Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

Monrovia Historic Sites

HISTORIC HOMES OF MONROVIA

A Victorian known as the Monroe Cottage, 225 Monroe Place, was built in 1884 for William N. Monroe as a temporary home until his permanent home, “The Oaks,” was completed in 1885.

The home later became the residence for William’s brother, Campbell O. Monroe and his family. C.O. Monroe served as a City Trustee (now called City Council members) from 1892-1897. The house is a 2,599 square foot residence with a second story that was added in 1887.

There are three bedrooms, two baths and the house still has the original outhouse attached. This Queen Anne style residence is capped by a hipped roof with several gabled dormers. The exterior has wide clapboard siding with corner boards. Roof elements include shallow boxed eaves, carved brackets and a plain entablature. A front porch roof also forms a second story balcony featuring a balustrade of turned rails.

The house at 845 Wildrose is a classic two-story Craftsman that features a large open beam, front porch, river rock pilasters and divided light windows. Inside the home are original Douglas fir china and serving cabinets in the formal dining room with additional Douglas fir woodworking, wainscoting, beams and moldings in the living room.

The exterior of the home is flush with Craftsman detail, a broad river rock front porch and chimney, a massive front door with leaded glass panels and a low-pitched roof with broad eaves. The front yard features a large multi-trunk oak tree with a mature oak in the rear yard; both are considered as contributing to the historic character of the property.

The Monrovia-based Tifal Brothers, who were noted designers and builders of Craftsman bungalows in the region, built the house in 1914. Fred Ainley contracted with the Tifal Brothers to build this house. The original lot encompassed the property to Mountain Avenue as well as the three lots to the west of the existing house. Ainley’s youngest son, William, became an architect and designed several significant buildings in Monrovia, including the police station, and the Verizon building in the 100 block of East Lime.

Built in 1908, 222 N. Myrtle Ave. is an excellent example of a Craftsman home. This home has approximately 1,946 square feet with an upstairs apartment that was added in 1921; created by building a stairway on the north side of the house. Dormers and a sleeping porch were added to create a second-story apartment; these alterations were consistent with the Craftsman style. The home has a side overhanging shed roof, heavy front porch with cobblestone columns, projecting exposed rafters, exposed triangular braces and a combination of shingles and clapboard redwood siding. Many of the details show an influence of Japanese architecture.

The Whittier-Narrows earthquake in 1988 damaged the house and in 1989 a stone foundation, front porch columns, and chimney stones (which had been structural) were removed and replaced as façade when foundation was replaced. A small wooden back porch (or stoop) was replaced by brick patio (recycled from an interior chimney); stone columns with Craftsman light fixtures, and Craftsman back gate were added at the same time. An almost exact picture of the home appeared in both Craftsman Homes (1909) and The Craftsman Magazine (Nov. 1907) where it was praised for its effective use of cobblestones.

A beautiful example of a Mediterranean Revival home, 131 E. Hillcrest Blvd. was built in 1930 by W. McCune for Thomas and Isabel Rogers. The house is 4,234 square feet on one-half acre. The two-story single family home’s exterior is stucco with a red tile roof. The home has four bedrooms and four bathrooms (one of each being maid’s quarters). Arches are used extensively throughout the house. All downstairs rooms have arched openings with pocket doors recessed into the walls and arched doorways open to the outside.

The interior floors are oak hardwood throughout, with a large tiled entryway and French imported tile in the kitchen and adjacent octagonal breakfast room. The library has the original wood paneling and all upstairs bathrooms boast original ornate tile work, including arched tub entries. The home has a large semi-finished basement. The preserved landscape includes extensive exotic trees including three deodar cedars. The backyard has a grand fireplace with an addition of a pool.

The property at 346 Stedman Place is a great example of a Colonial-style home. The land was once owned by James P. Daniel (widower) who sold it to Ralph L. and Fanny J. Cason on January 26, 1937 for $10.00. The house was built on the property in 1937. Mrs. Cason was active in the community and became president of Monrovia Woman’s Club.

This two-story, wood-framed Colonial-style house has 2,200 square feet with exterior wood siding and an A-framed roof. The front façade faces west to the street with a bricked patio on the north. Traditional to this style, the bay window in the parlor stands out prominently to the street side. The front door opens to a south-situated cement porch. The beautiful and well-kept front yard has three large mature sycamore trees with an additional large sycamore tree in the backyard. The perimeter of backyard is lined with mature citrus, avocado, persimmon, and apple trees.

The Craftsman home at 239 N. Canyon Blvd. is known as the Milo Halsey House and is a two-story built in 1910, covering approximately 2,080 square feet. The exterior of this house displays typical Craftsman elements; low pitched gabled roof; broad enclosed eaves; full-width front porch and bracketed gable ends. The large windows contain their original “wavy” glass.

The exterior wood shingles are painted dark green, a typical Craftsman color scheme. The home’s exterior features have not changed since their original construction. The home’s interior has been restored, with much of the original woodwork in place, along with original lighting fixtures, fireplace, pocket doors, and buffet. There is a sleeping porch on the second floor.

The first owner of record found in the City Directory is Milo C. Halsey. Milo was married to one of the daughters of C. P. and Linda Dorland (the Dorland Tract) who owned the entire block beginning in 1889. Milo and his wife appeared in the Directory of 1911 (published in 1910).