________Way was designed, Sheets had already been investigated by the California State Board of Architectural Examiners for presenting himself as an architect, though he was not one (Arenson, 2018: 170, 183-184). In many easily located press clippings regarding Home Savings architecture through the 1970s and early 1980s, it is Frank Homolka, not Millard Sheets, who is credited as the architect of record for a multitude of branches and other buildings. Other known projects by the Homolka firm include various branches of California Federal Savings and Loan, the Studio Theater at California State University Long Beach, San Jose Savings and Loan Branches, and the 1977 Long Beach City Hall complex, in which the firm was one part of a larger collaboration called Allied Architects. Based on this body of work, the Homolka firm does not appear to be a practice associated with a master architect as described in National Register Bulletin 15, page 20. Even if Sheets asserted himself as the program design director, which he did, Frank Homolka is still the architect of these branches, and in all likelihood, the architect of Arden Way, regardless of how much creative and aesthetic direction Millard Sheets gave Homolka. Sheets is not a master architect or even an architect (Pacific Coast Architecture Database (Michelson), 2005-2023; Arenson, October 3, 2023; Arenson, 2018: 184; City of Los Angeles Building Permit, #1964LA81765, US Department of the Interior (National Park Service), 1997: 20; Santa Maria Times, Jul 16, 1981: 2; McDowell, 1973: 56; Los Angeles Times, Apr 9, 1978: 144; South Pasadena Review, Nov 28, 1984, Sutton, 1977: 29; Los Angeles Times, 1972.).

Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________Sacramento Bee Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Integritylocationsettingworkmanshipdesign
Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________feelingmaterialsassociationWorks CitedBuilding Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American DreamBanking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in CaliforniaArtcloudSacramento BeeNew York TimesA Field Guide to Contemporary American ArchiteSusan Bright Lautmann HeMural Conservancy of Los Angeles (MCLA) Page of*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by: Daniel Paul *Date January 17, 2024 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles Page of *Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by:Daniel Paul*DateSeptember 13, 2023 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Figure 1.Property sketch map

Page of *Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by:Daniel Paul*DateSeptember 13, 2023 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________PhotographsPhoto 1.Front elevation. View: W, SW.Photo 2.Front elevation with landscape. View: W

Page of *Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by:Daniel Paul*DateSeptember 13, 2023 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Photo 3.Former fountain with roundabout. View E, SE.

Photo 4. South-side elevation. View: NE.

Page of *Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by:Daniel Paul*DateSeptember 13, 2023 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Photo 5.Rear elevation. View: E
Photo 6.Recessed corner detail. View: SE.

Photo 8.Interior lobby and former work area in background. View NW.

Photo 10.Susan Hertel entryway mural, front elevation. View: W

Page of *Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan – Arden branch*Recorded by:Daniel Paul*DateSeptember 13, 2023 x Continuation Update DPR 523L (9/2013
State of California - The Resources Agency Primary# DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI # Trinomial CONTINUATION SHEETProperty Name: __Home Savings Bank and Loan- Arden branch __________________________ Photo 11.Susan Hertel entryway mural, rear elevation. View: E.

*Resource Name or #(Assigned by recorder) Home Savings and Loan- Arden branch *NRHP Status Code6ZPage 2 of 19 DPR 523B (9/2013) *Required information
State of California
The Resources AgencyPrimary # DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATIONHRI# BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD (This space reserved for official comments.)(Sketch Map with north arrow required.) B1. Historic Name: Home Savings and Loan B2. Common Name: Home Savings Bank; Home Savings B3. Original Use: Commercial B4. Present Use: Vacant *B5. Architectural Style:New Formalism *B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations)Temporary Home Savings branch completed onsite in 1974. Temporary branch demolished for subject property, constructed between April 1977 and September 1978 when subject building opened. Acquired by Washington Mutual Bank in March, 1998, and remodeled c. 1998 as Washington Mutual bank branch; reopened as Chase Bank branch March, 2009. *B7. Moved? X No Yes Unknown Date: Original Location: *B8.Related Features: Three integrated murals: two mosaic upon the exterior, and one painted lobby mural, by artist Susan Hertel. , chevron plan parking lotB9a. Architect: unknown b. Builder: unknown *B10. Significance: Theme N/A Area N/A Period of SignificanceN/A Property TypeCommercial N/A Applicable Criteria N/A (Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.) B11. Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP 26. Mural *B12. References: Please see continuation sheet page 12. B13. Remarks:*B14. Evaluator: Daniel Paul *Date of Evaluation: September 13, 2023 January 16, 2024

4078156.1 1
Charles E. Smyth February 16, 2024 Market Street Development, LLC5930 Granite Lake Drive, Ste. 110Granite Bay, CA 95746Dear Mr. Smyth, Dudek reviewed the City of Sacramento’s Statement of Nomination staff report dated December 21, 2023, as well as its DPR evaluation regarding the former Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way and has the following comments.In the City’s Statement of Nomination, the Community Development Department staff concluded that “Listing 1950 Arden Way as a historic landmark on the Sacramento register is consistent with the Historic Preservation Chapter (17.604) of the City Code . . .” Dudek does not agree with this statement and stands behind its original assessment that the former Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way does not appear eligible for listing in the Sacramento Register or the California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR). City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(iii) and CRHR Criterion 3 – Resources embodying distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of constructionUnder the Sacramento City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(iii) and CRHR Criterion 3, the City staff selectively highlighted features of the New Formalist style, while conveniently disregarding other essential characteristics of the style, to justify their finding that the subject Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction. While the subject property represents an example of late-era New Formalism, by no measure does the Home Savings Arden Way building “embody the distinctive characteristics” of New Formalism as required by Criterion iii of the Sacramento Register and Criterion 3 of the CRHR. Although the 2017 City of Sacramento Mid-Century Modern Historic Context Statement and Survey Results(2017 Historic Context Statement) identifies the building as an example of New Formalism, this in itself does not make the subject building a historically significant example of the design.The New Formalism section of the 2017 Historic Context Statement only cites three secondary source documents: 1) a 2008 Fullerton Heritage description; 2) the 2009 Riverside Modernism Context Statement by Christopher A. Joseph and Associates (CAJA); and 3) the 2011 San Jose Modernism Context Statement by PAST, all of which have New Formalism sections of their own. The Fullerton Heritage document only includes a reading list, while the threepreviously cited documents only include one in-text citation: Marcus Whiffen American Architecture Since 1780. Whiffen’s book is one of the few national style guides to characterize the style as “The New Formalism.” Published in 1981, Whiffen’s book was among the first to describe the style. CAJA, PAST, and Whiffen identify New Formalism as peaking in popularity in the 1960s, and Whiffen’s New Formalist examples all pre-date 1965. Each of the three sources referenced in the 2017 Historic Context Statement mention the design’s primary era lasting no later than the mid-1970s, when the Arden Way branch was barely on the drawing board. Besides Whiffen, one other key style guide, Carole Rifkind’s A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture, addresses New Formalism, which Rifkind refers to as a part of “Modernist Classic” architecture. Among the style’s key features is the colonnade, which Rifkind considers is of distinct importance. The “inherent structural logic of the colonnade,” according to Rifkind, is what links Modernist Classic architecture to both Classicist and Modernist schemes. (Christopher Joseph and Associates (CAJA), November 3, 2009: 16; PAST Consultants, LLC, June, 2009: 81. Whiffen, 1981: 257-260, 262; Fullerton Heritage, 2010-2023; Rifkind, 2001: 115).

DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.12
The zeitgeist that New Formalism developed from and expressed was one that was intrinsically associated with an abundant and expansive United States that pre-dated the Vietnam War, the disruptive cultural changes of the late1960s, economic globalism, the passing of Howard Ahmanson (the founder of the Home Savings and Loan Association) and the subsequent cost-cutting measures that the company undertook with regard to the art and architecture of its branches, including the Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way. In an October 3, 2023, email to the City of Sacramento, the research notes of Dr. Adam Arenson mention that the Arden Way branch was subject to “cost cutting to the bone.” Dr. Arenson is the author of Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California, the most substantial published work for understanding the Home Savings art, architecture, and design program, and Millard Sheets’ role within it. Dudek relied on Dr. Arenson’s book to inform the analysis and evaluation presented in the DPR 523 form (Christopher Joseph and Associates (CAJA), November 3, 2009: 16; PAST Consultants, LLC, June, 2009: 81. Whiffen, 1981: 257-260, 262; Arenson, 2023; Fullerton Heritage, 2010-2023) The former Home Savings and Loan property at 1950 Arden Way exhibits some New Formalist features, but it is missing others that are critical to the style. Although not all features of a style must be present for a building to be eligible as a significant example of its design, the sources referenced in the historic context statement consistently list, or even emphasize, certain New Formalist features: the presence of arcades, the prominence of architectural screens or grilles, and perhaps most importantly, the presence of a colonnade, often full-height, and used as a compositional device. The subject building possesses none of these features, and therefore does not embody New Formalism architecture or represent an exceptionally significant example of the design applied to a property that is less than 50 years old. Furthermore, it is curious that on page 7 of the City’s DPR, the evaluators provide a list of New Formalism’s general features (“Character Defining Features of New Formalist architecture 1950’s–1970s”), which do not align with the general New Formalist features listed in the 2017 Historic Context Statement. The omission of key character defining features of the style from the DPR appears to have been deliberate, since those features are absent on the subject building. In its list of general features of the style, the City’s DPR conveniently omits key features such as the “Full-height panel of stylized columns that visually connect the roof to the ground” and “cast stone or concrete block screens that connect the building to the site,” as listed in the 2017 Historic Context Statement for the New Formalist style. If the DPR’s list of New Formalist elements is what the City really believes is all New Formalism is, then the City does not have a full and proper understanding of New Formalism. (GEI Consultants, Inc. and Mead & Hunt, Inc., 2017: 3-14) Dudek also disagrees with the City’s statement that 1970’s-era New Formalism existed as a bulwark against a rapidly changing world, which the City’s DPR implies in its conclusion on page 10. At least with regard to the subject building, the Home Savings designs of the 1970s follow the same general formula, intentions, and business reasons as the branches that were first developed during the late 1950s by Howard Ahmanson—whose role the City evaluators oddly minimize throughout their DPR—and the artist and educator Millard Sheets. In new locales wherever proposed, including Northern California, Sheets fought for consistency of a branch typology, which by the late 1970s was two decades old. The choice to use this mode, and the specific character ascribed for the subject property, was simply a branding choice irrelevant of where American society was in the 1970s. (Arenson, 2018: 193-199) Undertaken after the fact and devoid of key character defining features, the subject Home Savings and Loan property does not embody the distinctive characteristics of New Formalism and is therefore not a historically significant example of New Formalist design at the local level, let alone one of exceptional significance less than 50 years old, or eligible for the California Register of Historical Resources. Dudek asserts this position regardless of the degree to which Millard Sheets was personally involved in the building’s design. And, for the reasons discussed below, Dudek continues to believe that Millard Sheets’ role was much more limited than the City’s DPR implies.

DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.13
City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(iv) and CRHR Criterion 3 – Resources that represent the work of an important creative individual or masterUnder the Sacramento City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(iv) and CRHR Criterion 3, the City staff argue that the former Home Savings and Loan building at 1950 Arden Way represents the work of an important creative individual or master. Dudek disagrees with this assertion. In the City’s DPR dated October 23, 2023, the evaluators assert that the subject building “was designed by celebrated visual artist Millard Sheets.” However, according to the correspondence between the City and Dr. Arenson, the files that Dr. Arenson shared with the City make it clear that the architect for the former Home Savings and Loan branch at 1950 Arden Way was not Millard Sheets. Instead, the firm of record was likely Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach, CA, as Homolka is mentioned repeatedly in Arenson’s file, and it is disingenuous of the City to not mention Homolka in the DPR even once, falsely implying that Sheets alone was the architectural designer of the Home Savings project on Arden Way. (Arenson, October 3, 2023). Dudek also conducted in-person archival research at the Huntington Library on January 23, 2024, While the available architectural site plans and elevations for the former Home Savings and Loan branch on Arden Way give credit to the “Millard Sheets Design Studio” (and not Millard Sheets the architect), the drawings also give credit to “Frank Homolka and Associates, Architects,” which supports Dudek’s conclusion that the architect of record for the subject building was Frank Homolka and Associates and not Millard Sheets.1 On pages 183 and 184 of Banking on Beauty, Dr. Arenson states of the 70s-era work that “most of the designs were by Frank Homolka and Associates of Long Beach, with Homolka, his fellow architect Jess Gilkerson and interior designer Don Betzsold working closely with Home Savings, the Millard Sheets Studio, and the engineering firm of Bole and Wilson.” As quoted in Banking on Beauty, according to structural engineer Frank Bole, by outsourcing the architectural and engineering work, “Home Savings could use Sheets for what we really want him for- these classic murals.” By the time Home Savings Arden Way was designed, Sheets had already been investigated by the California State Board of Architectural Examiners for presenting himself as an architect, though he was not one. By leaving Homolka out of the City’s DPR, coupled with how the City identifies Sheets’ role in its DPR evaluation, the City is perpetuating the same false narrative that got Millard Sheets in trouble with State Board of Architectural Examiners in 1968. (Arenson, 2018: 170, 183-184) In many easily located press clippings regarding Home Savings architecture through the 1970s and early 1980s, it is Frank Homolka, not Millard Sheets, who is credited as the architect of record upon a multitude of branches and other buildings. Other known projects by the Homolka firm include various branches of California Federal Savings and Loan, the Studio Theater at California State University Long Beach, San Jose Savings and Loan Branches, and the 1977 Long Beach City Hall complex, in which the firm was one part of a larger collaboration called Allied Architects. Based on this body of work, the Homolka firm does not appear to be a practice associated with a master architect as described in National Register Bulletin 15, page 20. Even if Sheets asserted himself as the program design director, which he did, Frank Homolka is still the architect of these branches, and in all likelihood, based off Dr. Arenson’s email, the architect of Arden Way, regardless of how much creative and aesthetic direction Millard Sheets gave Homolka. Sheets is not a master architect or even an architect. Even if the City chose to also credit the Sheets Studio for its design input, failing to acknowledge Homolka in any capacity, especially in light of Arenson’s correspondence, is inappropriate. (Pacific Coast Architecture Database (Michelson), 2005-2023; Arenson, October 3, 2023; Arenson, 2018: 184; City of Los Angeles Building Permit, #1964LA81765, US Department of the Interior (National Park Service), 1997: 20; Santa Maria Times, Jul 16, 1981: 2; McDowell, 1973: 56; Los Angeles Times, Apr 9, 1978: 144; South Pasadena Review, Nov 28, 1984, Sutton, 1977: 29; Los Angeles Times, 1972.). 1 “Project Files: Home Savings and Loan Association, Los Angeles , Calif., 1962-1980, n.d., Branch Offices—Sacramento Point West Building—Correspondence 1927-1979.” Box 13, Folder 19. On file at the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.14
In the pantheon of Home Savings designs, the subject branch on Arden Way is atypical, and its larger and taller three-story height reflected its importance as a regional headquarters. Its status as a regional headquarters, however, does not equate to historic significance. The quintessential Home Savings designs are what the Sheets Studio referred as the “two story jewel box branch” during the mid-1970s. This is a direct reference to the widely used, scholastically noted, “jewel box” moniker for the series of seven diminutive, 1910s-era Midwestern bank buildings designed by master architect Louis Sullivan, that Sheets acknowledged as a primary influence for Home Savings designs. Each of the Sullivan works is two stories in height and planted solidly on the ground. Additionally, they are artistically adorned inside and out, with solid, slab-like, and largely windowless, double height interior. The Home Savings and Loan property at 1950 Arden Way, however, does not reflect the design of a “two story jewel box branch” and instead reads like an office building with its larger scale and bands of Solarbronze windows, and hyper-symmetrical, classically informed monumentality (Arenson, 2018: 64). City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(v) – Resources that possess high artistic value Under the Sacramento City Code § 17.604.210(A)(1)(a)(v), the City staff argue that the former Home Savings and Loan building at 1950 Arden Way possesses high artistic values. Dudek disagrees with this assertion. Dudek’s evaluation considered the three visible murals as affixed, character-defining features of the building that ultimatelydo not imbue the subject property as a whole with high artistic values. Dr. Arenson stated that during the late 1970s, the Millard Sheets studio was “faced with a number of simultaneous commissions for branches across California,” and “utilized more generic designs that began with stereotypical figures garnished with some local detail.” Additionally, “In the newest mosaics, Hertel and O’Connor used generic historical vignettes within new, expressive shapes.” The mid-to-late 1970s appear to have been an era of cost cutting for the Home Savings art program, and the larger-scale murals that were completed through the early 1970s on the company’s prototypical “two story jewel box branches” were now themselves of the past, replaced by triptych tableaus, or smaller-scale entryway murals such as those seen at Arden Way. (Arenson, 2018: 201, 203, 212-213). There is conflicting information in the public record regarding the year that Millard Sheets retired and gave up control of his studio to others. In Banking on Beauty, Dr. Arenson writes that Sheets “completely retired” by the end of 1977, and by 1978 he was often in front of his easel in Gualala, CA. Yet Dr. Arenson’s email correspondence of October 3, 2023, states that “Millard Sheets was actively involved in all Home Savings commissions done by his studio until 1980.” Banking on Beauty mentions that Sheets had a hard time giving up complete control, while also implying that “full control of design and fabrication [was] handed over” to other Sheets Studio artists around this time, who experienced “their own burst of creativity.” (Arenson, 2018, 209-211; Arenson, October 3, 2023). Just as Sheets’ role as architectural design director does not make him a design architect, his role as art director does not make him the artist of record for every mural designed by his Studio. Throughout chapters 5 and 6 of Banking on Beauty, Arenson discusses the Home Savings and Loan Association of the 1970s and its expansion into Northern California. Arenson clearly gives Susan Lautmann Hertel and Denis O’Connor artist credit as appropriate, just as Arenson separately credits Sheets himself. Arenson noted, for example, that at Encino, “Millard Sheets painted a new mural, showing a smiling Latino cowboy . . . ” Arenson refers to Hertel and O’Connor signing their own works as “A declaration of independence, as they took complete control in the studio.” In some instances, Arenson provides Sheets and Hertel equal credit, as in Banking on Beauty where he states that “Sheets and Hertel designed (and cosigned) a mosaic that celebrated San Francisco as the “Gateway to the Pacific.” Arenson also states in Banking on Beauty that it was O’Connor and Hertel who “stretched the possibilities of their condensed triptych to local history.” In a footnote to this statement, Arenson specifically refers to the Home Savings and Loan building on Arden Way as “Point West,” which is the only time that this building is specifically mentioned anywhere in Banking on Beauty. (Arenson, 2018: 199-201, 213-214, 331-332, footnote 7). To therefore ascribe the murals, as the City’s DPR does, to Millard Sheets is misleading, even if the murals are based on techniques or modes Sheets taught Hertel and O’Connor over the years while they were under him, and DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.15
even if Sheets provided input to the very end. It would be acceptable—though vague in light of available information—to state that the buildings’ murals were designed by the Sheets Studio. But to state, as the DPR does, that the murals were “designed by Millard Sheets and translated into full-sized working drawings by Susan Hertel,” is misleading and inappropriate. It is unlikely Sheets would permit one of his artists to sign a mural if they were simply, as the City’s DPR implies, processing his working drawings. By the late-1970s, according to Dr. Arenson’s book, Hertel’s role at Sheets Studio transcended that which the City implies on their DPR. After decades of working under Sheets, it is unlikely Hertel would have suddenly signed murals unless her creative role was elevated, which by then it was. More than just a fabricator, available biographies for Hertel identify her as a mural designer who collaborated with Sheets for nearly 30 years. Regardless of Sheets’ input and influence, insofar as she signed them, Dudek asserts that Susan Bright Lautmann Hertel is the artist of the Arden Way murals. Ultimately, despite Hertel’s artistic mastery, the murals affixed to the subject building do not warrant elevating the property as a whole as exceptionally significant, especially since it is less than 50 years of age (Square i Gallery, 2023; Square I Gallery [2023]). City Code § 17.604.210(A)(2)(e) and 14 CCR § 4852(d)(2) – Resources less than 50 years old with exceptional historic importance Under the Sacramento City Code § 17.604.210(A)(2)(e) and 14 CCR § 4852(d)(2), the City staff argue that the subject Home Savings and Loan building has achieved significance within the past 50 years because it possesses exceptional historic significance for embodying an important evolution in commercial architecture (through the incorporation of art in the building design) and because of the rarity of Home Savings and Loan buildings in Northern California, in addition to being the work of an important individual and master Millard Sheets. Dudek disagrees with these assertions for all of the reasons noted in our previous responses above and for the following additional reasons supporting our original assessment that the subject building is not a rare example of a Home Savings and Loan building in the area or in Northern California. The Home Savings and Loan Association had eight known locations in Sacramento, and all eight original buildings remain. Aside from the branch at 1950 Arden Way, there is the Capitol Park Office at 1003 L Street, two Madison Avenue locations—5222 Madison Avenue and 4741 Madison Avenue, the latter of which is the other Sacramento Sheets Studio Home Savings project that as of May 2023 was still standing and possesses its mosaic—as well as the branch at 6150 Florin Road, 9165 Kiefer Boulevard, 930 K Street, and 4701 Freeport Boulevard, which is pictured on the cover of the 2017 Historic Context Statement. Venturing just outside Sacramento, the four known, additional Home Savings locations all still remain, including the building at 8725 Elk Grove Boulevard in Elk Grove, 7895 Lichen Drive in Citrus Heights, 8859 Madison Avenue in Fair Oaks, and 11200 Gold Express Drive in Gold River. (Sacramento Bee, August 11, 1975: 22; Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Public Information Center, 1998: 7-159, 7160) According to Dr. Arenson’s Google Maps database, and verified against Google Street View in December 2023, there remain over 30 examples of former Home Savings bank buildings across California that possess their original Sheets Studio mosaics, including eight branches in Northern California. This count does not include the remaining Sheets Studio mosaics for other commissions, of which there appear to be many across California alone. The fact that there are over 30 Home Savings branch examples with mosaics that remain across the state is a substantial number that does not appear to constitute “rarity,” especially for a company that ceased to exist over 25 years ago. Dr. Arenson’s Google Map geocoding indicates that of all the known Sheets Studio Home Savings projects in the Sacramento area, none are identified as demolished. (Arenson, Oct 13, [2023]) Integrity Discussion Though the subject building still reads as a Home Savings property, even with the presence of its two exterior murals, the building feels denuded. That Millard Sheets proposed each branch as an art-focused total design raises DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.16
distinct and unusual historic integrity questions for Home Savings branches missing their Sheets/Sheets Studio purpose-designed artwork and other detailing.In the 1978 Sacramento Bee advertisement in Photo 12 of the City’s DPR, which Dr. Arenson also included in his October 3 correspondence, a rendering of the project presents sculpture at the planter beneath each corner notch, another sculpture within the fountain, and the building’s frieze has a shiny and reflecting vertical scoring. A multitude of Home Savings branches had a gold-colored tile motif, of compass points, grids, bars or otherwise across their friezes, and it is presumed that the frieze material in this image was itself gold-colored. At Arden Way, none of the rendered sculptures, nor the adorned frieze remain, and it is unknown if, presumably due to the cost cutting mentioned in Dr. Arenson’s notes, these features were ever installed. The frieze at present is wide and unadorned blank stucco, which seems unbecoming for the Home Savings brand, and no sculpture is present at either of the notched planters or within the fountain. Either these elements have been removed, which presents considerable integrity issues for the art-first total designs for which Millard Sheets and his studio were known, or perhaps due to cost cutting “to the bone,” these features were never installed. If the latter case is correct, by its own architectural rendering, the subject property was never of the artistic caliber or completeness Sheets envisioned, or as seen upon other built branches that remain across California. (Arenson, October 3, 2023; Sacramento Bee, May 23, 1978). The interior of the building has sustained substantial renovations due to corporate branding efforts of later tenants (Washington Mutual and Chase Bank), including a missing mural that may or may not still be in-situ. Hanging fabric artworks commissioned for the interior are now lost, and even if the partially visible Gladding McBean ceramic compass tile along the teller counter remains in its entirety, the presence of this element by a noted California ceramics company would not be enough to warrant eligibility of the total property under any criteria, especially for a property that is less than 50 years old. Aside from the three murals, perhaps the property’s strongest remaining character defining features are its landscape design, and the siting of the building upon it. The property has a distinctive triangular lot, fronted by a generous, park-like space. Ogee curved, bell-form planters with manicured shrubs flank walkways, mature tree specimens are part of the design, and even the parking areas incorporate landscaped medians, boundaries and berms. Thoughtfully done, the alignment of the building is of one axis with the bilaterally symmetrical, classically informed landscape, and integral with it. Sheets had often mandated clear glazing at ground floor entries, that at Arden Way affords axial views from the parking area through the building out onto the frontal landscape, with its fountain and sitting areas. (Arenson, 2018: 184) Much like the murals, Dudek perceives this landscape, as well as the relationship of the building to the surrounding landscape, as noteworthy character defining features of the larger property. However, the relative weakness of the main building’s New Formalist design, coupled with its missing details and artwork—issues of either integrity or severe cost cutting—and the property’s inability to meet the threshold for exceptional significance required for a property that is less than 50 years of age, preclude the overall property from qualifying as an eligible property in the Sacramento Register, the California Register of Historical Resources, and the National Register of Historic Places.

DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.17
WORKSCITED“Among Winners of Tile Awards.” Los Angeles Times, Apr 9, 1978: 144. Arenson, Adam. Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2018. ________. “Re: Home Savings Bank - 1950 Arden Way, Sacramento- Preservation Question.” Email, October 3, 2023. ________. “Millard Sheets Studio Commissions and all Home Savings and Loan/Savings of America buildings with Art.” Google My Maps. October 13 [2023]. https://adamarenson.com/books/banking-on-beauty-millard-sheets-and-midcentury-commercial-architecture-in-california/definitive-list-for-home-savings-and-loan-artwork-savings-of-america-artwork-and-the-millard-sheets-studio-public-projects-2-3/. Christopher A. Joseph &Associates (CAJA). “City of Riverside: Riverside Modernism Context Statement.” technical report. Los Angeles, CA: Christopher A. Joseph & Associates, November 3, 2009. City of Los Angles Building Permit #1964LA81765. August 18, 1964. “City planners OK plan for new Home Savings site.” Santa Maria Times, Jul 16, 1981: 2. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Public Information Center. “1998 Bank & Thrift Branch Office Data Book: Office Deposits and Addresses of FDIC-insured Institutions, Summary of Deposits, West Region.” [Washington DC: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation], 1998. Fullerton Heritage. “Architectural Styles in Fullerton.” Fullerton, CA: Fullerton Heritage, 2010-2023. https://www.fullertonheritage.org/architectural-styles.php. GEI Consultants, Inc., and Mead & Hunt, Inc. “Mid-Century Modern in the City of Sacramento Historic Context Statement and Survey Results.” Sacramento, CA: GEI Consultants, Inc. September 30, 2017. “Home Savings Business Winner: Workman, Haynes-Farley, LaSarte Homes Win SoPas Beautiful Golden Arrow Awards.” South Pasadena Review, Nov. 28, 1984: 2. McDowell, Carolyn. “Socially Speaking: Curtain Goes Up.” Long beach Independent, Nov 25, 1973: 56. “Now-Home Savings on Arden Way has a beautiful new home.” advertisement. Sacramento Bee, May 23, 1978: A7. “Now there are 4… beautiful Home Savings Offices to serve you in Sacramento!” advertisement. Sacramento Bee, Aug 11, 1975: 22. Pacific Coast Architecture Database (Alan Michelson), “City of Long Beach, City Hall #3, Downtown, Long Beach, CA, 2005-2023 https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/1125/. PAST Consultants, LLC. “San José Modernism Historic Context Statement.” technical report. Petaluma, CA: PAST Consultants, LLC, June, 2009. Rifkind, Carole. A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture. New York: Penguin, 2001.

DUDEK’S RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF SACRAMENTO’S EVALUATION OF THE HOME SAVINGS ARDEN WAY BRANCH 4078156.18
“Susan Bright Lautmann Hertel.” Square I Gallery. Accessed December 31, 2013. https://susanhertel.com/index.php/biography/ “Susan HERTEL.” Square i Gallery, 2023. https://www.squareigallery.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=186_233 Sutton, Charles. “10 Story Bank Building Hailed.” Long Beach Press-Telegram, Mar. 24, 1977: 29. Los Angeles Times, Jan 30, 1972: 136. Whiffen, Marcus. American Architecture Since 1780: A Guide to the Styles. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981. 1 Summary of findings from Huntington Archives site visit Site visit conducted January 23, 2024. The Smithsonian houses the Millard Sheets Papers. A microfilm duplicate is housed at the Huntington Library in San Marino, CA. The subject archives were viewed at the Huntington Library on January 23, 2024. Items of interest came from one folder: “Project Files: Homes Savings and Loan Association, Los Angles, Calif., 1962-1980, n.d. Branch Offices – Sacramento Point West Building – Correspondence 1972-1979” According to the Smithsonian’s finding aid the subject folder was Folder 19 in Box 13. The folder included a variety of correspondence regarding the Home Savings Point West building, Sacramento, CA. Presumably because neither Sheets nor his studio completed them, the papers did not include blueprints or other architectural drawings for the subject property. However, the files include a variety of architectural correspondence regarding the subject building, articulated below. This correspondence often references drawings from the firm of Frank Homolka and Associates. The below observations are based off a review of selected items, addressed as they appeared on microfilm. The figure list follows, and Appendix A includes all images as scanned. - Available architectural site plans and elevations are credited to “Millard Sheets Design Studio” and “Frank Homolka and Associates, Architects.” By their own account, the Sheets Design Studio are not the “Architects” of the subject building. Millard Sheets the individual is not the architect of the subject building. Figure 1, Figure 13. - The initial project drawings feature a sharper, leaner design of more generous fenestration with articulated, distinctively narrow vertical windows with double-height projecting fins. Centered between these broad bays at the north and south elevations appears to be a large art artwork of some kind. Additionally, indicated at each corner, Sheets proposed a reflecting pool and sculpture. Whether they were never installed or later lost, none of these elements are present now. The character of this this early design version reiterates the “jewel box” motifs of the earlier Home Savings branches. Figure 2. - The project files contain a multitude of cover letters from the Frank Homolka practice referencing their architectural assignments. Based off this information, Frank Homolka and Associates appears to be the architect of record for the Home Savings Point West project. There would be no other reason to involve an architect whose Long Beach, CA office is over 400 miles away from the job site, especially when the Sheets Studio had in-house architectural staff of their own. Even if Homolka agreed to give Sheets the limelight to better enable the Ahmanson/ Sheets brand, Frank Homolka and Associates is still the building architect. Figures 3 through 7, and Figures 9 through 11. - Correspondence from the Sheets Office references parapet and soffit details “drawn by the Homolka Office.” Figure 8 [in reference to Figure 5] - In Figure 9, correspondence from the Homolka office references “One (1) complete set each Specifications for Home Savings Sacramento and Encino.” An online archival news article 2 identifies Homolka as the architect of various Home Savings projects, including the above-referenced Encino branch.

Los Angeles Times. April 9, 1978: Part IX, 4 (144). - In order to finish the contract drawings, Jess Gilkerson Jr. of the Homolka office had correspondence with Sheets Studio staff architect Bob Nilson regarding aesthetic details related to adornment, cladding, fixture and landscape. Architecture, which also involves firmitas and utilitas, transcends aesthetics alone. Figure 4. - The Spink Corporation undertook the initial land survey. They were under contract with Frank Homolka and Associates and not Millard Sheets Design Studio. Figure 12. - The file includes a rendering considerably more in-line with the finished product than Figure 2. Figure 14.

3 FIGURES
Figure 1.Image 0107: lower right attribution to “Millard Sheets Designs Inc- Claremont, California, and Frank Homolka & Associates- Architects, Long Beach.”

4 Figure 2.Image 0108: Earlier Rendering of Point West project

5Figure 3.Image 0112: Correspondence cover sheet from Frank Homolka and Associates.

6Figure 4.Image 0115. Correspondence from Jess Gilkerson Jr. of Frank Homolka Office to architect Bob Nilson of Sheets Designs, regarding Sheets Designs Inc. input. (Finishes, landscape, art, and adornments)

7Figure 5.Image 0118. Homolka Office correspondence regarding revised plaster parapet and soffit design.

8Figure 6.Image 0120 Frank Homolka office correspondence regarding section design and building height.

9Figure 7. Image 0122. Frank Homolka office correspondence (Jess Gilkerson, Jr.) for site plan, parapet and soffit detailing.

10Figure 8.Image 0127. Millard Sheets & Associates Design, Inc. in-house correspondence from Sheets architect Bob Nilson to John Sheets referencing parapet and soffit detail “drawn by Frank Homolka and Associates.”

11Figure 9.Image 0133. Homolka Office correspondence to Millard Sheets & Assoc, Designs Inc. with complete set specifications for Sacramento and Encino, the latter of which press has credited Homolka as designing.

12Figure 10.Image 0134. Homolka Office correspondence to Millard Sheets & Assoc, Designs Inc. Cover sheet for One (1) complete set of plans […]

13Figure 11.Image 0139. Homolka Office correspondence to Millard Sheets & Assoc., Designs Inc. Revised exterior elevation, August 5, 1977.

14Figure 12.Image 209: Spink Corporation property survey for client Frank Homolka and Associates.

15 Figure 13.Image 0228 and 0229. Site plan clippings. Image 0229 attributes project to “Millard Sheets Designs, Inc” and “Frank Homolka & Associates, Architects.”

16 Figure 14.Image 0284. Home Savings Arden Way/ Point West rendering.

Sacramento City CouncilAugust 13, 2024

Sacramento City Council
August 13, 2024