Holiday Historic Homes Tour in West Adams Heights

“The Heights of Fashion: A Holiday Historic Homes Tour in West Adams Heights," is a part of a weekend event, West Adams Heritage Association's 33rd Annual Historic Homes Tour & Progressive Dinner. The self-guided Sunday Walking Tour (tickets sold from noon to 1:30, and doors close at 3 p.m.) features the same houses as are on the Dinner Tour, with expert docents talking about history and architecture -- but without the food.

This year’s tour features a half dozen historic homes and mansions in the heart of elegant West Adams Heights – considered one of the most fashionable neighborhoods of the West Adams District a century ago.

The West Adams Heights subdivision was announced in 1902, and soon was favored by many wealthy families of the time for its picturesque location on a hill. Renowned architects were employed to design imposing homes. Visitors will tour the interiors of landmark homes designed by notable architects, including Frederick L. Roehrig (known as “the Millionaire’s Architect”); Hudson & Munsell; Frank M. Tyler; Dennis & Farwell; and the Heineman & Heineman brothers (who built high-style and extremely creative Craftsman homes primarily in Los Angeles and Pasadena).

In the 1940s prominent African-American performers, impresarios, developers, and capitalists began to purchase homes in West Adams Heights, and it came to be known as “Sugar Hill.” Infamously, a group of white residents filed lawsuits against their new African-American neighbors; but in the end their efforts were unsuccessful and set the stage for the 1948 Supreme Court decision that finally banned restrictive racial covenants. From then, noted entertainers like Hattie McDaniel, Louise Beavers, Joel Fluellen, Pearl Bailey and others hosted swanky soirees throughout West Adams Heights.

For the Holiday Walking Tour, we'd like to emphasize that doors open (and on-site ticket sales/will call tickets begin) at Noon; please note that the last ticket will be sold at 1:30 p.m. AND that the doors of all the homes will close to walking tour participants promptly at 3:00 p.m. So, we recommend you arrive early enough to comfortably tour all six houses, which are close together in this small neighborhood enclave. Tour Check-In is located at 2151 S. Oxford Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90018.

For more information about this event, please email us at tours@westadamsheritage.org OR visit our website, https://www.westadamsheritage.org/wahas-2019-holiday-tour-progressive-dinner