Bay Street Bungalows Are Designated Landmarks

Hannah Heineman
Mirror contributing writer

   The City of Santa Monica's Landmarks Commission voted four to one at a public hearing on September 11 to designate the beach bungalows at 137, 141, 145 and 147 Bay Street as a landmark district.
   The commission's decision will not delay the eviction of the buildings' tenants under the Ellis Act [a state law which allows property owners to remove rental units from the market] but could if the City Council agrees save the buildings from being demolished.
   Local builder, Charles P. Schermerhorn, built the bungalows between 1912 and 1917. Many of the bungalows' 21 apartments still contain original fixtures such as sleeping porches, claw-foot tubs and iceboxes. Two independent teams of consultants examined the buildings and agreed that the buildings have sufficient "architectural merit" to constitute a landmark district, according to the Commission Chair, Margot Alofsin.
   Rosario Perry, attorney for the owners of the bungalows, asked the Commission to delay its decision for a month so his client would have time to prepare a rebuttal of the landmark designation. Bill Bolton, the Commission's vice-chair, supported Perry's request and voted against the designation, saying he felt it only fair "to give the owner time to respond."
   In other action, Bolton and the other commissioners agreed that the 65-year-old mortuary located at 1230 Montana Avenue should not be given landmark status because according to him, it lacks "the classic criteria (to have) historic value."
   Owners of the property want to demolish the mortuary to make way for a mixed-use building that would house retail and housing. Members of the North of Montana Neighborhood Association (NOMA) tried to convince the commission that that the property is worth preserving because it is surrounded by extensive green space unlike most of the other buildings found on Montana Avenue.