Lummis Home and Garden
200 East Avenue 43, Los Angeles
323-222-0546
Built over a 12-year period, from 1898 and 1910, the Lummis Home stands on the west bank of the Arroyo Seco, the usually-dry riverbed that begins in the San Gabriel Mountains and extends south to join the Los Angeles river on the water’s path to the Pacific Ocean. The south-facing facade of the home is comprised of intricately-placed stones acquired from this nearby stream-bed, built largely by the energy and discipline of Charles Fletcher Lummis – an early activist, author, anthropologist, photographer, and civic booster. Lummis also founded the Southwest Museum and was the first city editor of the then-fledgling Los Angeles Times.
In many respects, the Lummis Home and Garden represents the beginning of the Arts & Crafts aesthetic that would soon take the architectural world by storm – peaking with such Greene and Greene homes as the Gamble House. It also vividly illustrates Lummis’ love of the American Southwest and wood-hewn household furnishings, with its concrete floors, wood furniture, railroad pole supporting beams for the ceiling, and delicate decorative carved woods.
2013 MOTA DAY ACTIVITIES:
- From its inception, the Lummis Home has been the place to see and be seen. Visiting and local dignitaries, artists, controversial public figures – all were guests of Lummis from 1897-1928. Using a newly developed computer application, historian Dennis Harbach will be able to finally give you answers: Did my grandfather meet Theodore Roosevelt in this house? Did my grandmother dance the fandango with Lummis or Rudolf Valentino in this place? Also, browse through Harbach’s photo album of Lummis’ famous guests.
- Self-guided tours of the home and garden will also be available on MOTA Day.
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