Garden Cities at Risk CHAPTER SIX: “COMMUNITY OF RENTAL HOMES IN PARK OPENS TODAY”

Part of a series on the Wyvernwood community, the sister city to Baldwin Hills Village/Village Green.


See the entire set of Wyvernwood blog posts HERE

On Friday, August 25, 1939, the Los Angeles Times devoted three full pages to the opening of Wyvernwood. 

Preparing the landscape for Wyvernwood's opening day, 1939.
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

“COMMUNITY OF RENTAL HOMES IN PARK OPENS TODAY” 

On Friday, August 25, 1939, the highly anticipated unveiling of the Wyvernwood community was showcased in three full pages of the Los Angeles Times. Over the course of the weekend that followed, a massive crowd of 50,000 people toured the groundbreaking new community, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.  John S. Griffith remarked that “we were amazed at the rapid acceptance of the new type of living accommodations being introduced at Wyvernwood. We naturally feel the immediate renting of all available homes is an indication of general public approval.” With twenty of the 143 buildings ready for occupancy, by the end of the weekend all of the 158 completed apartments had been rented, and a waiting list was started. 

Preparing the landscape for Wyvernwood's opening day, 1939.
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

The area around the Wyvernwood community was taking shape as well, with shops, schools, restaurants, businesses and entertainment facilities either planned or in the early stages of construction, ensuring that residents of the new community would have a self-contained environment.

Hammond Sadler's landscape plan begins to mature, 1940

“A MIRACLE OF MODERN MULTIPLE HOUSING”

The Los Angeles Times reported that “Wyvernwood, great private rental housing community on E. Olympic Blvd., east of Soto St., powerfully demonstrates two achievements. It is a miracle of modern multiple housing and it supplies a delightful mode of living,” and was “itself a mighty accomplishment even in a nation accustomed to tremendous developments.”

Marian Manners, the fictitious Times lifestyle and cooking expert who, beginning in 1931, advised trusting Southern California homemakers on "all the thousand and one intermediary problems and snags that confront the housewife daily," gave her overwhelmingly positive impressions of this “livable and charming” community. Her leading article in that three-page spread on August 25th clearly and charmingly described all of the benefits Wyvernwood had to offer the middle-class housewife in 1939, so I’m including it here in its entirety:

Hammond Sadler's landscape plan called for beds of flowering plants carpeting the area between
buildings and paths. Fred Barlow, Jr. may have been influenced by this design feature,
because he used it even more extensively at Baldwin Hills Village, switching the flowering
plants instead to a variety of lower water, lower maintenance groundcovers.

“Wyvernwood homes are charmingly different from the usual multiple-unit dwelling. The inviting, informal interior of each a homey, amiable house built to overlook a lovely park.

These attractive homes in Wyvernwood are well adapted to the traditional Western idea of outdoor living as well as to indoor comfort. Sunny rooms usually have two or more outside exposures; wide windows provide cross ventilation and a delightful, clear view over velvety green lawns, trees and flowers."

Wyvernwood offered a large variety of floor plan types.

"The room arrangement is compact and well planned. The proportions give an effect of spaciousness. Following the modern tendency to ‘open-up’ the plan, the dining space in the smaller units is an alcove at the end of the kitchen or living room. Both living room and bedrooms have well placed windows allowing ample wall space for interesting furniture grouping."

Barker Bros., the large high-end furniture department store in
downtown Los Angeles, provided several furnished
model homes for Wyvernwood's opening day.

"Any homemaker will delight in completing the decoration of one of these new homes.  Their clean, fresh ‘newness’ is an inspiration! Walls and woodwork are beautifully finished in off-white; the perfect background for the smartest or gayest color scheme, and for any mode of furnishings, early American, 18^th Century, or Swedish Modern."

In 1939, All-Electric units were considered modern, scientific and cheaper than gas!

"Circulation is difficult in a small house, but in Wyvernwood homes we find the three elements, entertaining, service and living sections separate enough to avoid crossing the kitchen to reach a bedroom or any other awkward maneuver. There is generous closet space, another important feature unusual in the small apartment or cottage. Walls and floors of living rooms and bedrooms are, where necessary, sound-deadened for greater privacy."

"In the bathroom are good fixtures, a built-in heater, practical wall and floor treatment. These bathrooms have plenty of sunlight; let a variety of colorful towels and other accessories blossom forth and you’ll have a bright spot from which to start the day on a cheerful note!"

The kitchens featured stainless steel countertops, Armstrong
"Marbelle" linoleum, and a choice of either a gas or
electric range.

"The most important room in the house, however, is the kitchen, because it is the health center of the home. At Wyvernwood kitchens are roomy, airy, sparklingly fresh with creamy walls and cupboards, and an attractive easily scrubbable floor covering.

Each kitchen is planned and built around an up-to-the-minute electric refrigerator and a modern range fully equipped with oven control and fast cooking surface units, with generous storage space, scientific lighting and step-saving arrangements.

Both the U-shaped and the Pullman type kitchens are to be found at Wyvernwood. The sink and adjoining counters are of the easy-to-keep-clean stainless steel that is so agreeable to use because its resiliency reduces kitchen clatter and helps to prevent dish breakage."

One of the many recreational features planned by the design team at Wyvernwood, 1940

"The time and labor saving kitchens in Wyvernwood will give busy mothers added hours of leisure time. “Time off” from kitchen work which they can devote to the children and enjoy with them the many recreational advantages provided to promote healthy, happy family living in this new community.

Among the highlights of these comfortable Wyvernwood homes are several other features that will meet with the busy homemaker’s enthusiastic approval. For example: an excellent automatic water heater which gives instantaneous hot water the moment a faucet is turned on; handsome oak floors in all rooms except kitchen and bathroom; plenty of base outlets for lamps and radio; a drudgery-saving method for daily disposal of garbage; sturdy, modern clothes dryers placed in a well-protected, sunny service yard. A rapid-growing hedge has been planted bordering the service yard; now about three feet high, it will reach a height of six feet. Many of the apartments have a private garden space for lawn or flowers. All of these and other homemaking aids will simplify and add enjoyment to the pleasurable task of keeping house in a brand new home at beautiful, parklike Wyvernwood.”[i]

The newly planted landscape at Wyvernwood, 1939. 
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

As more buildings were completed, they quickly filled up. One year after it had initially opened, the last remaining buildings were finished. Howard Cunningham, the manager of the facility, said that “all who visit Wyvernwood are so struck by its beauty and uniqueness that a majority return to live here. The attractiveness of these new apartments, together with the delightful atmosphere of the surrounding lawns and gardens prove a lure that few can resist.”[ii]

From The Architectural Forum, May, 1940

"...and now we plan"

In addition being widely covered by the Southern California newspapers, Wyvernwood was featured in all of the leading design journals of the day, and with Baldwin Hills Village was included in an important exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum, organized by a group called “Telesis.” Led by architect Richard Neutra, the group attempted to show the latest and best developments in recent architecture and urban planning.  The show, called “…and now we plan,” opened in late 1941.[iii]

"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

The catalog for the exhibition pointed out that that the typical rectangular street grid, with unplanned speculative development, “prevents the development of a community consciousness. There is little neighborly contact, but rather a continual and often irritating consciousness of neighbors.”

At Wyvernwood and Baldwin Hills Village, however, the creative designers responsible for their intelligent plans had created desirable neighborhoods, each one “developed as a community in which the concept of home extends beyond the individual house and lot to the neighborhood, where an opportunity to participate in the life of the group leads to the development of a sense of social responsibility for the whole.”[iv]

That spirit of community lives on in both places today.

Vern Theater, S. Charles Lee, architect, 1941.
S.C. Lee Collection, UCLA Digital Library

SHOPPING AND ENTERTAINMENT

Planned to harmonize with the architecture and layout of Wyvernwood, in July, 1938 it was announced that “approximately $3,000,000 will be spent on the development of a modern shopping center, to be known as the Hostetter retail business district, which will be constructed in connection with the residential section of Wyvernwood. The new business district will have a street frontage of more than 1000 feet located principally at the corners of East Olympic and Soto streets and is being planned to care for the daily wants and needs of the growing community surrounding the project, as well was Wyvernwood’s 4500 occupants.” Negotiations were under way with several national merchants, and it was noted that “architecturally, the buildings in the business district will conform in design to the residential units of Wyvernwood and be so constructed as to provide attractive shopper’s entrances in both front and rear of all structures.”[v]

Interior, Vern Theater, S. Charles Lee, architect, 1941.
S.C. Lee Collection, UCLA Digital Library

Lobby, Vern Theater, S. Charles Lee, architect, 1941.
S.C. Lee Collection, UCLA Digital Library

In 1941, the $100,000 S. Charles Lee designed Vern Theater completed the district, and the 900-seat air-conditioned structure was said to be one of the most modern and best-equipped theaters in Los Angeles.[vi]

A newly planted garden court, 1939.
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

END OF AN ERA

In September of 1944, the mortgage loans for both Wyvernwood ($2,700,000) and Baldwin Hills Village ($2,600,000) were acquired from their original loan holders when their owners refinanced, though it was noted that the FHA insurance would remain in place for both.

On March 13, 1950, D. Herbert Hostetter, Jr. died after a brief illness, his wife dying just three months later. On December 28, 1950, the Los Angeles Times reported that after “intensive negotiations,” the Wyvernwood community had been sold to Harry Jaffe, a prominent real estate investor, for $5,000,000, the sale called “one of the largest real estate transactions here in recent years.”[vii]

Though Wyvernwood would remain a vital community, and a desirable place to live, the sale marked the end of an era.


John S. Griffith, the visionary businessman behind Wyvernwood, went on to develop Lakewood City near Long Beach, afterward forming the real estate firm Griffith, Walker & Lee, which later became one of the nation's largest independently owned real estate sales organizations.


Griffith and his partners also built shopping centers in Lakewood, Santa Fe Springs, Buena Park, San Bernardino and Pomona.


Outside of real estate, Griffith was also involved in several financial organizations, including a controlling interest in the Metropolitan Savings and Loan Association (later Allstate) and the State Mutual Savings & Loan Association. He was a primary stockholder of the Southern California Savings & Loan Association.


He organized the Peoples Bank of Lakewood, becoming a director at Bank of America after it bought the Peoples Bank.  He was also a life trustee of Caltech University.


John S. Griffith died on November 14, 1979, at age 78.


For the entire set of Wyvernwood blog posts, see HERE

Garage courts alternate with garden courts, 1939
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

Witmer & Watson modified building types to conform to the hilly site, 1939.
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

The "Olive Court" and Sussex Lane, 1939.
"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

"Dick" Whittington Collection, USC Digital Library

---

[i] “Wyvernwood Homes Livable and Charming,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 11

[ii] “Gain in Population Continues at Wyvernwood Community,” Los Angeles Times, Aug, 25, 1939, p. F3

[iii] Other members of the Southern California Telesis group included Baldwin Hills Village architect Robert Alexander and landscape architect Fred Barlow, Jr.; architects Gregory Ain, J.R. Davidson, John Lautner, Raphael Soriano, Sumner Spaulding; other notables included influential bookseller Jake Zeitlin, urban planner and writer Mel Scott, and his wife landscape architect Geraldine Knight-Scott; and Los Angeles Times art editor and critic Arthur Millier.

[iv] “…and now we plan,” Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Catalog for the exhibit, October 22 1941 through January 18, 1942

[v] “Shopping Center Involves Investment of $3,000,000,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 24, 1938, p. 12

[vi] “Wyvernwood Area Theater to Open,” Los Angeles Times, May 25, 1941, p. E3

[vii] “Wyvernwood Project Sold For $5,000,000,” Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1950, p. A1

Garden Cities at Risk CHAPTER FIVE: Creation of a Garden City

Part of a series on the Wyvernwood community, the sister city to Baldwin Hills Village/Village Green.



See the other Wyvernwood posts HERE

Wyvernwood begins construction, 1939. Dick Whittington Photo Archives, USC.

Wyvernwood, the unprecedented garden apartment community conceived by John S. Griffith, was a creative and groundbreaking success on many different levels. Influential magazine California Arts & Architecture praised its innovative site plan, remarking that “the general organization of the units and the careful separation of utilities, play yards, and gardens makes for a new conception of low rent community living on a large scale,” and that Wyvernwood offered a “high degree of livability and convenience with unobstructed light and air.”[i] The “city in itself” was described as “intelligently conceived” and “hailed a housing achievement.”[ii]

Griffith and his team succeeded in taking the seeds of several blossoming concepts, and reinterpreting them at Wyvernwood on a monumental scale. They spearheaded singular and imaginative new ideas in management, design, technology and mass-production techniques - not only for the buildings, but for the landscape as well.

Griffith also made it very clear that his new community was “related in no way to the so-called slum clearance projects under city or county authority. It is being financed under the largest single insured Federal Housing Act loan in the United States.” It was also the first major FHA-insured loan to be permanently financed by a commercial bank.”[iii]

Colonial Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia, 1935

THE RISE OF THE GARDEN APARTMENT

Though Wyvernwood was the largest FHA-insured multiple housing development in the United States in 1939, it wasn’t the first. That milestone was set four years earlier by a much smaller garden apartment development in Alexandria, Virginia, known as Colonial Gardens. Conceived by developer Gustave Ring, designed by architect Harvey H. Warwick, Sr., with a landscape attributed to James K. Wright, Colonial Gardens served as the prototype for the FHA-insured, large-scale rental housing projects that followed, and its exemplary site plan and low-density layout would be widely admired and used as a model for garden apartments around the United States.  

An immediate success when it opened in 1935, the 276 apartments at Colonial Village were quickly and fully occupied, with a waiting list of 10,000 people.[iv]

Between 1935 and 1940, and using Clarence Stein’s Radburn Plan principles as their guiding inspiration,  the FHA insured mortgages on 200 garden apartments, both large and small, in the United States. 

Colonial Gardens, Alexandria, Virginia, 1935

Garden apartments, a distinctly mid-20^th Century design concept, were defined as being “composed of individual buildings forming a group of at least three buildings designed and constructed specifically to function as a multiple dwelling. These small buildings were designed to contain at least four self-sufficient dwelling units. The group is designed and sited to relate to the surrounding landscape.”[v] The Architectural Forum observed that garden apartments “offered renters the nearest thing to “home” that can be found in apartment buildings – private entrances, front yards, few overhead neighbors.”[vi]

The success and proliferation of garden apartments proved that the FHA rental-housing program had provided ample evidence of the high-grade investment possibilities of rental projects where the qualities of good planning and good management were present, as evidenced by how quickly they were able to attain full occupancy.[vii]

Wyvernwood during construction, 1939. Dick Whittington Photo Archives, USC

FHA: LOW RENTALS MEAN HIGHER RETURNS

In the five years leading up to Wyvernwood’s construction, John S. Griffith had done an exhaustive study to determine just the right type of development to pursue on his wife’s Hostetter Tract. Deciding that he wanted to fulfill his father-in-law’s vision of incorporating modern housing into the light industrial tract, he began researching the new developments in FHA funding and modern housing in the US and abroad. He quickly ruled out an upper-class, high-rent development, as the business case against it as a long-term investment was too strong.

The Architectural Record had argued that “any high rent apartment project is a comparatively risky undertaking for the investor, and, in turn, for FHA. Tenants who can afford to spend $15 and more per room on rent are by nature transitory tenants. They will move down to lower rent quarters during economic depression, will move up into new buildings as they are completed, and eventually will probably move out to buy or build a house.”

Because FHA standards were set up to protect mortgage money, FHA housing was intended to accommodate the comparatively financially stable, middle-income group.[viii] Because this market hadn’t truly been exploited by builders and developers, who regularly “aim at the highest possible rents in hope of making a quick financial killing, overlooking the cold forbidding facts revealed by rental experience,” it left a very large and under-supplied - yet stable - market for private enterprise rental housing.[ix]

“The low rent housing market will be tapped as soon as Building realizes that the net profit – not the rent scale – is the yard stick for measuring a project’s success. Well planned low rent projects, economically constructed and operated, offer unlimited opportunities for investors seeking a steady, long term net income.” It was pointed out that the FHA’s Large Scale Rental Housing Division was “interested in seeing this low rent housing market cracked wide open.” [x]

During his analysis, John S. Griffith learned that the FHA requirements dictated that the existing social and economic background of the population in a given community would determine the most desirable type of housing needed there. The incomes of families within that community would need to be analyzed to determine what rents the majority could economically afford to pay, and the housing proposed should be designed for that specific market.

The community ultimately created under the direction of John S. Griffith would be located in an area which had been zoned and used for light industry, with the residential sections nearby housing skilled factory or office workers. [xii] Griffith envisioned a garden apartment community which would attract and cater to “younger professional people, junior executives and business people.”[xiii] He also said that Wyvernwood would be “designed to provide homes far more modern, comfortable and convenient, and more luxuriously equipped than are generally found throughout Los Angeles.”  At the same time, he said, rents would be “as low or lower than those generally lacking modern conveniences.”[xiv]

ASSEMBLING HIS TEAM

Once he had decided on what he was going to build, John S. Griffith hired the firm of Witmer & Watson to serve as architects for the project. Besides the fact that Griffith lived in a large home designed by Witmer & Watson, he no doubt had become more intimately associated with David J. Witmer in his role as Supervisor of Architecture for the Southern California district of the FHA, as Griffith did his own analysis and research pursuing the Wyvernwood Project.

True to their longtime philosophies on successful site planning, Witmer & Watson more than likely encouraged John S. Griffith to engage the services of a landscape architect as early on in the process as possible. Witmer probably recommended Hammond Sadler as landscape architect, due to his personal and professional relationship with Sadler, as well as his respect for his artistry and past experience in planning large-scale communities such as Palos Verdes Estates.[xv] Griffith had a tight timeline, so the team immediately got to work on the layout and organization of the site plan, before collaborating on the architecture and landscape design of the community.

The site plan of Wyvernwood

THE SITE PLAN

Writing later about the evolution of the design, architect David J. Witmer said that the primary concern at the outset was the “considerations of the fundamental physiological needs and the fundamental psychological needs of the occupants, together with essential protection against contagion and accidents.” To fulfill these objectives, they would need to provide “a high degree of livability and convenience of dwelling units, easy accessibility, unobstructed light and circulation of air, pleasing outlook, sufficient and modern sanitation, opportunities for privacy, provision for children’s safety and play, close proximity of the family automobile, freedom from the noise and hazard of through traffic, safe travel to grade schools, reasonable proximity of schools, playgrounds and shopping centers, and by no means least, the enduring appeal of attractive appearance and pleasant surroundings.”[xvi]

Their first order of business was to return the land from a sub-division of gridiron streets to the original undeveloped condition. The next step was to plot a minimum of streets generally following contours for ease of travel and winding through the property, on the one hand to discourage through traffic and on the other hand to provide easy accessibility to the majority of building sites.[xvii]

The property was approximately three-quarters of a mile long and one-quarter of a mile wide, though irregularly shaped. The overall site plan was developed collaboratively by the architects and landscape architect, with the goal to take every advantage of the site’s unique topography, creating a self-contained community, providing maximum privacy with ready accessibility.[xviii]

In collaboration with Hammond Sadler, Witmer & Watson utilized an existing natural ravine to serve as a surface drain in the rare event of flooding caused by heavy rains; the runoff would be directed to storm drains which passed underneath the site. The ravine, incorporated into the design of the site, created the main axis, and became a wide landscaped mall around which the majority of the rest of the site was arranged.

Witmer explained that “the system of interior walks and paths will lead children safely through attractive areas to the adjacent school without the hazard of crossing much travelled streets. At the same time these paths will offer pedestrian access to the shopping center at the southwest, which will complete the character of Wyvernwood as a self-contained and well served residential community.”[xix]

Garage courts with private enclosed garages were intelligently located with respect to the apartment units they would serve, consolidating auto storage and resulting in greater convenience, order and accessibility, while reducing the number of driveways opening onto the few streets onsite.[xx] This, with the limited number of streets, resulted in a greater concentration of open areas and spaces between buildings.

“The extent of open spaces offered excellent protection against the spread of fire and contagion, provided ample circulation of air and unobstructed sunlight, and gave the opportunity for pleasant surrounding and outlook,” Witmer explained.[xxi]

Each garage court had a walled-in garbage area with incinerator, adjoining an enclosed but ventilated room for refuse storage. “Wyvernwood should be a community unhampered by rows of unsightly refuse containers and thus not become a breeding place for carriers of disease,” Witmer said. 

Wyvernwood during construction, 1939. Dick Whittington Photo Archives, USC

THE ARCHITECTURE

David J. Witmer had spearheaded the creation of uniform building codes in California in 1930, primarily as a means of providing earthquake protection. At Wyvernwood, he said that “the need of offering protection against damage from earthquake and the required basic economy of cost of construction, led to the selection of a type of dwelling structure with deep, heavy foundations and unusually strong and well braced timber frames. Such structures, with an inch of reinforced cement plaster exterior covering and 7/8” gypsum lath and plaster interior covering, provide more than usual protection against fire and the spread of fire in these dwellings. Further enhancement of the surroundings and added fire protection is given by the installation of underground electric service, as well as the usual underground water and gas services.”[xxii]

For the design of the structures themselves, Witmer & Watson made sure that the apartments would be comfortable and livable. To ensure effective cooling in summer weather, every dwelling had crossdraft ventilation with at least two exposures, while more than half had the added benefit of three exposures.

Additionally, each would be thoroughly insulated not only from the elements, but also between units,  to prevent noises in one dwelling from being heard in another.[xxiii] This insulation was provided by Palco Wool, which was a light-weight fleecy material obtained by shredding into fibres the thick bark of the California Redwood trees, which were noted as protecting “against fire and the elements for countless centuries.” This insulation, a by-product of lumber used for construction, ensured nothing was wasted from the materials used.[xxiv]

The architects used other innovative new materials to save money. For example, in bathrooms a new and modern material called Plystone was utilized in place of tile. “Plystone is a colored wall veneer made through baking a plastic on asbestos- cement sheeting. It is almost mirror smooth and has a permanent gloss finish which is very hard.”[xxv]

Aesthetically, for the design of the buildings Witmer explained that “in a housing community of such extent it seemed essential to keep the exterior design of the buildings simple and straightforward for enduring appeal, and to rely upon proportion and silhouette and a moderate variety of simple detail to relieve monotony, with the clean lines of modern building coupled with the restrained suggestion of traditional design, light and cheerful colors.”[xxvi] The “restrained suggestion of traditional design” drew references from the Monterey Colonial Revival style, long favored by Witmer & Watson.  

In order to avoid the potential monotony of such simple architecture on such an extensive site, an important design consideration was to group buildings in clusters of similar style, using color as a tool to break up the repetitiousness. Buildings were to be covered in stucco which had an integral light-colored pastel pigment, reducing the necessity of maintenance, while doors, windows and trim were painted in more vibrant and contrasting pastel shades.  This design strategy gave each individual area in the community its own unique identity, while providing a means for residents to differentiate one court or section from another.

The landscape being installed at Wyvernwood, May, 1939. Note the Sears-Roebuck tower in the distance.
Dick Whittington Photo Archives, USC.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Hammond Sadler began work designing what was "declared to be the largest single landscaping job of its kind ever undertaken in the West. In all, more than 70 per cent of the entire 72 1/2 acres which the development occupies, is to be devoted to garden-type landscaping. Approximately 600,000 trees, shrubs and plants will be necessary to complete this huge task." Sadler's plan provided for a "landscaping scheme of integrated parks, lanes and courts offering a developing interest, with a wealth of color and variety in trees and planting material." Fourteen acres alone were to be devoted to lawns, while "all buildings throughout the entire community face on large landscaped areas. Some are more than 1000 feet long.  Buildings are widely separated and so situated that there is a lovely garden view from every room.”[xxvii]

Though a full-time permanent staff of twenty-five gardeners was planned, Sadler used plant material from his trusted tool box of trees and plants developed in his years in California; plants which were mostly native or Mediterranean, in order to conserve water and reduce maintenance. Most apartments were given small, private garden areas to plant their own flowers, further reducing maintenance provided by the management. [xxviii]

Like the buildings, Sadler’s landscape plan also used color effectively to differentiate certain areas of the Wyvernwood community. “Thousands of varicolored flowers and shrubs” were later described as having “enhanced the picturesque appearance” of the community. [xxix]

One area in particular called the Olive Court was given a lot of attention in the press. “The garden area separating the two rows of buildings is known as Sussex Lane and is approximately 1100 feet long and 100 feet wide and entirely planted to grass, plants, shrubs and trees with walks running between the buildings. In the center of this particular area is Olive Court which is approximately 175 feet wide and 225 feet long.” The olive trees planted were mature specimens, 30-35 feet high. Over 100 trees were to be planted just in this area alone. [xxx]

An important element in the landscape, which Sadler designed in collaboration with the architects, was the many areas which were set aside for the recreational use of the community. “Residents of Wyvernwood are given full use of badminton courts and a number of these courts are located at close intervals though the community. Numerous play yards, completely equipped with slides, swings and sand boxes, are available for use of residents’ children.”[xxxi] These small play yards were situated to be visible from dwelling units.

A much larger, 5-acre playground for older children and adults, covering almost a full square block, was also planned, and would include a baseball diamond, handball and horseshoe courts and facilities for numerous other sports[xxxii]

The work crews collect their paychecks, Wyvernwood, 1939

MASS PRODUCTION CONCEPTS

With plans for the design of the community finalized, and funding secured, John S. Griffith and his design team created state-of-the-art mass-production construction techniques for efficient building. Mass production techniques had been perfected years earlier by Henry Ford for automobile production, and would soon be utilized extensively at defense factories all over the Southland. Griffith said that “for the first time the application of modern large scale construction methods has made it possible for people to really get their money’s worth.”[xxxiii]

“A great deal of study was given to prefabrication and rationalized building techniques, in order to take full advantage of the economies which the huge size of the project made possible. Low rents are attributed to the savings thus affected. Ready-mixed concrete for foundations; standard, demountable, steel and plywood forms which were used over and over again; exceptionally accurate installation of rough framing to receive mill work with a minimum of fitting; prefitted, premortised windows and doors; and site fabricated roof trusses were all employed for their small unit savings which add up to huge totals when applied to the project as a whole. Even the unusual character of the planting was dictated by the same desire for maximum economy.”[xxxiv]

Griffith explained that “such projects are made possible through careful planning plus large-scale construction and operation. Obviously it is possible to buy a far superior quality of equipment and materials when building 1000 apartments than when building a dozen or so.”[xxxv]

The Los Angeles firm of Lindgren & Swinnerton was awarded the enormous construction contract. A ten month estimated construction period was indicated, with five weeks necessary to assemble building materials before work could start.[xxxvi] “Exclusive use of Los Angeles labor and Southern California materials” was assured, including over 80,000 bags of cement, 2500 kegs of nails and 350 tons of reinforced steel. “From 700 to 1000 men directly employed in the skilled building trades will be working steadily for a period of ten months, with a pay roll of approximately $1,125,000.”[xxxvii]

On the morning of July 14, 1938, the front page of the Los Angeles Times announced that “Seven million board feet of lumber will begin singing through a sawmill on the East Side within the next sixty days when work begins on one of the largest housing projects in the building annals of America.” The sawmill, set up adjacent to the construction site, would “cut and finish the forest of trees needed in construction. The lumber for each unit of the project will be delivered cut to size.”[xxxviii]

But it wasn’t only the buildings which benefitted from these innovative mass production techniques – the landscape was also “mass produced” on-site. This succeeded in increasing efficiency, with the added benefit that the plant material could acclimate itself to the site over that time.

More than a year before Wyvernwood opened, Peck & Wadsworth, landscape contractors with a nursery specializing in fine trees, established an on-site, ten acre nursery immediately adjoining the construction site “where almost everything used in the beautification of the community has been grown. In all, over 600,000 plants, shrubs and trees will be required.”[xxxix]

Wyvernwood under construction, 1939. Dick Whittington Photo Archives, USC.

NEW IDEAS IN MANAGEMENT

When John S. Griffith began determining management policies for the quickly-rising community, he had very little in the way of experience and guidance from similar properties from which to draw. As a result, many important considerations of landlord-tenant relationships had to be decided arbitrarily.

Griffith knew that what they were building was unprecedented, and he wanted Wyvernwood to be a model not only of the latest in financing, technology and site planning, but also an example of a new and active community which would strive to be a new paradigm for human rights.

Appointing Howard Cunningham as manager of operations for Wyvernwood, they started by tacking a large printed copy of the Golden Rule on their office wall and went to work. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” became their guiding principle. [xl]

Naturally, the policies they would create would have to provide the utmost in protection to the Hostetter Estate, the owners of the property.  However, from a tenant’s standpoint, “the entire theme of living in a new type of community such as Wyvernwood was different from any they previously had known.” Therefore, one of the most important problems was “the selection of tenants who would establish and preserve harmony among themselves.”

According to FHA guidelines, “in the operation and management of the property itself, the corporation is free to determine its own policies.” It was said that “the terms of leases generally conform to practices prevailing in the particular communities, although the inclination is to favor a simplified lease form.” [xli]

In Southern California, however, it was not customary for owners of rental properties to require tenants to sign a lease.  Griffith and Cunningham decided to forego the idea of introducing a lease, instead developing a formal application process for rental designed to give the management practically the same protection normally offered by a lease, with the added function of “keeping out the undesirables,” noting that while it is essential to have a ready means of eliminating those deemed undesirable, “it is still more important to prevent their gaining entrance in the first instance.”[xlii]

The formal process, apparently unprecedented, required a prospective renter to fill out an application form, listing their present address, past address over a 5-year period, business address, name of business or name of employer, credit references, nationality, number in family, age of children, type of pets owned, and the unit desired.

The completed application was sent to an investigation bureau for checking, and then to a renting committee. Reasons for rejection ranged from “bad credit and destructive habits to unacceptable moral characteristics and inharmonious neighbor relations.”[xliii]

Griffith pointed out that “when the tenant moves in, an effort is made to impress upon him the idea that Wyvernwood is on trial for him, and the he is on trial for Wyvernwood, and also that should the trial prove unsatisfactory either to him or the management the arrangement can be terminated easily without the cumbersome process of canceling a lease.” Units would be rented on a month-to-month basis, with only a 30 days’ written notice required on the part of either party.

Rents were set at approximately $8.75 per room per month, or a unit average of approximately $35 (upon opening, rents ranged from $29.95 per month for a one bedroom, to $43.75 per month for a three bedroom. Rental prices included range, refrigerator, water and garden maintenance)[xliv]. It was noted that “the mild climate made possible a low-cost type of construction, so that the mortgage financing amounted to only $648 per room, or approximately $2,600 per family unit. The owners voluntarily reduced rents to an average of less than $8.50 per room for the first units completed, and reports indicate that full occupancy will be attained on completion.”[xlv]

A plan for permanent maintenance requires that one-fourth of the total annual rental for each of the 1102 dwellings be set aside to provide constant maintenance of buildings and grounds.”[xlvi]

All phases of Wyvernwood’s management would be handled by the project’s own administrative staff, which was headed by Howard Cunningham. He oversaw various departments including general administration, renting, service collecting and auditing, and maintenance.

“In many respects the Wyvernwood Administration Building, which is a two-story office structure similar in architecture to the residential buildings and which serves as headquarters for the administrative staff, closely resembles in function a small-town city hall. From the standpoint of administration its principal activity is to promote and maintain community harmony. Probably the best approach to this problem is the one emphasized by the Wyvernwood management – careful selection of residents.”[xlvii]

Construction ran smoothly during 1939, and an opening date of August 25 was set.


SEE THE ENTIRE SET OF WYVERNWOOD POSTS HERE

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[i] “Wyvernwood Village,” California Arts & Architecture, Sep 1940, p. 28

[ii] “Development Hailed Housing Achievement,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1939, p. 11

[iii] “Largest Rental Housing Project Under Way,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 3, 1938, p. 19; It was reported that “the project is financed by $425,000 in private funds and a $3,000,000 loan under the Federal Housing Act,” with the $3,000,000 coming from the Bank of America National Trust & Savings Association.

[iv] “Garden Apartments, Apartment Houses and Apartment Complexes in Arlington County, Virginia 1934-1954,” US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet, Section E, p. 17

[v] Ibid.

[vi] “Garden Apartments,” The Architectural Forum, May 1940, p. 309

[vii] “FHA Experience With Rental Housing,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, April, 1940, p. 12; The success of Colonial Village coincided with the beginning of conceptual development of Baldwin Hills Village – Reginald D. Johnson and Lewis E. Wilson began collaborating on the Village in 1935, looking for a suitable piece of land in Los Angeles, with Robert E. Alexander doing the first sketch for the Village in 1935 as well.

[viii] “Multiple Housing Under FHA: Government Housing Standards,” Architectural Record, Sept 1938, p. 97

[ix] “Garden Apartments,” The Architectural Forum, May 1940, p. 309

[x] Ibid.

[xi] “Low-Rent Housing as an Investment,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, 1939, p. 10

[xii] “Largest Rental Housing Project Under Way, Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, 1939, p. 19

[xiii] “Nation’s Greatest Home Job Starts Here Soon,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 14, 1938, p. 1

[xiv] “Renters Get Money’s Worth,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 11

[xv] While I haven’t been able to pinpoint any structures prior to Wyvernwood that Sadler and Witmer & Watson collaborated on, Witmer & Watson did do some houses in Palos Verdes Estates during the years Sadler was working there with the Olmsted Brothers. Witmer’s sister Mary (Mrs. Levering Lawrason), a friend of Sadler and his wife, was a well-known and successful interior designer in Palos Verdes, while Witmer himself served on the Palos Verdes Estates Art Jury, alongside Hammond Sadler, from 1936-41. So they knew each other socially, as well as professionally. With Sadler’s background developing large-scale “City Beautiful” work with the Olmsted Brothers firm, he would be ideally suited to this unprecedented development.

[xvi] “Problems of Planning Large Scale Housing Are Discussed by Architect,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, July 14, 1939, pp. 12-13

[xvii] Ibid.

[xviii] “Largest Rental Housing Project Under Way,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 3, 1938, p. 19

[xix] Ibid.

[xx] “Problems of Planning Large Scale Housing Are Discussed by Architect,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, July 14, 1939, pp. 12-13

[xxi] Ibid.

[xxii] Ibid.

[xxiii] “Development Hailed Housing Achievement,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1939, p. 11

[xxiv] “Sound Insulation Will Give Added Comfort,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 13

[xxv] “New Plystone Will Delight,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 13

[xxvi] “Problems of Planning Large Scale Housing Are Discussed by Architect,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, July 14, 1939, pp. 12-13

[xxvii] “Landscaping to Be Started,” Los Angeles Times, May 7, 1939, p. E; “Problems of Planning Large Scale Housing Are Discussed by Architect,” Southwest Builder and Contractor, July 14, 1939, pp. 12-13

[xxviii] “Development Hailed Housing Achievement,” Los Angeles Times, August 25, 1939, p. 11

[xxix] “Wyvernwood Homes Open,” Los Angeles Times, Apr 21, 1940, p. E4

[xxx] “Wyvernwood Forging Ahead,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 16, 1939, p. E2

[xxxi] “Wyvernwood Homes Open,” Los Angeles Times, Apr 21, 1940, p. E4

[xxxii] “Work Advanced on Play Area,” Los Angeles Times, Mar 31, 1940, p. E2

[xxxiii] “Renters Get Money’s Worth,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 11

[xxxiv] “Garden Apartments in Los Angeles, Calif,” The Architectural Forum, May 1940, p. 312

[xxxv] “Large-Scale Developments Urged for Low-Cost Rentals,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 26, 1939, p. 9

[xxxvi] “Housing Job Contact Let,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 22, 1938, p. A8

[xxxvii] “Huge Construction Program Will Boost Southland Industry,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 7, 1938, p. 13

[xxxviii] “Nation’s Greatest Home Job Starts Here Soon,” Los Angeles Times, Jul 14, 1938, p. 1

[xxxix] “Sound Insulation Will Give Added Comfort,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 13

[xl] “Wyvernwood and Its Rental Policies,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, No. 8, February, 1940, p. 8

[xli] “Rental Housing Management Under FHA,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 3, 1938, p. 25

[xlii] “Wyvernwood and Its Rental Policies,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, No. 8, February, 1940, p. 8

[xliii] Ibid.

[xliv] Wyvernwood advertisement, Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 11

[xlv] “Matching Rental Housing to the Market,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, 1939, p. 11

[xlvi] “Permanent Maintenance,” Los Angeles Times, Aug 25, 1939, p. 11

[xlvii] “Wyvernwood and Its Rental Policies,” Insured Mortgage Portfolio, Vol. 4, No. 8, February, 1940, p.