124 Fremont Place
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WILSHIRE BOULEVARD ADAMS BOULEVARD WINDSOR SQUAREBERKELEY SQUARE ST. JAMES PARK WESTMORELAND PLACE
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Typical of the English style beloved of the Los Angeles haute bourgeoisie first in the aughts and then again in the 1920s, 124 Fremont Place was built with seemingly acres of diamond-pane casement windows. The four tall 1911 gates of the subdivision, originally intended to catch the attention of adventuresome motorists driving out dusty Wilshire Boulevard when all there was in the vicinity were miles of treeless, unimpressive rolling prairie, are today and since the Watts Riots and Tate-LaBianca murders understandably taken quite seriously by homeowners, preventing casual photography; even if it was allowed, #124 is one of those houses whose architecture cannot be appreciated for the mature trees. Only aerial reconnaissance suggests the many-gabled style of architect Leonard Woelz's 1922 design for downtown diamond dealer George F. Hambright. On August 23 of that year, Hambright was issued permits for the house and a garage on his building site, described on the documents as the "center 80 feet of of Lot 120." The jeweler would be staying for only a few years before selling #124 to the very social, Nantucket-derived Harry Tristram Coffin, whose family would remain into the war years.
Illustrations: The Architectural Digest; Google Maps
