76 Fremont Place
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WILSHIRE BOULEVARD ADAMS BOULEVARD WINDSOR SQUAREBERKELEY SQUARE ST. JAMES PARK WESTMORELAND PLACE
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While it was likely as much to promote exclusivity as it was the actual expectation of the tract's developers, most of Fremont Place's 41 original large lots inside its gates did not become "in-town estates." Much of what was being referred to at the time of the subdivision's opening in 1911 as the West End of Los Angeles developed at a slow pace. Until the '20s there were as few houses as there were trees in the rolling prairie west of Norton Avenue; the rectilinear streets of Windsor Square, opened concurrently with Fremont Place, appear to have been settled at a faster but still leisurely rate; once Hancock Park opened at the turn of the '20s, the demand for suburban rather than "estate"-size lots was strong, with inter-tract competition lively. Despite its gates, Fremont Place became just another neighborhood in the scheme of high-end development. An example of the resubdivision of the tract is Lot 76 at the southeast corner of Easterly Drive and Ninth Street; by the end of the '20s it would contain three houses rather than one. Los Angeles builder George Taylor, having acquired a southerly portion of the parcel, proceeded to build two 10-room houses on it in 1922. Construction began on the northerly of these, #74, in January. On August 1, the Department of Buildings issued Taylor a permit to begin erecting #76. Dentist Beverly Bolling McCollum bought it not long after completion and his family would remain there for more than 30 years. The full story of 76 Fremont Place will appear in due course.
Illustration: Private Collection
