Charles Bukowski’s Bungalow, 5124 De Longpre Avenue

In July 2007, as Richard Schave prepared to launch his tour dedicated to the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski, his wife Kim Cooper spotted a Craigslist ad listing the writer’s longtime East Hollywood home at 5124 De Longpre Avenue as a teardown.

Troubled by the thought that this literary landmark might be lost, Richard posted to his blog about the threat. Later that week, a young preservationist named Lauren Everett expressed interest in proposing the De Longpre bungalow as an Historic-Cultural Monument, and Richard and Kim agreed to support her efforts.

The preservation campaign resulted in extensive press coverage, both of the landmark proposal and the accusation from the property owners’ attorney that Bukowski had been a Nazi sympathizer and unworthy of such recognition.

Status report (2015): Ultimately, the Cultural Heritage Commission found that the property was worthy of preservation, and declared Bukowski Court to be HCM #912. A new owner restored the property, and it is currently functioning as a multi-family residential compound, and literary tourist attraction.

Update (March 2023): Although Bukowski Court is protected rent controlled housing, a company called Pillow & Coffee is currently listing one of the bungalows on the property on Airbnb, in violation of the Los Angeles home sharing ordinance. Read our investigation here.

Press Clips

Apartment Complex Where Charles Bukowski Wrote “Post Office” For Sale, Could Be Leveled (LAist, 8/2/2007)

Campaign to Save Bukowski’s Home (Mediabistro – Fishbowl L.A., 9/10/2007)

Bukowski home threatened (Pasadena Weekly, 9/13/2007)

Saving Bukowski’s Bungalow (Time, 9/14/2007)

Fans in Los Angeles Try to Save Bukowski’s Historic Bungalow (Poets & Writers, 9/19/2007)

How to commemorate Bukowski? (Los Angeles Times, 9/22/2007)

Bukowski’s Bungalow Saved (For Now) (Blogging L.A., 9/24/2007)

Monument to the Low Life (The New Yorker, 11/15/2007)

Bukowski’s Ruin? (L.A. Weekly, 11/20/2007)

Landmark Status of Charles Bukowski Bungalow Postponed (KPBS, 11/21/2007)

Celebrating an anti-hero (Los Angeles Times, 11/22/2007)