The following properties and their owners have been selected and awarded for their outstanding contribution to the city's historic value and their achievement at restoring and/or preserving the home's architectural aesthetics.

WINNER OF THE KATHERINE HILDRETH MEMORIAL AWARD

THE COX HOME (1916)
323 S. Cordova

This grand Arts & Crafts home is located on South Cordova in the Lindaraxa Tract, and was built by the Alhambra Construction Company in 1916.  When it was completed in 1917, this was the largest and most elegant home in the surrounding neighborhood, and its first owner was a social worker and religious leader from a wealthy London family, who was very well-known throughout the British Commonwealth. 

Her name was Blanche B. Cox, and she was an officer in the Salvation Army, personally recruited by the widow of the Army’s founder, General William Booth.  Colonel Cox immigrated to the United States from England in 1904 and moved to Alhambra, where she became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1909.  She was a regular speaker at religious gatherings and meetings of the Salvation Army throughout the western United Sates (her regular topic was “soap, soup and salvation”), and she worked to convert and rehabilitate homeless women and alcoholics. 

Miss Cox lived in this home on South Cordova from 1917 to 1922 with her companion Mary Duncan, and her three adopted daughters (Ruth, Margaret and Iwalaina).

The current owner is Susan Kawakami, who purchased the home in 2002.  She has put a great deal of effort into restoring and re-landscaping the property, and we are honoring this 2008 Heritage Home with a special designation – the Katherine Hildreth Memorial Award.  Named in memory of one of APG’s co-founders, this award will be given annually to one home, in recognition of especially noteworthy achievement in preservation.

THE FULTZ HOME (1924)
507 N. Hidalgo

This elegant Southwestern-style home is located on North Hidalgo, in what has been known since the early 1920's as the Orange Blossom Manor Tract.  Before the land was sold to Pacific Southwest Trust and Savings Bank for residential development, it was a citrus orchard owned by the Jupiter Fruit Company. 

All evidence suggests that this was a kit home, designed and  built in 1924 by Pacific Ready-Cut Homes.  When it was brand new, its assessed value was just under $4,000.  The home’s first owners and residents were Howard and Blanche Fultz and their two children, Lee and Margaret.  The Fultz family moved to Alhambra from their farm in El Monte.  Before they came out to Southern California from the Midwest, Howard K. Fultz was a high school English teacher in Ellwood, Ohio. 

The current owners, Isolda and Ron Robinson, purchased this, their first home in Alhambra, in 2005.  They have just completed a comprehensive three-year restoration project.  This was a labor of love for Isolda, whose guiding principle was “everything has to be original”.  To that end, she removed many layers of paint from the home’s beautiful woodwork, hardwood floors, and even its hardware, and restored them all to their original condition.  Original double-hung windows were repaired and returned to working order, and the home was repainted in a color palette that is appropriate for the style and period when the home was built.   We are proud to designate the Robinson home as an APG Heritage Home, in recognition of the outstanding contribution it makes to the character of its neighborhood, and to the preservation of Alhambra’s historic architectural resources.

THE CROSSWHITE HOME (1922)
630 N. Olive

This lovely Craftsman bungalow in north Alhambra was originally built in 1922 for Elwyn B. Crosswhite and his wife Mildred.

E.B. Crosswhite was a newspaperman, illustrator and freelance writer. He was the founder of the San Fernando Valley Press Club, and worked for a variety of local newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times and the Hollywood Citizen-News -- as a reporter, illustrator and a cartoonist of some renown. Mildred Crosswhite was a popular local educator. She was the Director of Girls' Physical Education at Alhambra High School in the 1920's and early `30's, and was later promoted to Girls' Vice Principal. She also served the community as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Alhambra Day Nursery.

The current owners of this home on North Olive Avenue are Ross and Cynthia Maza. At the time the Mazas bought their bungalow in 1999, it was only 832 square feet in size. The needs of their growing family dictated that more space was required, so in 2004 they began work on a major addition that would more than double the size of their home. Many of their ideas for the addition came from such publications as American Bungalow Magazine, and the original 1922 Sears Roebuck Home Catalog. Ross and Cynthia's goal for the project was to retain the character of the existing home as much as possible, since they appreciated the fact that it had aged gracefully for more than 80 years. All details of the original home were retained or duplicated in the addition, including its specially-milled wood siding, exposed eaves, double-hung windows and window frames, narrow oak floor planks, and door and window hardware. A new front gate was designed to closely match the architecture of the home, and the exterior paint colors were selected to accurately reflect the period of the original construction.

The Maza family is pleased that visitors to their home often comment that it is difficult to determine where their old house ends and their new addition begins. This is one of the reasons we are so proud to honor the Mazas and their home with a 2008 Heritage Award -- it exemplifies a virtually seamless addition to a historic building that maintains its character while at the same time meeting the needs of a 21st century family.

All the acreage surrounding this home on West Commonwealth was originally owned by Don Benito Wilson and his son-in-law, James DeBarth Shorb.  Their family later sold a small portion of their extensive local holdings to a man named Louis Gottschalk and his family.  The first homes were built here, in what was renamed the Gottschalk Tract, in about 1910. 

In 1921, when construction began on this particular lot, the entire property at the corner of 4th and Commonwealth was owned by a young nurse by the name of Loula Drake, who lived in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles.  When construction of this lovely Spanish Colonial-style bungalow on Commonwealth was finished, she immediately contracted for construction of the duplex that still stands next door, at the corner of Commonwealth and 4th Street.  

In 1925, Charles and Alice Sandstrom bought the lot from Mrs. Drake with both structures on it.  Charles and Alice were hardworking people – he was a fountain clerk at a soft drink stand in San Gabriel, and Alice was a housewife.  Somehow they scraped together nearly $2,500 to pay for these homes (over $30,000 in today's dollars!), and the following year they divided the lot and sold the duplex to a man named Hollis. The Sandstroms continued to live here in this home until 1941. 

The current owner, Boris Lopez has resided here for 15 years. During this time, he and his wife have made many improvements, including a complete remodel of the kitchen and bath.  We recognize this property a with a 2008 Heritage Award because of the care that has been taken by them in maintaining the historic details of the home’s exterior, and the landscaping that both enhances the streetscape and beautifies the neighborhood.