Alvarado Terrace Historic District | neighbourhood, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark

 neighbourhood, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, historic landmark

Alvarado Terrace Historical District is a designated historic district southwest of Downtown Los Angeles, bounded approximately by Pico Boulevard, Alvarado Street, Bonnie Brae Street and Venice Boulevard.

The district is contained within the original four square leagues decreed in 1781 under Spanish law as the Pueblo of Los Angeles. In 1902, the area was divided into lots that sold for $10 each, sold on the condition that a house costing at least $4,000 be built on the lot. By 1906, the development was full.

The district includes well-preserved homes, most built between 1902 and 1906, and the First Church of Christ Scientist (now Central Spanish Seventh-Day Adventist Church) built in 1912. The homes include Craftsman, Victorian and Mission style architecture. A real estate brochure from 1903 described the neighborhood this way: "The only exclusive Residential Tract in the city. Beautiful Parks. Shade Trees Planted. High Class building restrictions. No flats, cottages or stores. Wide streets conforming to the contour of the land with cement sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Perfect sewer system, water, gas, electric lights..."

The First Church of Christ Scientist has had a colorful history, having house Jim Jones' Peoples Temple from 1970 until their move to Jonestown, Guyana, in 1977. Several structures in the district have been declared Historic-Cultural Monuments by the city's Cultural Heritage Board, including:

-Boyle-Barmore House, 1317 Alvarado Terrace, built 1905, architect Charles E. Shattuck (HCM #83)
-Cohn House, 1325 Alvarado Terrace, built 1902, architect Hudson and Munsell (HCM #84)
-Gilbert House, 1333 Alvarado Terrace, built 1903 (HCM #85)
-Powers House, 1345 Alvarado Terrace, built 1904, architect Arthur L. Haley (HCM #86)
-Raphael House, 1353 Alvarado Terrace, built 1903, architect Hunt and Eager (HCM #87)
-Kinney-Everhardy House, 1401 Alvarado Terrace, built 1902, architect Hunt and Eager (HCM #88)
-First Church of Christ Scientist, 1366 S. Alvarado St., built 1912, architect Elmer Gray (HCM #89)
-Beyrle House, 1866 W. 14th St., built 1906, architect Hunt and Eager (HCM #244)