Bungalow courts are a distinctive, desirable and unfortunately endangered early 20th century form of workforce housing. These modest double (or sometimes single) rows of small cottages with shared community green space are usually under rent control, and are much loved by their tenants.
It’s not even April and 2023 is officially an annus horribilis. We’ve seen the unpermitted demolition of the Waring Avenue Bungalow Court near Paramount, discovered a cottage in Bukowski Court illegally listed on Airbnb, watched in horror as a tenant in the Sanborn Avenue Bungalow Court shared video of workers illegally gutting units, and gasped when Lourine Court‘s landlord was arrested on arson charges.
Obviously, Los Angeles bungalow courts need a lot of help.
And that’s why we’ve created a map as a way for you to get to know the bungalow courts in your neighborhood so you can help protect them, and maybe even luck out and get to live in one! (If you see a skull and crossbones icon, the buildings could be in danger or already gone. We’d like to limit the number of scary symbols on this map, and that’s where you come in.)
If you know of a local (City of Los Angeles only) bungalow court that’s not on this map, please let us know. Bungalow courts are marked with either darts and property outlines, so zoom in to be sure. Also please send us an email if you see signs of neglect, evictions, heavy construction, demolition permits or other evidence that a bungalow court is at risk.
Together we can help preserve L.A.’s precious bungalow court housing!
i walked past a bungalow court on coldwater cyn. just south of the freeway on the east side of the street. i know there are others in the southeast valley.
Thanks for keeping an eye on the bungalow courts. Please check the map to see if bungalow courts are listed–they might be boxes showing the property outlines, or a colored marker–and if one is missing, email us the address and we’ll add it to the map.
I made a self-guided walking route of the bungalow courts of East Hollywood. https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1yEFWRseF_hIGcxih4TPW21Th5TD8eI1w&usp=sharing
This is wonderful, thank you for sharing! Charles Bukowski, whose half-courtyard complex we helped landmark, would be happy to see the feral cats marked on this map. If you get hungry on this walk, we like sitting outside El Zarape at Fountain and Kingsley, with a great view of Ken Twitchell’s early mural Strother Martin Monument.
Their a another bungalow on 1203 – 1205 S Mariposa Ave Court Bungalow
Ah nice. I started a map of bungalow courts but there were too many. I mean, save them, but there are still enough that mapping them is daunting. There are definitely a few more just on Rowena. There’s a Queen Anne-style bungalow court behind Broome Street and a red and white painted one called Louie Courts or something like that across the street.
Thanks for tip, Angel. This one appears on the map as a box outlining the parcel, which is how the city’s Survey LA database records some, but not all, of the bungalow courts on the potential historic resources list. If you enter the address or zoom in on the map, you’ll see both boxes and darts marking bungalow courts.
Thanks for the tips–have added the Rowena bungalow courts to the map!
I believe 9054 Carson St #A, B, etc. in Culver City is a bungalow court?
Yes, it is! Our map is just for bungalow courts in the city of Los Angeles, where so many have recently been demolished, gutted or emptied of rent controlled tenants. We hope Culver City is a safer place for these special types of housing.
Lovely court at 2818 West Blvd in the West Adam’s district. There are several in the neighborhood that are not kept as well.
Thank you, Phyllis–added to the map! We’ll add ones that are in poorer condition, too, so feel free to email us addresses as you spot them. Any bungalow court can be brought back from neglect, and we love to see that.
Wonderful!! Thank you Kim!
7011 Fountain Avenue. Friends of mine lived in one of the bungalows back in the late 80s and they’re still standing… for now
Thanks for the tip–added this cute complex to the map. It sold recently, fully occupied. Let’s hope it stays that way!
I believe I helped a friend move into one of those bungalow courts back in the ’70s. Sure rang my bell.
Thank you for bringing this up.
2854-2892 Griffin ave 90031 lincoln Heights. built by canadian Ira Griffin btwn 1924-1930 and he built a landlocked pad at the top in 1938 on fenn st looking down on the 13 bungalows and had a little railway car goin up the side so he could park and put his groceries in and ride up the hill to his landlord digs. massive stairway up the center of property to the top of hill. new landlord afraid of tenants union organizing below. might cut them off from their overlording perch of slumdom
What an interesting and complicated property! We’ve added it to the bungalow court map. What’s the address so we can look up the recent sale?
My family and I own a courtyard bungalow in the city of San Fernando located at 605 N. Alexander St. these bungalows were built in the late 1870’s and housed Chinese and Irish immigrant workers who were working on the near by railroads. They were rebuilt in 1914 and renovated countless times. My dad, a Mexican immigrant, bought the complex from a German immigrant, one of his patrons when he worked as a barber. The energy on the property is wonderful and we have very happy tenants.
Thank you for sharing the long history of your family’s bungalow court and for being such caring landlords. It’s refreshing to hear from someone like you when so many bungalow courts are being torn down or allowed to rot by bad owners. Our map is limited to bungalows within the City of Los Angeles, but I’m glad to know your property exists.
wonderful stumbling across article. I recently started tracking locations in the Pasadena area and have created a couple of cycle routes to visit them. I created a similar map to yours of over 150 locations and would be happy to share them with you. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1iej59JV9DhaNASzxv_DGnUeVdV9Q6os&usp=sharing
This is great, Brian–thanks for sharing your San Gabriel Valley map! We’re focusing only on the bungalow courts within the Los Angeles city limits, since our project was inspired by the displacement of tenants and the illegal demolition of the Waring Avenue court near Paramount Studios, but this housing type was popular all over the southland, and it’s cool to see how they survive in neighboring towns.