Mar 07, 2022
Estrada Courts
Completed in 1942, Estrada Courts is an early example of Garden City planning principles in public housing. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) commissioned a seasoned team of garden apartment architects and planners to design a complex spanning three blocks in Boyle Heights. The apartments were intended to address the housing shortage that resulted from the rapid growth of wartime industries, one of a handful of garden apartment projects that were fast-tracked for completion in the early 1940s. Estrada Courts was constructed at a cost of $967,000. The original project consisted of thirty buildings, with 214 units set aside for defense housing. In 1954, the site was expanded to allow for additional housing, making it one of ten public housing extensions approved in the 1950s in Los Angeles. Added decades later, the Estrada Court murals are often considered "the site of the 1970s birth of the Chicano Mural Art Movement," according to Isabel Rojas-Williams, Executive Director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. HISTORY: Estrada Courts was originally conceived as part of the City's slum-clearance program, which replaced substandard housing with modern complexes. Despite a 1941 federal ban on nonessential construction, public housing projects in key defense areas were greenlit, albeit with altered specifications that limited the use of metal. According to the Los Angeles Times, defense workers living in poor conditions received priority placement, followed by low-income families. Nine projects were approved to proceed in light of the ban, including Estrada Courts, William Mead Homes, Pueblo del Rio, and Rose Hills Courts (all garden apartments). The project resulted in thirty buildings, designed to maximize open space and encourage recreation while preserving privacy. During World War II, a federally-subsidized nursery school operated on the site with the goal of supporting working mothers, particularly those employed in defense industries. Following the end of the war, Estrada Courts gradually opened its doors to more non-defense workers, allowing it to serve its original purpose in light of the ongoing demand for low-income housing. In 1954, architect Paul Robinson Hunter designed an extension of the site in collaboration with landscape architect Fred Barlow, Jr. As the landscape of Boyle Heights evolved in the post-war era, so did Estrada Courts. Beginning in the 1973, a total of eighty murals were painted by Chicanx muralists, many of whom were deeply influenced by the 1970 Chicano Moratorium. The ideology of the Chicano Movement is embedded in more than 50 extant murals that represent various social, cultural, and political themes relating to the barrio experience. Notable murals include Dreams of Flight (David Botello, 1973-78), Moratorium - The Black and White Mural (Willie Herron and Gronk, 1973), and We Are Not a Minority (El Congreso de Artistas Cosmicos de las Americas de San Diego, 1978). Time has taken a toll on the mural program, and much of the artwork has been weathered by the elements, whitewashed, and vandalized. The gradual loss of significant murals throughout Los Angeles has become a growing concern for residents and the arts community. Rescue Public Murals, a national nonprofit organization, and the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles have both been active in the preservation and restoration of the Estrada Courts murals. SIGNIFICANCE Unlike many public housing projects of the era, Estrada Courts was not fully segregated or bound by racial restrictions. Many housing agencies around the country fostered segregated living conditions, resulting from Federal Housing Administration and United States Housing Authority requirements that established rules for the racial and socioeconomic composition of new projects. Yet the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) bent the guidelines to allow for more integrated complexes. At some of its properties, including Estrada Courts, HACLA even accommodated non-U.S. citizens. Furthermore, the artwork at Estrada Courts is considered one of the first mural clusters in the country and became an important precedent for artists working in Greater Los Angeles and the Southwest. The mural program underscores the sense of community that permeates this early garden apartment complex. Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy
Estrada Courts
Completed in 1942, Estrada Courts is an early example of Garden City planning principles in public housing. The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) commissioned a seasoned team of garden apartment architects and planners to design a complex spanning three blocks in Boyle Heights. The apartments were intended to address the housing shortage that resulted from the rapid growth of wartime industries, one of a handful of garden apartment projects that were fast-tracked for completion in the early 1940s. Estrada Courts was constructed at a cost of $967,000. The original project consisted of thirty buildings, with 214 units set aside for defense housing. In 1954, the site was expanded to allow for additional housing, making it one of ten public housing extensions approved in the 1950s in Los Angeles. Added decades later, the Estrada Court murals are often considered "the site of the 1970s birth of the Chicano Mural Art Movement," according to Isabel Rojas-Williams, Executive Director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles. HISTORY: Estrada Courts was originally conceived as part of the City's slum-clearance program, which replaced substandard housing with modern complexes. Despite a 1941 federal ban on nonessential construction, public housing projects in key defense areas were greenlit, albeit with altered specifications that limited the use of metal. According to the Los Angeles Times, defense workers living in poor conditions received priority placement, followed by low-income families. Nine projects were approved to proceed in light of the ban, including Estrada Courts, William Mead Homes, Pueblo del Rio, and Rose Hills Courts (all garden apartments). The project resulted in thirty buildings, designed to maximize open space and encourage recreation while preserving privacy. During World War II, a federally-subsidized nursery school operated on the site with the goal of supporting working mothers, particularly those employed in defense industries. Following the end of the war, Estrada Courts gradually opened its doors to more non-defense workers, allowing it to serve its original purpose in light of the ongoing demand for low-income housing. In 1954, architect Paul Robinson Hunter designed an extension of the site in collaboration with landscape architect Fred Barlow, Jr. As the landscape of Boyle Heights evolved in the post-war era, so did Estrada Courts. Beginning in the 1973, a total of eighty murals were painted by Chicanx muralists, many of whom were deeply influenced by the 1970 Chicano Moratorium. The ideology of the Chicano Movement is embedded in more than 50 extant murals that represent various social, cultural, and political themes relating to the barrio experience. Notable murals include Dreams of Flight (David Botello, 1973-78), Moratorium - The Black and White Mural (Willie Herron and Gronk, 1973), and We Are Not a Minority (El Congreso de Artistas Cosmicos de las Americas de San Diego, 1978). Time has taken a toll on the mural program, and much of the artwork has been weathered by the elements, whitewashed, and vandalized. The gradual loss of significant murals throughout Los Angeles has become a growing concern for residents and the arts community. Rescue Public Murals, a national nonprofit organization, and the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles have both been active in the preservation and restoration of the Estrada Courts murals. SIGNIFICANCE Unlike many public housing projects of the era, Estrada Courts was not fully segregated or bound by racial restrictions. Many housing agencies around the country fostered segregated living conditions, resulting from Federal Housing Administration and United States Housing Authority requirements that established rules for the racial and socioeconomic composition of new projects. Yet the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) bent the guidelines to allow for more integrated complexes. At some of its properties, including Estrada Courts, HACLA even accommodated non-U.S. citizens. Furthermore, the artwork at Estrada Courts is considered one of the first mural clusters in the country and became an important precedent for artists working in Greater Los Angeles and the Southwest. The mural program underscores the sense of community that permeates this early garden apartment complex. Photo by Adrian Scott Fine/L.A. Conservancy
Mar 07, 2022
Posted Date
Mar 06, 2022
Historical Record Date
Mar 07, 2022
Source Name
Los Angeles Conservancy
