HRG_Report_1921 20th St_Sep 2026 (1) — Santa Monica City Council, October 27, 2026

HISTORICAL RESOURCE EVALUATION REPORT
1921 20TH STREET, SANTA MONICA CA
SEPTEMBER 2026
556 S Fair Oaks Avenue, Suite 101-514
Pasadena, CA 91105
prepared for
City of Santa Monica
City Planning Division
1685 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Cover Photo: 1921 20th Street, Historic Resources Group, 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. 1

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 2

2.0 METHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................... 3

3.0 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................ 4 HISTORICAL RESOURCES UNDER CEQA ......................................................................................................... 4 HISTORIC DESIGNATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 4

4.0 SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS ........................................................................... 6 SANTA MONICA HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY ............................................................................. 6 BUILT ENVIRONMENT RESOURCES DIRECTORY (BERD)........................................................................ 6

5.0 DESCRIPTION OF EVALUATED PROPERTY ......................................................................... 7 LOCATION ........................................................................................................................................................................ 7 PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION .......................................................................................................................................... 7 ALTERATIONS ................................................................................................................................................................ 8

6.0 DEVELOPMENT HISTORY .................................................................................................... 15

7.0 HISTORIC CONTEXT ............................................................................................................. 17 CONTEXT: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT .................................................................................................... 17 CONTEXT: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN (1875-1977) .................................................................................. 20

8.0 EVALUATION OF ELIGIBILITY ............................................................................................. 23 EVALUATION OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE ................................................................................................ 23 EVALUATION OF HISTORIC INTEGRITY ........................................................................................................ 25 SUMMARY OF ELIGIBILITY ................................................................................................................................... 27 CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES ................................................................................................................. 28

9.0 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 30

10.0 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 31

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: CRAFTSMAN ARCHITECTURE IN SANTA MONICA
APPENDIX B: RESUMES OF AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 2

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This historical resource evaluation report (HRER) evaluates the single-family residential property at 1921 20th Street in the City of Santa Monica, California, for eligibility for designation as a historical resource. This HRER evaluates the property against the established eligibility criteria and integrity thresholds for listing under the City of Santa Monica’s Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance. This evaluation includes review of previous historical resources surveys and evaluations; review of the relevant historic contexts and themes; and documentation of the property’s development history including building permits, newspaper articles, and directory information.

The property at 1921 20th Street (AIN 4274-020-014) is located in the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Santa Monica Tract in the Pico neighborhood. The parcel is occupied by a two-story single family Craftsman style residence originally constructed in 1913. The property is listed in the City of Santa Monica 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update with a status code of 5S3, meaning that it appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark.

This evaluation has confirmed the Inventory finding. The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is significant under Landmark Criterion 1, within the context “Residential Development” and theme “Single-family Residential Development (1875-1977),” as a rare remaining and intact example of early residential development in the Pico neighborhood, which was devastated by later development; and under Landmark Criteria 1, 2, and 4, within the context “Architecture & Design (1875-1977),” theme “Early 20th Century Styles,” and sub-theme “Craftsman,” as an excellent and comparatively rare example of a Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow in Santa Monica. Although it is in poor condition, the building retains integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Therefore, the 1913 Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is eligible for designation as a City Landmark.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 3

2.0 METHODOLOGY
This report evaluates 1921 20th Street using integrity thresholds and eligibility criteria for designation under the City of Santa Monica Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance. The field methods and analysis are based on guidance from the National Park Service, the California Office of Historic Preservation, and the City of Santa Monica for evaluating potential historical resources. Identification of physical features and historic integrity was ascertained through building records and a site visit conducted on July 29, 2026, to document existing conditions on the property.

Additional research was conducted to confirm the history and development of the property. The following sources were consulted:
 Building permit records
 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps
 Historic newspaper articles
 Historic photographs
 Field observation of the property
 Other primary and secondary sources relevant to the history and development of the property and surrounding area
 Previous historical resource surveys and historic contexts.

Research, field inspection, and analysis were performed by John LoCascio, AIA, Principal Architect, a qualified professional who meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards in Architecture and Historic Architecture. See Appendix B for resumes of contributing authors.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 4

3.0 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
Historical Resources Under CEQA
The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) is the principal statute governing environmental review of projects occurring in the state and is codified in Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 21000 et seq. CEQA requires lead agencies to determine if a proposed project would have a significant effect on the environment, including significant effects on historical or unique archaeological resources. Under CEQA Section 21084.1, a project that may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource is a project that may have a significant effect on the environment.

CEQA Guidelines Section 15064.5 recognizes that historical resources include: (1) resources listed in, or determined to be eligible by the State Historical Resources Commission, for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources; (2) resources included in a local register of historical resources, as defined in PRC Section 5020.1(k) or identified as significant in a historical resource survey meeting the requirements of PRC Section 5024.1(g); and (3) any objects, buildings, structures, sites, areas, places, records, or manuscripts which a lead agency determines to be historically significant or significant in the architectural, engineering, scientific, economic, agricultural, educational, social, political, military, or cultural annals of California by the lead agency, provided the lead agency’s determination is supported by substantial evidence in light of the whole record.

Historic Designations
Historical and cultural resources fall within the jurisdiction of several levels of government. The framework for the identification and, in certain instances, protection of cultural resources is established at the federal level, while the identification, documentation, and protection of such resources are often undertaken by state and local governments. As described below, the principal federal, State, and local laws governing and influencing the preservation of historical resources of national, State, regional, and local significance include:
 The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended;  The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (Secretary’s Standards);
 The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA);
 The California Register of Historical Resources (California Register);  The California Public Resources Code;
 The Landmark and Historic District Ordinance of the City of Santa Monica (Code of Ordinances Chapter 9.56, added by Ord. No. 2486CCS§§ 1, 2, adopted June 23, 2015).

LANDMARK AND HISTORIC DISTRICT ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA The Landmark and Historic District Ordinance was adopted to establish procedures and provide regulations to protect elements of the City’s cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history; safeguard the City’s historic, aesthetic, and cultural heritage; foster civic pride; protect and enhance the City’s aesthetic and historic attractions as a stimulus to business Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 5 and industry; and promote the use of Landmarks, Structures of Merit and Historic Districts for the education, pleasure and welfare of the City’s residents.

The Ordinance established a Landmarks Commission with the power to, among others, designate Structures of Merit, Landmarks and Landmark Parcels (9.56.060.A); and regulate and control the alteration, restoration, construction, removal, relocation or demolition of or to the same, or to a building or structure within a Historic District (9.56.060.C). The Landmarks Commission may approve the landmark designation of a structure, improvement, natural feature or an object if it finds that it meets one or more of the following criteria:

1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

2. It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

3. It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.

4. It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

5. It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

6. It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The Ordinance requires a certificate of appropriateness for any proposed alteration, restoration, construction, removal, relocation, or demolition of or to a Landmark (9.56.140) and requires the Landmarks Commission to use the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties to evaluate any such proposed alteration, restoration, or construction (9.56.140.G).

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 6

4.0 SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS EVALUATIONS
Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory
1921 20th Street is listed in the City of Santa Monica 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update with a status code of 5S3, “Appears to be individually eligible for local listing or designation through survey evaluation.” The 2018 Update found that:
1921 20th Street appears eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark. The property is an excellent example of Craftsman architecture as applied to a single-family residence. It exhibits distinctive characteristics that are associated with the style as expressed by its form, massing, composition, and architectural details. It is also significant for representing early patterns of residential development that shaped the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica in the early decades of the twentieth century. Constructed in 1913, it is one of relatively few extant residential buildings from this formative period of neighborhood growth.1
Built Environment Resources Directory (BERD)
The California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP) maintains the Built Environment Resource Directory (BERD), a database of previously evaluated resources throughout the state. The BERD contains information only for cultural resources that have been processed through OHP. This includes resources reviewed for eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places and the California Historical Landmarks programs through federal and state environmental compliance laws, and resources nominated under federal and state registration programs.2 1921 20th Street is not listed in the BERD.3
1 City of Santa Monica, “Property Status: 2018 HRI Update Individual Resources,” 11, Appendix B_Individual Resources 090418.xlsx (accessed August 2026).
2 California Office of Historic Preservation, “Built
Environment Resource Directory: Los Angeles County,” 2019. 3 Ibid.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 7

5.0 DESCRIPTION OF EVALUATED PROPERTY
Location
1921 20th Street is located on the east side of 20th Street between Delaware Avenue and Virginia Avenue in the Pico neighborhood of the City of Santa Monica. It is bounded to the west by 20th Street, to the north by a one-story single family residence, and to the east and south by large, two-story multi-family residential developments. The surrounding neighborhood consists primarily of low-density multi-family residential development, interspersed with remnant single-family properties and larger multi-family buildings. A Location Map is provided in Figure 1, below.

FIGURE 1: LOCATION MAP
1921 21st Street outlined in red. Source: Los Angeles County Assessor Physical Description
1921 20th Street occupies a generally flat lot of 7,200 square feet (.165 acre). The front (west) edge of the property is retained with a concrete masonry unit garden wall and secured with metal picket fencing and gates. A narrow concrete driveway extends along the north edge of the property from the street to a detached two-car garage at the northeast corner of the lot.

The property is occupied by three buildings: the single-family residence fronting 20th Street, and the detached garage and an accessory dwelling unit behind.

The main residence is a two-story, Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow of wood frame construction. It has an irregular plan, asymmetrical composition, and complex massing with a small, two-room second story projecting above the surrounding first-story roof. The first- and Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 8 second-story roofs consist of low-pitched cross gables with rolled asphalt composition roofing, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails, and overhanging rakes supported on wood outriggers. The gable ends have wood lattice grilles. There is a shed-roofed glazed sleeping porch on the front (west) side of the second floor. The primary (west) façade has a projecting concrete porch with a front gable roof and beadboard soffit supported on wood posts; the porch is accessed from the north and south by wide concrete steps. A wood pergola extends from the north side of the porch over the driveway to form a porte-cochère, supported on the opposite side by wood posts on brick piers. There is an exterior brick chimney and a shed-roofed projecting bay on the north (secondary) façade. The house’s exterior walls are clad in wood clapboard siding that flares slightly above the foundation. Fenestration consists primarily of one-over-one double hung wood sash windows in various sizes with simple wood surrounds, overhanging lintels, sills, and aprons. Most of the first-floor windows on the north, east, and south façades have been covered with plywood. The second floor sleeping porch has divided light, wood sash horizontal sliding windows. The primary entrance is asymmetrically located on the west façade, on the projecting porch, and consists of a wide, flush wood door with a simple wood surround and extended lintel, and a metal security screen.

The accessory dwelling unit in the southeast portion of the property was constructed in 1948.4 It is a one-story utilitarian building of wood frame construction with a rectangular plan, asymmetrical composition, and simple massing. It has a flat roof with wide, boxed eaves. The exterior walls are clad in wood clapboard siding. The windows are covered with plywood and are not currently visible from the exterior. There are two doors on the north façade: a paneled door and a metal security screen.

The two-car garage at the northeast corner of the property was constructed in 1951.5 It is a one-story utilitarian building of wood frame construction with a rectangular plan, symmetrical composition, and simple massing. It has a flat roof, and its exterior walls are clad in wood clapboard siding. There is a wood plank overhead auto door on the west façade.

Alterations
1921 20th Street has undergone very few substantive alterations since its original construction in 1913. The only exterior alteration to the main house is the replacement of the original wood posts and brick piers on the front porch with simple wood posts, likely due to damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.6 A 1920 photograph provided to the Santa Monica Conservancy by the Unfried family shows a simple wood rail between the piers; this was likely removed at the same time. Although most of the first floor windows are now covered with plywood, it appears that the window frames and sash are all intact. The site has been altered by the construction of the accessory dwelling unit in 1948 and the garage in 1951.

Current photographs of 1921 20th Street are provided below. 4 City of Santa Monica Building Department, Permit No. B 3901, April 29, 1948.
5 City of Santa Monica Building Department, Permit No. B 9572, July 2, 1951.
6 City of Santa Monica Building & Safety, Rapid Evaluation Safety Assessment Form, “1921 20th St,” February 8, 1994.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 9 CURRENT PHOTOGRAPHS, 1921 20TH STREET
Primary (west) façade, view northeast from 20th Street. HRG, 2026 Primary (west) façade, view southeast from 20th Street. HRG, 2026 Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 10 Porte-cochère and second floor, view southeast from 20th Street. HRG, 2026 Porch, view north. HRG, 2026
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 11 Primary (west) entrance, view northeast. HRG, 2026
North façade, view southeast from driveway. HRG, 2026
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 12 East façade, view southwest from back yard. HRG, 2026
Detail of second-floor windows, east façade, view southwest from back yard. HRG, 2026 Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 13 Detail of gable vent on east façade, view northwest from back yard. HRG, 2026 Detail of eaves, south façade, view west. HRG, 2026
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 14 Window, south façade, view northwest. HRG, 2026
Garage (left) and accessory dwelling unit (right), view southeast from driveway. HRG, 2026 Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 15

6.0 DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
The following development and ownership/occupant history of 1921 20th Street is summarized from the “1921 20th Street – Unfried House Landmark Designation Application” by the Santa Monica Conservancy, dated January 2024. The history was verified through independent research by HRG.

The property at 1921 20th Street is a portion of Lot 1 of Block 24 of the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Santa Monica Tract recorded in 1904. The property is part of a three-acre parcel that was purchased in 1905 by Anna Lillian Gross, the Iowa-born daughter of German immigrants.7 Later that year Gross married Simeon (Simon or Sam) Unfried, a 27-year-old German-born carpenter who had emigrated to the United States as a child.8 In December 1912 Simon Unfried was issued a permit to build a residence and garage on the Santa Monica property.9 The Unfrieds and their growing family lived at 1921 20th Street from 1913 until at least 1919.10 In 1920 the family was living at 1928 22nd Street.11 It appears that by that time the Unfrieds had subdivided their original 3-acre parcel into separate lots, as in 1920 they sold 1921 20th Street to Dr. Edward B. Jones.12 However, they retained ownership of other lots on the parcel originally purchased by Anna Unfried in 1905.

Dr. Jones lived at 1921 20th Street while he built a new home in Brentwood. In 1923 he sold the Santa Monica property to Harvey Lewis Baird, a bank cashier who later worked at Douglas Aircraft during World War II.13 In 1942 Baird sold the property to Handsome Anderson, a widow, who lived there with her children.14 In 1947 Anderson married William L. Otis and soon after began improvements to the property including plumbing and electrical repairs, addition of an accessory dwelling unit, and construction of a new garage.15 Anderson died in 1988 and the following year her estate sold 1921 20th Street to Joaquin Conigundo Lagos and Lydia Tapie Lagos, who lived there until their deaths in 1999 and 2016 respectively.16 TABLE 1: SELECTED PERMIT HISTORY
1921 20th STREET SELECTED PERMIT HISTORY
Date Permit No. Owner Architect/Contractor Description of Work 12/17/1912 1692 Simon Unfried Owner Residence & garage
04/29/1948 B31901 W. L. Otis W. H. Acason Residence, 18 ft. by 34 ft. 10/15/1948 B4905 W. Otis Owner Garage, new slab floor
07/02/1951 B9572 William R. Otis Owner building Garage
In 1922, two years after selling the house at 1921 20th Street, the Unfrieds built a one-story, wood framed house at 1901 20th Street; a one-story, wood framed store and garage at 1903 20th 7 “Woollacott to Gross,” Los Angeles County Deed Records, Book 2553-165, July 6, 1905, as cited in Santa Monica
Conservancy, “1921 20th Street – Unfried House Landmark Designation Application,” January 2024, 7.
8 “Unfried-Gross,” Los Angeles Herald, October 12, 1905, as cited in Santa Monica Conservancy, 7.
9 City of Santa Monica, Permit No. 1692, December 17, 1912, as recorded in the City of Santa Monica Building Permit Ledger.
10 Santa Monica City Directories, 1913, 1915-1916, 1917, 1919-1920, and 1921-1922.
11 Department of Commerce – Bureau of the Census,
“Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920-Population,” Santa Monica Township, January 17 and 19, 1920.
12 “Unfried to Jones,” Los Angeles County Deed Records, as cited in Santa Monica Conservancy, 8.
13 Santa Monica Conservancy, 11.
14 Santa Monica Conservancy, 12.
15 City of Santa Monica Building Department, Permit No. B 3901, April 29, 1948, and Permit No. B 9572, July 2, 1951. 16 Santa Monica Conservancy, 12.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 16 Street; and another one-story, wood framed house and garage around the corner at 2018 Delaware Avenue.17 In 1927 the Unfrieds replaced the house at 1901 20th Street with a two-story brick commercial building with four shops on the first floor and two apartments and a hall above.18 The hall, which was locally known as “Unfried Hall,” became a venue for community gatherings and social events, including dances. This was in violation of the city’s racist anti-dancing ordinance passed in 1922 that limited dancing to downtown Santa Monica only. In 1931 the police shut down Unfried Hall and in 1932 the Unfrieds, already suffering empty storefronts due to the Depression, were foreclosed. By 1936 the brick commercial building had been purchased by Calvary Baptist Church which enlarged the upstairs hall for services. The Church moved to a new location in 1947 but retained ownership of the commercial building, which was demolished in 1964 to accommodate the widening of 20th Street.

This later history of the Unfrieds and their 1920s developments occurred after they had sold the property at 1921 20th Street; thus none of these later events occurred at or are associated with 1921 20th Street. Moreover, all the properties that were directly associated with the Unfrieds’ later developments, including the two-story brick commercial building at 1901 20th Street, have since been demolished.
17 City of Santa Monica, building permits no. 9086, May 19, 1922; 9677-9678, Agusst 22, 1922; and 313-314, November 17, 1922
18 City of Santa Monica, building permit no. 2357, April 6, 1927.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 17

7.0 HISTORIC CONTEXT
To qualify for historic designation, a property must be significant; that is, it must represent a significant part of the history, architecture, archeology, engineering, or culture of an area, and it must have the characteristics that make it a good representative of properties associated with that aspect of the past. The significance of a historic property can be judged and explained only when it is evaluated within its historic context. A historic context consists of those patterns or trends in history by which a specific occurrence, property, or site is understood and its meaning – and ultimately its significance - within history is made clear.19 The City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Context Statement was prepared by Architectural Resources Group (ARG) and Historic Resources Group (HRG) for the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update. The historic context statement provides an in-depth narrative account of the city’s development history as reflected by its built environment, and places Santa Monica’s built resources within the broader context of the economic, political, social, and cultural forces that coalesced to shape the city’s development over time. The information included in the historic context statement provides a contextual basis for the evaluation of potential historical resources in Santa Monica.20
The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is a Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow that was constructed in 1913 in the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Santa Monica Tract in the Pico neighborhood. The property is therefore evaluated for potential historic significance under the following contexts, themes, and sub-themes excerpted from the Citywide Historic Context Statement.

Context: Residential Development
THEME: SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT (1875-1977) Pico
The Pico neighborhood developed from west to east, along the southern side of the railroad tracks. The neighborhood contained the largest residential tract in Santa Monica. Residents in this neighborhood are ethnically diverse, and many of the city’s service workers historically lived in this area. Completion of Pico Boulevard in 1914, the shortest route from Los Angeles to Santa Monica and Ocean Park, was instrumental in its growth and development. However, another transportation milestone, the completion of the Santa Monica Freeway extension, later scarred the Pico neighborhood – disrupting the natural flow of traffic and resulting in the demolition of hundreds of homes. Many of today’s industrial parcels adjacent to the freeway were originally residential streets of modest houses and bungalows.

Erkenbrecher Syndicate (1904)
Concomitant with the opening of the “short line” of the Los Angeles-Pacific Railway (providing a newer and shorter route from Los Angeles to Santa Monica), one of Southern California’s 19 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (Washington, DC:
1990; revised for Internet 1995), 7, NRB-15_web508.pdf
(nps.gov) (accessed August 2024).
20 City of Santa Monica Planning and Community
Development Department, “City of Santa Monica Historic
Resources Inventory Update Historic Context Statement,” prepared by Historic Resources Group and Architectural
Resources Group, March 2018, 1.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 18 largest real estate investment groups, the Erkenbrecher Syndicate, purchased a tract of 390 acres of land from the Pacific Land Company, which included 38 acres within what would soon become Santa Monica. A portion of this was made into town lots and the rest divided into five-and ten-acre tracts.

Cincinnati-born Byron Erkenbrecher(1874-1971) came to Los Angeles in 1895. After a short-lived stint in the soap manufacturing business, he formed the Erkenbrecher Syndicate, Ltd., mining and real estate brokers. Erkenbrecher’s holdings were widespread, including land in Los Angeles, Glendale, the San Gabriel Valley, San Pedro, and Santa Monica.

The gridded residential portion of this tract was an irregularly shaped subdivision bounded by the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks to the north (north of present-day Olympic Boulevard), Pico Boulevard to the south, present-day Stewart Street to the east, and 14th Street to the west (exclusive of Woodlawn Cemetery). The tract was advertised as “...14 blocks from the ocean between the Southern Pacific Railway and the Electric Car line” and featured good soil, piped water, installed telephone lines and electricity and all street improvements. The standard 50’ x 150’ lots sold for $400 and up. By August 1905, 405 of the tract’s 600 lots had been sold, and 72 homes had been erected. Most of the land sales were speculative in nature. Sanborn Maps from 1918 indicate that the residential blocks north of Delaware Avenue between 14th and 20th Streets were only 25% built out. These blocks were dominated by modest, one-story residences.

The sparsely built-out Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract made it a target for multi-family residential development from the 1920s through the 1940s. The 1930 U.S. Census indicates that the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract was home to Santa Monica’s Latino population, which was clustered in a residential area around Frank Street, High Street, and the 1600 and 1700 blocks of 20th, 21st and 22nd Streets. This area was zoned for industrial uses after construction of the Santa Monica Freeway.

The 1940 census reveals that the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract also became home to the city’s service workers during the 1930s: the maids, cooks, janitors, gardeners, and servants for pr ivate households. As such, it contained a high concentration of the city’s African American population – some 200 of the 500 African Americans believed to reside in Santa Monica prior to the war; the vast majority of whom lived on 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th Streets between the train tracks and Delaware Avenue. African Americans referred to the area as the Pico Quarter or Pico Neighborhood. The tract was also home to 50 Japanese and Japanese Americans, who were often employed as gardeners in private homes.

During World War II, the defense industry opened employment to African Americans for the first time. The Erkenbrecher Tract’s proximity to Douglas Aircraft, coupled with the relocation of the Japanese to incarceration camps, solidified the neighborhood’s demographic shift. By the 1950s, the neighborhood was home to an ethnically diverse population served by First African Methodist Episcopal Church and Mexican Methodist Episcopal Church, both on Michigan Avenue. Latino residents came to call the area bounded by Olympic and Pico Boulevards between 14th and 20th Streets “La Veinte,” or “The Twenty.” By the 1960s, the Pico neighborhood was home to 4,000 African American families and business Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 19 owners, and the Latino population totaled approximately 5,000. The neighborhood’s lower property values made it a prime target for the Santa Monica Freeway extension, and the subsequent construction of the Santa Monica Freeway sliced diagonally through the neighborhood, disrupting the grid pattern and displacing low-income residents.

Some Japanese Americans who had returned to the neighborhood after the war were once again displaced. After the completion of the freeway, many of the residential streets between the freeway and Pico were converted from residential to industrial use, displacing many of Santa Monica’s 6,000-8,000 African American residents.

ELIGIBILITY
Landmark Criterion 1; Structure of Merit b1
Significance
Individual properties or historic districts that are eligible under this theme may be significant:
 As the site of an important event in history.
 For exemplifying an important trend or pattern of development. In general, properties significant under this criterion will primarily be eligible as contributors to historic districts.
 As a rare or remnant example of Early Residential Development. This includes remnant beach cottages reflecting the city’s association with beach tourism; rare, remaining examples of some of the city’s earliest residential neighborhoods, or neighborhoods like Pico that were devastated by later development.
 As an excellent example of residential development with a specific association with 1920s and 1930s growth, including continued importance of beach tourism, and development associated with the aviation industry.
 As an excellent example of post-World War II residential development, representing a specific association with postwar growth in the city. This includes residential development associated with the aerospace or other industries, or an important residential development or developer.

Integrity Considerations
A property that is significant for its historic association is eligible if it retains the essential physical features that made up its character or appearance during the period of its association with the important event, historical pattern, or person(s). A residential property eligible under this criterion should retain integrity of location, design, workmanship, and feeling, at a minimum, in order to reflect the important association with the city’s residential development during this period. A property that has lost some historic materials or details can be eligible if it retains the majority of the features that illustrate its style in terms of the massing, spatial relationships, proportion, pattern of windows and doors, texture of materials, and ornamentation. Individually eligible examples identified in the survey typically retain all or most of their original windows, particularly on the primary façade, original wall cladding, and do not Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 20 have additions that are visible from the public right-of-way or obscure important historic features.

Registration Requirements
To be eligible under this criterion, a property must:
 have a proven association with an event important in history; or  represent an important pattern or trend in residential development from a specific period or facet of Santa Monica residential development; and  display most of the character defining features of the property type or style; and  retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.

Landmark Criterion 3
Significance
For an association with a significant person. Significant persons within this theme include Santa Monica pioneers or people who played a significant role in the development of the city; or people who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession, including the aviation, aerospace, or entertainment industries. Residences that are significant for an association with an ethnic, social, or cultural group are evaluated under separate themes.

Properties eligible under this criterion are typically those associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance.

Integrity Considerations
A residential property significant under Criterion B/2/3 should retain integrity of location, design, feeling, and association, at a minimum, in order to convey the historic association with a significant person.

Registration Requirements
To be eligible under this criterion, a property must:
 have a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history; and
 display most of the character defining features of the property type or style; and  retain the essential aspects of historic integrity.

Context: Architecture & Design (1875-1977)
THEME: EARLY 20TH CENTURY STYLES
Sub-theme: Craftsman
Craftsman architecture grew out of the late-19thcentury English Arts and Crafts movement. A reaction against industrialization and the excesses of the Victorian era, the movement stressed Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 21 simplicity of design, hand-craftsmanship, and the relationship of the building to the climate and landscape. Craftsman architecture developed in the first decade of the 20th century as an indigenous California version of the American Arts and Crafts movement, incorporating Southern California’s unique qualities. Constructed primarily of stained wood, with wide overhanging eaves, balconies, and terraces extending the living space outdoors, the style embodied the goals of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The Craftsman bungalow dates from the early 1900s through the 1920s. The bungalow’s simplicity of form, informal character, direct response to site, and extensive use of natural materials, particularly wood and stone, was a regional interpretation of the reforms espoused by the Arts and Crafts movement’s founder, William Morris. Craftsman bungalows generally have rectangular or irregular plans and are one to one-and-a-half stories tall. They have wood clapboard or shingle exteriors and a pronounced horizontal emphasis, with broad front porches, often composed with stone, clinker brick, or plastered porch piers. Other character-defining features include low-pitched front-facing gable roofs, and overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails.

As opposed to smaller developer-built or prefabricated bungalows, two-story Craftsman houses were often commissioned for wealthy residents and designed specifically with the homeowner’s needs and the physical site in mind. They generally feature a low-pitched gable roof, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, and windows grouped in horizontal bands. A high-style Craftsman house is distinguished by the quality of the materials and complexity of design and may feature elaborate, custom-designed woodwork, stained glass, and other fixtures.

By World War I, the Craftsman style declined in popularity and was largely replaced by Period Revival styles. The Craftsman bungalow continued to be built into the 1920s, but was often painted in lighter colors, stripped of its dark wood interiors, or blended with characteristics of various revival styles.

Typical character-defining features of the Craftsman style, as identified in the Citywide Historic Context Statement, include:
 Horizontal massing
 Low-pitched gable roof with rolled or composition shingle roofing  Wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, outriggers, or knee braces  Exterior walls clad in wood shingle, shake, or clapboard siding  Projecting partial- or full-width, or wrap-around front porch  Heavy porch piers, often of river stone or masonry
 Wood sash casement or double-hung windows, often grouped in multiples  Wide front doors, often with a beveled light
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 22  Wide, plain window and door surrounds, often with extended lintels  Extensive use of natural materials (wood, brick or river stone) Craftsman Sub-type: Airplane Bungalow
Craftsman Airplane bungalows date from the early 1900s and reached their peak of popularity in the late 1910s. The Airplane Bungalow is a variation of the one-story Craftsman bungalow and shares many of its character-defining features, including a usually asymmetrical composition, low-pitched gable roof, wide overhanging eaves with exposed rafter tails, wood shingles or horizontal wood siding, and a wide porch. The distinguishing feature of the Airplane Bungalow is a small second story in the middle of the house, usually of only one or two rooms, that rises above the surrounding roof. The influence of Japanese architecture is common in Airplane bungalows, exhibited in torii-inspired post-and-beam joinery, flaring eaves and ridges, and corresponding curved bargeboards.

Character-defining features include:
 Small, one- or two-room second story in the middle of the roof  Japanese influences including Asian-inspired post-and-beam joinery, flared eaves and ridges, and curved bargeboards

ELIGIBILITY
Landmark Criteria 1, 2, 4, 5; Structure of Merit b2
Significance
Properties that are eligible under the Architecture and Design context may be significant as:
 An excellent or rare example of an architectural style, property type, or designed landscape. Due to the quality of architecture in Santa Monica, there is a high threshold for properties that are eligible under this context. Eligible examples exhibit high quality of design and distinctive features.
 An important example of the work of a notable builder, designer, landscape architect, or architect.

Integrity Considerations
The required aspects of integrity reflect the significance of the property and the essential physical features required to convey that significance. The rarity of type is also considered. A property that is significant for its architectural merit should retain integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling, at a minimum, in order to convey its historic significance.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 23

8.0 EVALUATION OF ELIGIBILITY
1921 20th Street is evaluated below within the relevant contexts and themes in the City of Santa Monica Citywide Historic Context Statement, and according to established criteria for designation under the City of Santa Monica’s Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance.

Evaluation of Historic Significance
1921 20th Street was previously evaluated in the 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update. It was found eligible for designation as a local Landmark for representing early patterns of residential development that shaped the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica in the early decades of the twentieth century, and as an excellent example of Craftsman architecture as applied to a single-family residence. The property is re-evaluated in this report to confirm whether it meets eligibility criteria for individual designation.

CONTEXT: RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
Theme: Single-family Residential Development (1875-1977) Landmark Criterion 1; Structure of Merit b1
The existing Craftsman style single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is a rare remaining and intact example of early residential development in the Pico neighborhood, which was devastated by later development. The residence was constructed in 1913 in the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract, which was subdivided in 1904 as the earliest residential subdivision in what is now the Pico neighborhood. The tract remained sparsely developed into the 1920s, when it became a target for multi-family residential development. Decades later, the Pico neighborhood was scarred by construction of the Santa Monica Freeway extension which resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and disrupted the street grid and traffic flow. Many of the areas adjacent to the freeway, which were once characterized by modest houses and bungalows, were subsequently rezoned for industrial use. In the 1960s, many other buildings were moved or demolished to accommodate the widening of 20th Street. As a result, surviving and intact examples of early 20th century single-family residential development in the Pico neighborhood are exceedingly rare. Table 2 shows the single-family residential properties identified in the 2018 Historic Resource Inventory Update that are eligible for their association with early development in the Pico neighborhood.

TABLE 2: EARLY SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES

ELIGIBLE EARLY SINGLE-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PICO NEIGHBORHOOD Address Year built Eligibility
1747 9th Street 1924 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1437 10th Street 1911 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1815 10th Street 1911 Eligible for designation as a Structure of Merit 1819 10th Street 1928 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1833-1839 10th Street 1924 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1448 12th Street 1907 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1453 12th Street 1909 Eligible for designation as a Landmark Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 24

ELIGIBLE EARLY SINGLE-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT IN THE PICO NEIGHBORHOOD Address Year built Eligibility
1523 15th Street 1909 Eligible for designation as a Structure of Merit 1754 16th Street 1922 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1527 17th Street 1923 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1927 19th Street 1922 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1837 20th Street 1923 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1921 20th Street 1913 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1706 21st Street 1914 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 2019 21st Street 1914 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 2038-2040 21st Street 1926 Eligible for designation as a Structure of Merit 1926 22nd Street 1913 Eligible for designation as a Structure of Merit 1802 Euclid Street 1922 Eligible for designation as a Landmark 1814 Euclid Street 1924 Eligible for designation as a Landmark The 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update identifies only 19 single-family properties (including 1921 20th Street) that are individually significant for representing “early patterns of residential development that shaped the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica in the early decades of the twentieth century.” Of these, three were constructed in the 1900s; six (including 1921 20th Street) were constructed in the 1910s; and ten were constructed in the 1920s. Thus, the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is one of only six remaining houses constructed in the Pico neighborhood in the 1910s, and one of only nine remaining houses that were constructed in the Pico neighborhood in the first two decades of the 20th century.

Therefore, 1921 20th Street is significant under Santa Monica Landmark Criterion 1. The period of significance under Criterion 1 is 1913, the year in which the residence at 1921 20th Street was originally constructed.

Landmark Criterion 3
According to National Park Service guidance, properties may be significant for an association with the lives of persons significant in our past. Persons “significant in our past” refers to individuals whose activities are demonstrably important within a local, state, or national historic context. A property is not eligible if its only justification for significance is that it was owned or used by a person who was a member of an identifiable profession, class, or social or ethnic group. In addition, the property must be associated with a person’s productive life, reflecting the time period when he or she achieved significance.

Significant persons within the theme of Single-Family Residential Development include Santa Monica pioneers or people who played a significant role in the development of the city; or people who made significant contributions to a demonstrably important profession, including the aviation, aerospace, or entertainment industries. No documentation has been found to suggest that Anna and Simeon Unfried, or any other former owner or occupant of 1921 20th Street rose to prominence in their profession or group or made significant contributions to the Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 25 history or development of the city, state, or nation while occupying the property. Therefore, 1921 20th Street does not have a proven association with the productive period of a person important to local, state, or national history and is not significant under Santa Monica Landmark Criterion 3.

CONTEXT: ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN (1875-1977)
Theme: Early 20th Century Styles
Sub-theme: Craftsman; Craftsman Sub-type: Airplane Bungalow Landmark Criteria 1, 2, 4, 5; Structure of Merit b2
The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is an excellent and comparatively rare example of a Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow in Santa Monica. The building exhibits high quality of design and distinctive features characteristic of the style and type, including its irregular plan, asymmetrical composition, complex massing with a two-room second story projecting above the surrounding first-story roof, low-pitched cross gable roofs with rolled asphalt composition roofing, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails and overhanging rakes supported on wood outriggers, wood lattice grilles in the gable ends, shed-roofed glazed sleeping porch, projecting concrete porch with a front gable roof and beadboard soffit, wood pergola extending over the driveway to form a porte-cochère, exterior brick chimney, shed-roofed projecting bay, wood clapboard siding that flares slightly above the foundation, and one-over-one double hung wood sash windows in various sizes with simple wood surrounds and extended lintels.

The house at 1921 20th Street appears to be one of only two known Craftsman style Airplane Bungalows in Santa Monica. The other is at 315 10th Street, which was designated a City Landmark in 2010. No other Craftsman style Airplane Bungalows are designated Landmarks or identified as individually eligible in the Historic Resources Inventory.

Given its high quality of design, distinctive features, and rarity of type, the 1913 single-family residence at 1921 20th Street exemplifies the Craftsman era of architectural history in early 20th century Santa Monica; has aesthetic value; and embodies the distinguishing architectural characteristics of the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow. Therefore, it is significant under Landmark Criteria 1, 2, and 4. The period of significance under Criteria 1, 2, and 4 is 1913, the year in which the residence at 1921 20th Street was originally constructed.

Evaluation of Historic Integrity
Historic integrity is the ability of a property to convey its significance and is defined as the “authenticity of a property’s historic identity, evidenced by the survival of physical characteristics that existed during the property’s prehistoric or historic period.”21 The National Park Service defines seven aspects of integrity for historical resources. These are location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. The integrity of the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is evaluated below based on these seven aspects.

Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the 21 United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Nomination Form (Washington, DC:

National Park Service, 1997), 4.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 26 historic event occurred. The residence at 1921 20th remains on the site where it was originally constructed in 1913. Therefore, it retains integrity of location.

Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property. The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street has undergone few alterations since its original construction in 1913 except for the removal of the porch’s brick piers and replacement of the wood posts. The building retains nearly all of the features that identify it as a Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow, including its irregular plan, asymmetrical composition, complex massing with a two-room second story projecting above the surrounding first-story roof, low-pitched cross gable roofs with rolled asphalt composition roofing, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails and overhanging rakes supported on wood outriggers, wood lattice grilles in the gable ends, shed-roofed glazed sleeping porch, projecting concrete porch with a front gable roof and beadboard soffit, wood pergola extending over the driveway to form a porte-cochère, exterior brick chimney, shed-roofed projecting bay, wood clapboard siding that flares slightly above the foundation, and one-over-one double hung wood sash windows in various sizes with simple wood surrounds and extended lintels. Therefore, it retains integrity of design.

Setting is the physical environment of a historic property. At the time the residence at 1921 20th Street was constructed in 1913, the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract was sparsely developed and remained so into the 1920s, when it became a target for multi-family residential development.

Decades later, the Pico neighborhood was scarred by construction of the Santa Monica Freeway extension which resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and disrupted the street grid and traffic flow. Many of the areas adjacent to the freeway, which were once characterized by modest houses and bungalows, were subsequently rezoned for industrial use.

In the 1960s, many other buildings were moved or demolished to accommodate the widening of 20th Street. Therefore, the residence at 1921 20th Street no longer retains integrity of setting.

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. Apart from the front porch’s brick piers which were removed after sustaining damage in the Northridge earthquake, the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street retains nearly all of the materials that were deposited in its original construction in 1913, including its wood clapboard siding; wood rafter tails, rake rafters and outriggers; wood lattice grilles in the gable ends; wood sash windows with wood surrounds and extended lintels; concrete porch and steps with beadboard soffit; brick chimney; and wood pergola/porte-cochère supported on brick piers. The property therefore retains integrity of materials.

Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory. As demonstrated above, the house at 1021 20th Street retains integrity of design and materials and thus retains the physical evidence of the crafts of early-20th century Craftsman style design and construction in Santa Monica. The property therefore retains integrity of workmanship.

Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time.

It results from the presence of physical features that, taken together, convey the property’s historic character. As demonstrated above, the residence at 1921 20th Street retains integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship, and thus retains the physical features that convey Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 27 its historic character as an early-20th century Craftsman stye Airplane Bungalow. Therefore, it retains integrity of feeling.

Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property. As demonstrated above, the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street retains integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, and feeling, and thus continues to convey its direct link to early residential development in the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica in the 1910s. The property therefore retains integrity of association.

CONDITION VS. INTEGRITY
The Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street has not been adequately maintained and is in generally poor condition. However, according to National Park Service guidance, “condition” and “integrity” are related but distinct concepts.

Condition refers to the current physical state of a property — how well it is maintained, the extent of deterioration, and the presence of damage or decay. It is an objective assessment of what the property looks like today.

Integrity, on the other hand, is the ability of a property to convey its significance. It is not the same as condition, even though condition can affect integrity. A property can be in poor condition but still retain integrity if its essential physical features remain intact and relevant to its historical meaning.

As demonstrated in the preceding integrity analysis, the essential physical features of the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street remain intact and visible, although they are deteriorated. Therefore, the condition of the property has not yet deteriorated to the extent that it has affected the property’s historic integrity.

Summary of Eligibility
The preceding analysis has demonstrated that the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is eligible for designation as a Santa Monica Landmark under the following criteria:

1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

The existing Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is a rare remaining and intact example of early residential development in the Pico neighborhood, which was devastated by later development. The residence was constructed in 1913 in the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract, which was subdivided in 1904 as the earliest residential subdivision in what is now the Pico neighborhood. The tract remained sparsely developed into the 1920s, when it became a target for multi-family residential development. Decades later, the Pico neighborhood was scarred by construction of the Santa Monica Freeway extension which resulted in the demolition of hundreds of homes and disrupted the street grid and traffic flow. Many of the areas adjacent to the freeway, which were once characterized by modest houses and bungalows, were subsequently rezoned for industrial use. In the 1960s, many other buildings were moved or demolished to accommodate the widening of 20th Street. As a result, surviving Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 28 and intact examples of early 20th century single-family residential development in the Pico neighborhood are exceedingly rare.

2. It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street has aesthetic interest and value as an embodiment of the distinguishing architectural characteristics of the Craftsman style (see #4 below), and as one of only two identified Craftsman style Airplane Bungalows in Santa Monica.

It has other noteworthy interest and value as is a rare remaining and intact example of early residential development in the Pico neighborhood (see #1 above).

The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is one of only two identified Craftsman style Airplane Bungalows in Santa Monica. The building embodies the distinguishing architectural characteristics of the Craftsman style, including its irregular plan, asymmetrical composition, complex massing with a two-room second story projecting above the surrounding first-story roof, low-pitched cross gable roofs with rolled asphalt composition roofing, wide eaves with exposed rafter tails and overhanging rakes supported on wood outriggers, wood lattice grilles in the gable ends, shed-roofed glazed sleeping porch, projecting concrete porch with a front gable roof and beadboard soffit, wood pergola extending over the driveway to form a porte-cochère, exterior brick chimney, shed-roofed projecting bay, wood clapboard siding that flares slightly above the foundation, and one-over-one double hung wood sash windows in various sizes with simple wood surrounds and extended lintels.

Character-defining Features
Every historic building is unique, with its own identity and its own distinctive character.

Character-defining features are those visual aspects and physical elements and materials, constructed or deposited during the property’s period of significance, that give the building its historic character and contribute to its historic integrity. Character-defining features should be considered in the planning and design of a project so that they are preserved to the maximum extent possible. In general, retaining character-defining features retains the integrity of the historic property and thus maintains the property’s eligibility as an historical resource.

The period of significance of the Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is 1913, the year in which it was originally constructed. Therefore, the property’s character-defining features include:
 Irregular plan, asymmetrical composition, and complex massing  Small, two-room second story projecting above the surrounding first-story roof  Low-pitched cross gable roofs with rolled asphalt composition roofing Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 29  Wide eaves with exposed rafter tails
 Overhanging rakes supported on wood outriggers
 Wood lattice grilles in the gable ends
 Exterior brick chimney
 Wood clapboard siding with flared skirt at foundation  Shed-roofed second floor sleeping porch with wood sash horizontal sliding windows  Projecting concrete porch and wide concrete steps with a front gable roof and beadboard soffit
 Wood pergola extending over the driveway to form a porte-cochère, with wood posts and brick piers
 Shed-roofed projecting bay on the north façade
 One-over-one double hung wood sash windows in various sizes with simple wood surrounds and extended lintels
 Wide, flush wood entrance door with simple wood surround and extended lintel Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 30

9.0 CONCLUSION
This report has evaluated the single-family residence at 1921 20th Street in the Erkenbrecher Syndicate Tract, in the Pico neighborhood of the City of Santa Monica, California, for eligibility for designation as a historic resource. The property was evaluated within the applicable historic contexts and themes against the established eligibility criteria and integrity thresholds for designation under the City of Santa Monica’s Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance. 1921 20th Street is occupied by a two-story Craftsman style single-family residence originally constructed in 1913. The property is listed in the City of Santa Monica’s 2018 Historic Resources Inventory Update. It was found eligible for listing as a Santa Monica Landmark as an excellent example of Craftsman architecture as applied to a single-family residence, and for representing early patterns of residential development that shaped the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica in the early decades of the twentieth century.

This evaluation has confirmed the Inventory finding. The single-family residence at 1921 20th Street is significant within the context Residential Development and theme Single-family Residential Development (1875-1977) under Landmark Criterion 1 as a rare remaining and intact example of early residential development in the Pico neighborhood, which was devastated by later development; and within the context Architecture & Design (1875-1977), theme Early 20th Century Styles, and sub-theme Craftsman under Landmark Criteria 1, 2, and 4 as an excellent and comparatively rare example of a Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow in Santa Monica. Although it is in poor condition, the building retains integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Therefore, the 1913 Craftsman style Airplane Bungalow at 1921 20th Street is eligible for designation as a City Landmark.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica 31

10.0 REFERENCES
California Office of Historic Preservation. “Built
Environment Resource Directory: Los Angeles County,”
2019.

City of Santa Monica. Building permit records.
---. “Property Status: 2018 HRI Update Individual
Resources,” Appendix B_Individual Resources
090418.xlsx. Accessed August 2026.

City of Santa Monica Planning and Community
Development Department. “City of Santa Monica
Historic Resources Inventory Update Historic Context
Statement.” Prepared by Historic Resources Group and
Architectural Resources Group, March 2018.

Santa Monica City Directories, 1913, 1915-1916, 1917,
1919-1920, and 1921-1922.

Santa Monica Conservancy. “1921 20th Street – Unfried
House Landmark Designation Application,” January
2024.

State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation. “California Office of Historic Preservation Technical
Assistance Series #6: California Register and National
Register: A Comparison.” Sacramento, CA: Office of
Historic Preservation, 2011.

U. S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of the Census.
“Fourteenth Census of the United States: 1920-
Population.” Santa Monica Township, January 17 and
19, 1920.

U.S. Department of the Interior. National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for
Evaluation. Washington D.C.: National Park Service,
1997.

U.S. Department of the Interior. National Register Bulletin 16: How to Complete the National Register Registration
Form. Washington, D.C.: National Park Service, 1997.

Weeks, Kay D., and Anne E. Grimmer. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties With Guidelines for Preserving,
Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic
Buildings. Revised by Anne E. Grimmer. Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park
Service, Technical Preservation Services, 2017.

Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica

APPENDIX A

CRAFTSMAN ARCHITECTURE IN SANTA MONICA
Photo Address Year Status
842 2nd Street 1907 Eligible Landmark
2820 2nd Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
2421 3rd Street 1906 Eligible Landmark
2504 3rd Street 1907 Landmark
2507 3rd Street 1910 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
2544 3rd Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
2902 3rd Street 1910 Eligible Landmark
3007-3009 3rd Street 1908 Eligible Landmark
3014 3rd Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
419 4th Street 1922 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
907 4th Street 1910 Eligible Landmark
1033 4th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
2424 4th Street 1910 Landmark
2434 4th Street 1915 Eligible Landmark
2614 4th Street 1909 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
2617 4th Street 1908 Eligible Landmark
2635 4th Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
2653 4th Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
2658 4th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
2660 4th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
804 5th Street 1918 Eligible Landmark
834 5th Street 1911 Eligible Landmark
2514 5th Street 1911 Eligible Landmark
1038 6th Street 1908 Eligible Landmark
1138 6th Street 1921 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
2102 6th Street 1923 Eligible Landmark
2210 6th Street 1921 Eligible Landmark
2607 6th Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
2715 6th Street 1910 Eligible Landmark
513 7th Street 1911 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
555 7th Street 1913 Landmark
614 7th Street 1922 Eligible Landmark
953 7th Street 1922 Eligible Landmark
3012 7th Street 1909 Eligible Landmark
857 9th Street 1921 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
1303 9th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
1747 9th Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
315 10th Street 1911 Landmark
454 10th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
847 10th Street 1919 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
949 10th Street 1916 Eligible Landmark
1348 10th Street 1915 Eligible Landmark
1437 10th Street 1911 Eligible Landmark
1819 10th Street 1928 Eligible Landmark
1833-1839 10th Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
401 11th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
1144 11th Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
1218 11th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
1221 11th Street 1911 Eligible Landmark
1229 11th Street 1904 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
1322 12th Street 1905 Eligible Landmark
1453 12th Street 1909 Eligible Landmark
812 14th Street 1923 Eligible Landmark
1238 14th Street 1913 Eligible Landmark
703 16th Street 1923 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
1527 17th Street 1922 Landmark
1248 18th Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
1947-1953 19th Street 1925 Eligible Landmark
1706 21st Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
501 24th Street 1911 Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
1254 26th Street 1915 Eligible Landmark
1458 26th Street 1907 Eligible Landmark
2344 28th Street 1922 Eligible Landmark
2321 29th Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
130 Adelaide Drive 1906 Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
142 Adelaide Drive 1909 Landmark
144 Adelaide Drive 1907 Eligible Landmark
236 Adelaide Drive 1910 Landmark
406 Adelaide Drive 1904 Landmark
308 Alta Avenue 1912 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
527 Alta Avenue 1914 Eligible Landmark
240-246 Ashland Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
422 Ashland Avenue 1915 Eligible Landmark
1129 Ashland Avenue c. 1910 Landmark
501 Bay Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
2511 Beverly Avenue 1911 Landmark
610 California Avenue 1912 Eligible Landmark
832 California Avenue 1921 Eligible Landmark
908 California Avenue 1922 Eligible Landmark
1343-1345 Chelsea
Avenue
1922 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
528 Colorado Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
1802 Euclid Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
144 Fraser Avenue 1906 Eligible Landmark
147 Fraser Avenue 1906 Eligible Landmark
156 Fraser Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
325 Georgina Avenue 1912 Landmark
435 Georgina Avenue 1912 Landmark
525 Georgina Avenue 1909 Landmark
713 Georgina Avenue 1912 Eligible Landmark
1208 Georgina Avenue 1922 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
1026-1028 Grant Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
2612 Highland Avenue 1913 Eligible Landmark
2632 Highland Avenue 1913 Eligible Landmark
2715 Highland Avenue 1908 Eligible Landmark
3114 Highland Avenue 1909 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
504 Hill Street 1915 Eligible Landmark
522-524 Hill Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
514 Idaho Avenue 1922 Eligible Landmark
1414 Idaho Avenue 1922 Landmark
642 Kensington Road 1916 Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
447 Lincoln Boulevard 1921 Eligible Landmark
929 Lincoln Boulevard 1916 Landmark
933 Lincoln Boulevard 1915 Eligible Landmark
1001 Maple Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
1047 Maple Street 1922 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
401 Marguerita Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
707 Marine Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
1006-1108 Michigan
Avenue
1925 Eligible Landmark
656 Navy Street 1924 Eligible Landmark
317 Ocean Park Boulevard 1919 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
658 Ocean Park Boulevard 1915 Eligible Landmark
754 Ozone Avenue 1908 Eligible Landmark
619 Pacific Street 1914 Eligible Landmark
226 Palisades Avenue 1916 Landmark
405 Palisades Avenue 1911 Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
514 Palisades Avenue 1910 Landmark
608 Palisades Avenue 1912 Eligible Landmark
624 Palisades Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
427 Pier Avenue 1910 Eligible Landmark
752-754 Pier Avenue 1925 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
502 Raymond Avenue 1912 Landmark
700 San Vicente Boulevard 1910 Eligible Landmark
900 San Vicente Boulevard 1923 Eligible Landmark
418 Strand Street 1912 Eligible Landmark
9 Vicente Terrace 1911 Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica Photo Address Year Status
913 Wilshire Boulevard 1913 Eligible Landmark
Historic Resources Group 1921 20th Street, Santa Monica

APPENDIX B

RESUMES OF AUTHORS/CONTRIBUTORS

JOHN LOCASCIO, AIA
Principal Architect
Experience Profile
Years of Experience: 32
California Architect license no: C24223
John LoCascio lives in Altadena, CA and has been with Historic Resources Group since 2011, involved in historic preservation since 2002, and a licensed, practicing architect since 1993.

John’s areas of focus at HRG include historic architecture and technology, building conservation, historic structure reports and federal historic rehabilitation tax credit projects. He provides technical assistance for construction documents; advises on compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation and state regulatory/building code; provides construction monitoring; and prepares paint and materials sampling and analysis services.

John has worked on a wide variety of buildings and structures throughout the United States. He is currently advising on historic tax credit projects in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area and Washington State. In addition, John regularly provides historic architecture consultation for numerous Los Angeles United School District campus modernization projects.

Prior to joining HRG, John served as Executive Director of Claremont Heritage, which included reviewing environmental documents and advising the City of Claremont on planning and design issues. John also worked for 14 years as a project architect in private practice, specializing in custom residential projects.

John LoCascio meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards in Architecture and Historic Architecture. 556 S Fair Oaks Ave, Suite 101-514
Pasadena, CA 91105
Tel 626-793-2400
historicresourcesgroup.com
Selected Projects
28th Street YMCA Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse, Los Angeles Angelus Funeral Home Historic Tax Credit Project, Los Angeles Army & Navy YMCA/Harbor House Historic Tax Credit, San Pedro CBS Columbia Square Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse, Hollywood Climate Pledge Arena Historic Tax Credit Project, Seattle Grand Central Air Terminal Rehabilitation & Adaptive Reuse, Glendale Hangar One Rehabilitation, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain View Killefer School Rehabilitation and Adaptive Reuse, Orange Los Angeles International Airport Preservation Plan and HSRs Mayfair Hotel Historic Tax Credit Project, Los Angeles
Venice High School Comprehensive Modernization, Los Angeles Education
Master of Historic Preservation, University of Southern California Bachelor of Architecture, University of Southern California Honors and Awards
National Trust for Historic Preservation, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award
Angelus Funeral Home/Paul Williams Family Apartments, 2022 California Preservation Foundation Preservation Design Awards Army & Navy YMCA/Harbor House, 2025
Sandi Simon Center for Dance, 2023
Angelus Funeral Home/Paul Williams Family Apartments, 2021 CBS Columbia Square, 2017
Grand Central Air Terminal, 2016
Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Awards
Army & Navy YMCA/Harbor House, 2025
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, 2022
Angelus Funeral Home/Paul Williams Family Apartments, 2021 Grand Central Air Terminal, 2017
CBS Columbia Square, 2016
AIA Institute Honor Award
28th Street YMCA, 2015
Professional Affiliations
American Institute of Architects
556 S Fair Oaks Ave, Suite 101-514
Pasadena, CA 91105

Santa Monica City CouncilOctober 27, 2026

Santa Monica City Council
October 27, 2026