2901 E Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90023, USA

Wyvernwood Garden Apartments

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Opened in 1939, Wyvernwood was the first large-scale garden apartment complex built in Los Angeles. It predates the similar historic garden complexes of Village Green (1942) in Baldwin Hills, Park La Brea (1944) in the Fairfax area, Chase Knolls (1949) in Sherman Oaks, and Lincoln Place (1950) in Venice.

Wyvernwood was intended to provide middle-income and worker housing located close to jobs in downtown and nearby industrial centers. Its design reflects the Garden City Movement planning principles introduced by Ebenezer Howard and Clarence S. Stein at the turn of the twentieth century. Wyvernwood has fostered a strong sense of community throughout its long history, and its innovative design remains highly relevant.

Wyvernwood is currently related to two preservation issues: Its own proposed demolition and the increasing threat to L.A.'s historic garden apartments.

Learn more about Wyvernwood's history and significance on the tabs on this page, and visit these other pages for more information about Wyvernwood's proposed demolition and how you can help:

History:
Businessman D. Herbert Hostetter owned 370 acres of undeveloped land in what is now Boyle Heights. In the early 1920s, he envisioned a thoroughly modern mixed-use community, yet he died in 1924 before realizing his dream.

An industrial tract anchored by the landmark Sears-Roebuck Company Building was developed in the late 1920s. More than a decade after Hostetter's death, his son-in-law John S. Griffith revived his dream of a residential community. He spearheaded the Wyvernwood development as manager of Hostetter's estate, retaining architects David J. Witmer and Loyall F. Watson for the design.

Witmer served as chief architectural supervisor for the Federal Housing Administration in Southern California from 1934 to 1938. In 1942, he succeeded George Bergstrom as chief architect of the Pentagon. Landscape architect Hammond Sadler designed Wyvernwood’s vast open space as a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant modernist landscape.

Wyvernwood was intended to provide middle-income and worker housing located close to jobs in downtown and nearby industrial centers. The complex was privately financed by the Hostetter Estate and insured by the newly formed Federal Housing Administration (FHA). At the time, it was the single largest loan guarantee made by the FHA in the country. The complex was used as a case study illustrating planning and design features desired by the FHA for such projects.

Garden City Principles
Wyvernwood reflects the Garden City Movement planning principles introduced by Ebenezer Howard, Clarence S. Stein, and Henry Wright at the turn of the twentieth century.

Responding to overcrowded, unsanitary, and dilapidated housing conditions for the working poor in urban centers, Garden City proponents imagined planned, self-contained communities on the edge of cities, with large greenbelts, and with or near industry to support employment for residents.

Such projects varied but were characterized by a high ratio of open space to buildings, the placement of residential units for maximum sunlight and fresh air, and the separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

Wyvernwood is a prime example of this model. One of the most unique features is its park-like open space, notably the central mall running east to west through the center of the property.

Wyvernwood was planned with large superblocks of open space traversed by walking paths, with 143 buildings oriented toward each other around grassy courts and only a few interior roads within the development.

A winding plan of streets contrasted with the standardized street grid, to reduce traffic hazards and discourage speeding.

The complex contains nine different types of buildings. They are two stories but vary somewhat in plan (with U, L, and T-shapes) and the number of rooms.

All are fairly modest in overall design and feature low-pitched roofs and few decorative details.

The buildings were designed to front onto green spaces, with service yards at the rear. Rows of garages were built nearby but closer to the roads.

Demographic Shifts
Not immune to the prejudices of the day, Wyvernwood experienced systemic exclusionary practices for its first two decades.

Racially restrictive policies were common throughout Los Angeles at the time, enforced even in neighborhoods as historically diverse as Boyle Heights. As a result, the original Wyvernwood population was almost entirely Caucasian.

Since the 1960s, Wyvernwood has evolved into a majority Latina/o working-class community of Mexican, Mexican-American, Central American, and Quiché residents.

These residents have made the garden apartment complex their own, adding new layers of history and meaning, and shaping the built environment through their own cultural heritage and traditions.

SIGNIFICANCE:
When it opened, Wyvernwood was widely hailed as a major achievement in several ways. It was open for public "inspection" every evening and was included in the seminal 1941 urban planning exhibit "And Now We Plan" at the Los Angeles County Museum of History, Science, and Art.

Wyvernwood was widely published in magazines including Architect and Engineer, Architectural Forum, Architectural Record, and California Arts and Architecture.

The Los Angeles Times featured Wyvernwood in its August 25, 1939 article, “Development Hailed Housing Achievement,” stating, “although every building is surrounded by large garden areas -- well planted with beautiful trees -- there is no obstruction of air and sunlight on the interiors... every dwelling has cross draft ventilation with at least two exposures and more than half have the benefit of three exposures.”

Despite some building alterations and deferred maintenance in recent years, Wyvernwood remains largely intact. It is listed in the California Register of Historical Resources and is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Unique Sense of Community
Wyvernwood has fostered a strong sense of community throughout its long history, and its innovative design remains highly relevant.

Remarkably, some of the original planning principles for garden apartments -- pedestrian-friendly communities, communal open spaces, environmentally sensitive siting, and affordability -- have found renewed interest in New Urbanism and the green building movements of today.

For over seventy years, residents have added their own layers to its rich history. Wyvernwood residents have close-knit ties that span generations. Neighbors have met, married, and raised their own children there.

Friends have become godparents to the children next door, and birthday celebrations and christenings are attended by many who live side by side.

This long tradition of community, fostered by the innovative layout of the buildings and open space, has in turn shaped a unique sense of place at Wyvernwood.

Stories abound about how Wyvernwood fosters community -- stories like that of Miguel Angel Meneses and Sandra Nava.

On his way home from work, Miguel would have to pass by Sandra’s apartment, where he would see her studying. Miguel and Sandra eventually fell in love, moved to their own apartment in Wyvernwood, and raised a family there.

“I enjoy living here because of all the green space,” says Sandra. “We looked elsewhere to live and we couldn’t find a place quite like it here. My kids can have a healthy lifestyle here, and I feel a sense of unity.”

Now eighteen, their son Miguel, Jr. attributes his interest in anthropology to having learned about different cultures from fellow residents. He plans to study anthropology at UCLA and move back to Wyvernwood after college.

“Everyone knows everyone here,” he says. “I feel safe here; people look out for each other. The people here are the most important thing to me.”

Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy