Brookside is a neighborhood in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is an enclave of eight tree-lined streets and 400 homes. The neighborhood consists primarily of one-story and two-story, predominantly single-family residences in various Period Revival styles including

Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...

Tudor Revival Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

Mediterranean Revival Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

, and French Revival; later buildings were constructed in the

Minimal Traditional Minimal Traditional is a style of architecture that emerged in mid 20th century America as a vernacular form that incorporates influences from earlier styles such as American Colonial, Colonial Revival, Spanish Revival, Tudor Revival, and American ...

and

Ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

styles.

Geography

Located in

Mid-Wilshire Mid-Wilshire is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. It is known for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Petersen Automotive Museum, and the Miracle Mile shopping district. Geography City of Los Angeles bounda ...

, Brookside is located between Olympic Boulevard and

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal ...

, and includes the homes on both sides of, and between, Highland and Muirfield Avenues. A minor tributary of

Ballona Creek Ballona Creek (pronunciation: “Bah-yo-nuh” or “Buy-yo-nah” ) is an channelized stream in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, that was once a “year-round river lined with sycamores and willows.” Ballona Creek ...

, known as El Rio del Jardin de las Flores, runs through Brookside.Riviera, Carla, “In the center of the Mid-Wilshire district lies an enclave of 1920s elegance,” LOS ANGELES TIMES, 1998-09-28, p. 3. “The stream originates in the Hollywood Hills and wanders from one side of Longwood Avenue to the other.” The Park Mile commercial corridor separates Brookside from

Hancock Park Hancock Park is a city park in the Miracle Mile section of the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The park's destinations include the La Brea Tar Pits; the adjacent George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which display ...

to the north.

Neighborhood Features

Brookside prominently features several publicly owned and maintained historic resources such as th
LA High Memorial Park
and

Memorial Branch Memorial Branch is a branch library of the Los Angeles Public Library. It was built in 1930 based on a Gothic Revival design by architect John C. Austin, also noted as the lead architect of the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Masonic Tem ...

, as well as privately owned historic sites such as the Farmers Insurance Building. Memorial Branch Library, Los Angeles

The large rectangular park known as the Los Angeles High School Memorial Park, located at 4625 W. Olympic Blvd., was created in 1922 to honor students at Los Angeles High School who had served in World War I. Situated within the park is the Memorial Branch library of the

Los Angeles Public Library The Los Angeles Public Library system (LAPL) is a public library system in Los Angeles, California. The system holds more than six million volumes, and with around 19 million residents in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area, it serves the large ...

. It was built in 1930 based on a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

design by architect

John C. Austin John Corneby Wilson Austin (February 13, 1870 – September 3, 1963) was an architect and civic leader who participated in the design of several landmark buildings in Southern California, including the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles City Hall, ...

, also noted as the lead architect of the

Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the south, ...

and the

Hollywood Masonic Temple Hollywood Masonic Temple, now known as the El Capitan Entertainment Centre and also formerly known as Masonic Convention Hall, is a building on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, that was listed on the National Register of ...

. The library includes a large heraldic work of stained glass created by the artists at

Judson Studios Judson Studios is a fine arts studio specializing in stained glass located in the Highland Park section (also known as Garvanza) of northeast Los Angeles. The stained glass studio was founded in the Mott Alley section of downtown Los Angeles ...

. In 1971, the Memorial Branch was designated as

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

No. 81. In 1987, the Memorial Branch and several other branch libraries in Los Angeles were added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The Farmers Insurance Building located at 4680 Wilshire Blvd. is a significant privately owned historic site, used once as the corporate headquarters of Farmers Insurance Group, established here in 1937 and enlarged in 1949.

History

Brookside, a neighborhood of predominantly large, single family homes, was developed by the Rimpau Estate Co. in 1920 on land that had previously been part of

Rancho las Cienegas Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

. The area, originally called Windsor Crest, was built to attract wealthy families from the

West Adams West Adams is a historic neighborhood in the South Los Angeles region of Los Angeles, California. The area is known for its large number of historic buildings, structures and notable houses and mansions throughout Los Angeles. It is a youth ...

area. On October 28, 2015, the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

unanimously passed a motion to establish an Interim Control Ordinance (ICO) for the Brookside and Sycamore Square neighborhoods to help prevent residential teardowns and the construction of oversized replacement homes as the city re-works its Baseline Mansionization Ordinance.

References

{{Wilshire Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Central Los Angeles Wilshire, Los Angeles