case study

VILLA AURORA

PACIFIC PALISADES | los angeles, CA

The Pacific Palisades, a land stretching from sands of Santa Monica Bay up through the coastal sage scrub into the coast live oak forests of Topanga, have been inhabited for over 13,000 years. Ceremonial sites of the Tongva and Chumash peoples abound.

Around the same time that hostilities were brewing in Texas, the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica was granted to Francisco Marquez and Ysidro Reyes. Later, Francisco Sepulveda would race his horses from across his neighbor’s ranch down to the shore, until the matter was brought before a judge in Monterey.

In 1927, the home now known as Villa Aurora was built and in 1943 was purchased by a German family fleeing persecution. The couple hosted intellectuals, and others and soon became a cultural focal point for a multitude of European expatriates in Southern California, including playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht.

In 2021, Pacific Urbanism was engaged by the current owners to repair water damage on an exterior balcony and design a new drainage system to protect the balcony from future drainage issues. Villa Aurora is designated as a Historic Resource by the City of Los Angeles, and as such, the repairs were performed under the Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation.