Engine Company No. 39


One of the great historic buildings of Los Angeles, Fire Station No. 39 (14415 Sylvan Street Van Nuys, California 91401) was built in 1939 by the WPA.

A few years ago, destructionists in Van Nuys, lead by Councilman Cardenas, proposed that the old fire station with its narrow garage, unsuited for modern wide equipment, be torn down. This blog wrote about the impending destruction, and the nihilists on the City Council reversed course, pulled a Romney, and said the station would and should be saved.

The Fire Station dates back to a time when architects actually blended and harmonized their designs to fit into existing neighborhoods. The Valley Municipal Building, just across the street, is what the fire station design salutes.

Now Van Nuys will sit idly by as the historic 1925 First Lutheran Church is bulldozed away.

An impoverished community is thus impoverished historically and aesthetically.

Craig House


Craig House, originally uploaded by Here in Van Nuys.

On Monday I attended an LA Conservancy meeting at the Craig House in Chatsworth. It was designed by Paul R. Williams in 1939 on many acres of then rural land.

The house, sheathed in flagstone, is a diagonally shaped ranch with an outdoor covered veranda whose arms swing around a pool. One enters through an outdoor entrance opening into a courtyard.

Idyllic and cozy, grand and understated, it reaches back into the old San Fernando Valley of gracious living and modern convenience for a lucky few.