Survey Aims to Preserve Historical Gems in Toluca Lake

A branch of city government is nudging owners of historical properties to apply for a program that could ensure financial support for upkeep.

SurveyLA scours the city in search of homes and buildings with colorful pasts. In its most recent newsletter, the a series of Toluca Lake gems were identified as being eligible to apply for the Mills Act program by a May 23 deadline.

"The Mills Act is the City’s primary financial incentive for owners of historic properties," a statement on SurveyLA's website read. "It offers a voluntary contract between a property owner and the City of Los Angeles that can help support ongoing rehabilitation needs."

In its current newsletter SurveyLA noted the follow properties:

The Toluca Lake Commercial Historic District, encompassing most of the city block extending along both sides of Riverside Drive, between Riverton Avenue and Willowcrest Avenue, with mostly one-story commercial buildings constructed between 1935 and 1963 with a consistent pedestrian scale and orientation, buildings set at the sidewalk, and wide concrete sidewalks with mature street trees.

World Savings, at 10064 Riverside Dr., an excellent example of (Continued from page 3) a Late Modern bank, constructed in 1982, designed by internationally-acclaimed Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry.

Barris Kustom Industries, at 10807 Riverside Dr., the long-term business of George Barris, the "king of kustomizers," who has been designing and modifying vehicles for film and television at this location since the early 1960s, including the Batmobile, the Dukes of Hazard General Lee, and the Beverly Hillbillies' truck.

Amelia Earhart Residence, at 10042 Valley Spring Lane, home of pioneer aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her husband, publisher George P. Putnam; Amelia Earhart lived here while preparing for her around-theworld flight that began in 1937.

9918 W. Toluca Lake Ave., a 1929 home that is an excellent example of Tudor Revival architecture in the Toluca Lake Park neighborhood, and which was also the longtime residence of Robert C. Wian, founder of the restaurant chain Bob's Big Boy; this house is just blocks from the oldest remaining Bob's Big Boy restaurant, on Riverside Drive in Burbank. 

The Bing Crosby Residence, at 4326 Forman Ave. (pictured), a 1933 Tudor Revival home that was Crosby’s first residence in Toluca Lake, from 1933 to 1936; and the Bob and Dolores Hope Estate at 10346 Moorpark St., a large two-story single-family residence designed in the French Revival style with Tudor Revival influences by noted architect Robert Finkelhor.

The full edition of the newsletter is attached to this article.

Click here to see what other properties in North Hollywood and Valley Village are highlighted by SurveyLA.