Stimson House, Los Angeles: style and history

Built in 1891 for lumber and banking millionaire Thomas Douglas Stimson, this Richardsonian Romanesque mansion at 2421 South Figueroa Street cost $150,000, making it the most expensive house in Los Angeles at the time. The Los Angeles Times called it 'the costliest and most beautiful private residence in Los Angeles' and 'admired by all who see it.'

the building

The corner tower. A 3 1/2-story house dominated by an ornate four-story crenelated tower at its northeast corner, described by the Los Angeles Times as 'a noble rook from a massive chess board.' Brick chimneys line the roofline like sentries, giving the front elevation the silhouette of a medieval castle.

the style

Stimson House is built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, translated here into a Los Angeles mansion of heavy stone massing, a crenelated tower, and castle-like roofline chimneys.

significance

Stimson House survived a dynamite attack by a blackmailer in 1896. After Stimson's death it passed through a string of occupants -- a brewer who stored wine and spirits in the basement, a fraternity whose parties disturbed neighboring mansions, student housing for Mount St. Mary's College, and a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #212 (May 16, 1979).

nearby

St. John's Cathedral 0.2 mi · Romanesque Revival · 1925
Kerckhoff House 0.2 mi · Tudor Revival · 1908
Egg Company Building II 0.2 mi · Mid-Century Modern
Casa de Rosas 0.3 mi · Mission Revival · 1893
Forthmann House 0.5 mi · Renaissance Revival · 1887
Cockins House 0.5 mi · Queen Anne · 1891

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