1809 Apex Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90026, USA

Garbutt House (Hathaway Mansion/Estate) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Garbutt Residence is significant under Criteria c and B. It is remarkable for its use of concrete in a very unusual manner. It is one of a very small number of homes built with reinforced concrete instead of the more common wood frame construction. It is also associated with Frank Alderman Garbutt, an influential financier, inventor, and sportsman who was involved in most of the industries important to the development of Southern California.

Architecturally, the major significance of this house lies in its contributions to the use of concrete in residential architecture in Southern California and to a tradition closely allied to concrete construction, that of "Rationalist" approach to design. Though there were occurrences of the use of concrete for residential construction throughout the United States before 1900, its period of most wide usage was during the decade of the 1900s through the 1920s. By far the majority of the single-family "concrete" dwellings built in Southern California in these decades entailed a combination of hollow terra-cotta tile accompanied by reinforced concrete members. Generally, in these houses the horizontal members (floors and roofs) were of traditional wood, sometimes covered with a thin layer of concrete on metal lath. Thus, the actual number of dwellings constructed in Southern California that are completely built of reinforced concrete is quite small. The principal reason for the dearth of examples has to do with the high cost of this structural method compared to the traditional wood-frame structure, sheathed in metal lath and stucco. In the twenties, when the Garbutt-Hathaway house was built, the fact that the structure was of reinforced concrete was generally hidden. Structure (whatever it might be) was generally viewed as a means, not as an esthetic end.

The Garbutt-Hathaway house poses midway between declaring and hiding its concrete structure. The concrete nature of its walls is conveyed externally in the simple deep reveals of the door and window fenestration and through the thinly articulated concrete roofs. As in a design of the pioneer early Modernist Irving J. Gill, the patterning of openings seems both traditionally composed and rationally utilitarian, and in fact ends up functioning in both regards.

Other intriguing plays of design occur between the severe quality of the design and its picturesque massing and roofs that hint at the English Medieval via the turn of the century Arts and Crafts movement. The cut stone walls which serve as a terrace base (as a podium) for the house provide a transition between the natural irregularities of the hilltop location and the smooth stucco volume of the house above.

Internally, wood-paneled walls, painted and stained surfaces, tile, terracotta, and metal work play their own game of contrast with the plain undecorated vertical and horizontal surfaces. On the second floor, built-in cabinets and other features have a simplicity of detailing that we associate with the work of the teens and early twenties of Irving J. Gill.

The only other Los Angeles house that represents a similar approach in the use of reinforced concrete is that built in ca. 1925 in the Los Feliz district by the architect David J. Witmer, but the Garbutt-Hathaway house is by far a more complete structural essay in the full use of reinforced concrete than the Witmer house.

Family tradition asserts that Frank Alderman Garbutt designed the house himself, and while there is a grand do-it-yourself quality present in the plan of the building and the rationalist sense of elimination, still there is too much presence in the design to think of it having been realized by a nontrained individual. A clue may lie in the personage of John B. Richards. Richards, who was trained and worked as an architect, was associated with Garbutt for some nine years on projects such as the design and construction of the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and this association was at the time the Garbutt house was designed and built. It would seem likely that Garbutt indicated just what he wished to see in his house, and then a personage such as Richards provided the working drawings and, above all, the fine detailing that is present in the interior of the house. The structure was begun in 1926, and it took approximately two years to complete. This was largely a function of the fact that it was built entirely of reinforced concrete and that the interior detailing was carried out by teams of craftsmen. Interestingly, Garbutt appears to have never taken out a building permit for the house, and he is reported to have formed his own construction company to build it.

This house commemorates (indirectly) as well the many contributions that Frank Alderman Garbutt made to the growth of Southern California during the years 1900 through the thirties. He was one of the most prominent financiers in Los Angeles during the first three decades of the twentieth century. His interests ranged from oil production and shipping to the motion picture industry and banking. His initial success came in 1902 while as director and treasurer of the fledgling Union Oil Company. He was directly involved in the company's first big oil strike in Lompoc and, as the company diversified, Garbutt also became head of the Union Steamship Company. By 1908, he had become influential in the operation of the newly established Los Angeles Harbor at San Pedro.

About 1910, Garbutt became involved in the motion picture industry and began making the first five-reel length films. He was associated with the film company founded by Jessie Lasky. In 1913, the Famous Payers-Lasky Company firmly established itself with the success of "The Squaw Man" directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Garbutt's administrative and business abilities would later serve this company through its transition into Paramount during the 1920s, and he would ultimately serve both as a vice-president and on the board of directors of Paramount. During the 1920s, Garbutt also established himself as an investment banker, and he served as a director of the Citizen's National Trust and Savings Bank.

Garbutt had a wide range of interests apart from business. He was an inventor whose developments included several important oil tools, and he took an active interest in the sports world. He was an avid motor car and boat racing enthusiast. He is known to have raced against Barney Oldfield, and he established the still-active Catalina Challenge Trophy in 1911. Garbutt also helped to re-establish the Los Angeles Athletic Club and, apart from serving as president for many years, he selected the architectural designs and supervised the construction of the present Los Angeles downtown facility. The activities of the club were, in fact, Garbutt's favorite endeavor until his death on November 20, 1947.

Garbutt's residence at 1809 Apex was built at the height of his business career, and he clearly intended it to be a lasting monument. The Richardsonian rock base references the rock promontory upon which the house rests and from which it appears to grow. The massive concrete construction of the house with its bronze-framed and mullioned windows was an obvious effort at fire protection. In addition, it appears to be a statement by Garbutt of both the need for permanence and an expression of engineering expertise. In short, it is a massive structure laid down by Garbutt for all time and for all to see.

Garbutt's daughter had married into the Hathaway family and, following his death, the house became known as the Hathaway Mansion or Estate. It was subsequently sold to the present owner, following a period of vacancy, and now serves as the west coast headquarters for an insurance company.

The building remains a visual landmark due to its location, and it is in virtually unaltered condition. While the singular strength of the design of this house reflects the character of its first owner, the principal argument for its inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places has to do with its importance in the area of design and the constructional use of reinforced concrete in a domestic structure.