CASE STUDY

GATEWOOD

ELYSIAN VALLEY | LOS ANGELES, CA

A page is taken out of Jones and Emmon's 1950s quincentennial mid-century home designs that feature plenty of floor-to-ceiling windows to bring the outside in, soaring ceilings, post-and-beam construction, and color-coordinated "dream kitchens" (Lawrence & Jarvis, 2020). The project was first built in 1924 and has changed drastically throughout two other new builds in the lot. The new approach to the design is meant to rejuvenate the interior and give much-needed open space to the residential home and bring in natural light. Yet it expands existing areas to create warm locations for the residence users.

PHOTOGRAPHS PROVIDED BY OWNER

History of Elysian Valley

Elysian Valley was mainly farmlands connected to ravines from the late 1800s to the early 1900s, which carted their produce and sold them to the downtown markets. In the 20th century, the community that became Elysian Valley was drastically changed when the Dodgers bought land in the area for their stadium. The community pushed out of their lands to make a wave for the stadium was the Chavez Ravine, a community that was predominantly made of Mexican families. This ravine was not the only one in the vicinity. There was Reservoir, Solano, Cemetery, and Sulphur which made up the entire neighborhood of Elysian Valley at the turn of the century.

Source: MAP-00026, Stevenson, H.J, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA

Source: MAP-00013, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA

As the lands around the stadium started to be developed, what used to be a farmland ravine with pasteurizing cows, and roads for them to migrate was also known as Elysian Park. The oldest park was established in 1886 and is the second-largest park after Griffith Park. There are still some reminisce of the previous ravines, which are now along the Pasadena freeway, and around the stadium, a call out to what Elysian Park used to be.

MAP-00021, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA

That is how things looked in Elysian Park Heights by 1950. The Arroyo Secco Parkway passed across Bishop's Road, although it is unclear what happened to the development around Solano and the Lookout plot. The land south of Bishop's Road has been designated as state land. The city had no intention of seizing that land. The area covered is contained within the thick line. - Josie Becker (2013).

00029061, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, CA

LA River Revitalization Project

The LA river used to be the life of farmlands until the early 1920s that made up most of Elysian Valley but to contain the river's flooding, the corps of engineers covered the bed of the free-flowing river with concrete. The decision to hold the river back and make it into a stream was a design intervention that only created more issues. Issues that came up with the construction of the river canal, such as turning its back on underrepresented communities by denying access to crucial water assets that the people near the river used to have or the ability to access funds to fix their homes after the construction of the river canal. But from 2015 onwards, the Los Angeles River Revitalization Project's purpose is to reclaim the water, recycle it and repurpose it to redress these issues that first came to be back in the 1920s and 1930s, allowing the residents around the river to use the water again. - Block & McKnight (2015 & 2021)

Changes throughout Time