Windsor Square is a small, historic neighborhood in the Wilshire region of

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. It is highly diverse in ethnic makeup, with an older population than the city as a whole. It is the site of the official residence of the mayor of the city and is served by a vest-pocket public park. Windsor Square advertisement from Los Angeles Times 1911

Windsor Square advertisement from Los Angeles Times 1911

History

Between 1900 and 1910 a financier named George A.J. Howard envisioned a beautiful tranquil park as a setting for family homes built in a countryside style in what was then an undeveloped and rural area about halfway between the city center (now Downtown LA) and the coast. Howard pushed the early city fathers to get his development plan approved, and in 1911, Mr. Robert A. Rowan was able to initiate a residential development called Windsor Square. The development was constituted as a private square. At that time there were dense groves of bamboo in the area that needed to be destroyed before trees and gardens could be cultivated. Intervening walls or fences were discouraged so that one garden ran into another, creating a park-like setting. Windsor Square was the first area in the city to have the power lines below grade—an extraordinary innovation for 1911. To make sure that the homes were significantly upscale, deed restrictions contractually obligated a buyer to spend at least $12,000 on building a home to ensure that only the highest-quality residences were erected. A variety of houses were constructed, including

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 ...

Italian Renaissance revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

and

Dutch Colonial revival Dutch Colonial is a style of domestic architecture, primarily characterized by gambrel roofs having curved eaves along the length of the house. Modern versions built in the early 20th century are more accurately referred to as "Dutch Colonial Rev ...

. Many outstanding architects designed homes for the area, including Paul Williams, John M. Cooper, and A. C. Martin. As a result, many of the city's elite moved west to Windsor Square, including developer Howard and

Norman Chandler Norman Chandler (September 14, 1899 – October 20, 1973) was the publisher of the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1945 to 1960. Personal Norman Chandler was born in Los Angeles on September 14, 1899, one of eight children of Harry Chandler and Ma ...

, who took up lifelong residence with his wife Buffy on Lorraine Boulevard. Though the homes that fronted Wilshire Boulevard have been demolished to make way for commercial buildings, an active neighborhood association has succeeded in preserving the character of Windsor Square. In 1958, the J. Paul Getty Company bought a house on Irving Boulevard in Windsor Square. The Getty Oil Company was headquartered near the house at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue and intended to construct a new corporate headquarters on the site. Residents blocked the move, plans were abandoned, and the

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

now serves as the Los Angeles's official mayor's residence.

Geography

Map of Windsor Square neighborhood in Los Angeles, California

According to the Windsor Square Association, Windsor Square is a neighborhood of 1,100 homes between

Beverly Boulevard Beverly Boulevard is one of the main east–west thoroughfares in Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California. It begins off Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, Beverly Hills and ends on the Lucas Avenue overpass near downtown ...

to the north,

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 ...

to the south, both sides of Arden Boulevard to the west, and both sides of Van Ness Avenue to the east. The ''Los Angeles Times''

Mapping L.A. Mapping L.A. is a project of the ''Los Angeles Times'', beginning in 2009, to draw boundary lines for 158 cities and unincorporated places within Los Angeles County, California. It identified 114 neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles and 42 ...

project extends Windsor Square's eastern boundary slightly, to Wilton Place.

Population

In 2008, the neighborhood had an estimated population of 6,197. According to the 2000 census, Windsor Square was highly diverse, with the percentage of Asian people being high for the county. The racial breakdown was 41.6%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 37.7%

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, 14.8%

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

, 4.3%

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, and 1.6% other. About a third (33.5%) of the residents were born outside the United States, considered a high ratio for Los Angeles, the most common country being

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

at 57.7%. The median household income was average for both the city and the county, while the percentage of households earning more than $125,000 was high for the county. The median age was 38, considered old in both the city and the county, the percentages of residents aged 35 to 64 being among the county's highest. The percentages of both widowed men and widowed women were among the county's highest, but the percentage of families headed by single parents was notably small. The percentage of veterans who served during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

was among the county's highest.

Education

Windsor Park residents are highly educated. According to the 2000 census, 46.1% of the residents had a four-year degree, high compared to the city or the county as a whole. There are no schools within the boundaries of Windsor Park.

Recreation

Robert L. Burns Park, on the southwest corner of North Van Ness Avenue and

, is an unstaffed pocket park. Beginning in 1980, resident Barbara McRae, who was tired of noise, litter, drugs and prostitution around the park, began writing letters to city officials, and the next year she presented petitions with 2,248 signatures supporting the idea of private security patrols for the city facility. The city responded by building a 12-foot

masonry Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term ''masonry'' can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are bricks, building ...

wall and a

chain-link fence A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated st ...

between the park and neighboring homes. By 1989, though, criminal activity had spread throughout the surrounding neighborhood, and the Windsor Square Property Owners Association requested that the park is closed at sunset and that it be fenced, gated and locked. On December 3, 1990, an $85,000 tubular steel perimeter fence was officially installed and put into use.

Notable residents

Mayors who have lived in Windsor Square: Other notable Windsor Square residents:

References

External links

Map of Windsor Square

Windsor Square Association

Hancock Park – Windsor Square Historical Society

Windsor Square History
{{coord, 34.0692, -118.3206, type:landmark_source:enwiki-googlemaplink, display=title Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zones Mid-Wilshire, Los Angeles Central Los Angeles 1911 establishments in California Populated places established in 1911