To: chc@lacity.org, Councilmember.park@lacity.org, ken.bernstein@lacity.org, melissa.jones@lacity.org, sakaplan.76@gmail.com, maryjackis@yahoo.com
Re: case number CHC-2025-1139-HCM Marco Place Court, Venice CA
Subject: Please Protect Marco Place Court – A Historic and Vital Community Asset
To the Cultural Heritage Commission, CM Park, Mr. Bernstein, Ms. Jones, Ms. Kaplan and Ms. Jack:
I’m writing to urge you to support the Historic-Cultural Monument designation for Marco Place Court. This bungalow court is not only a rare architectural gem but also a vital piece of Venice’s living history—and it deserves protection.
Marco Place Court is a unique example of a 1925 Spanish Colonial Revival courtyard in the Milwood Venice Walk Streets Historic District, tied directly to Abbot Kinney’s original vision for the area. Despite the developer’s recent attempts to erase its character, the site still retains key historical elements: original roof tiles, arched buttresses, multi-lite doors and windows, and the courtyard’s distinctive design. The integrity of the site—its location, materials, setting, and especially its communal feeling—remains remarkably intact.
This 6-unit Rent-Stabilized building has provided affordable housing for working Venetians for nearly a century, and continues to do so today. Mechanics, artists, teachers and generations of Angelenos have called Marco Place Court home. Its presence on a pedestrian-only walk street fosters exactly the kind of neighborly connection our city should be working to preserve, not destroy.
The developer may have removed some landscaping and damaged shared outdoor spaces, but he didn’t succeed in destroying the soul of this community. Marco Place Court is still very much alive, and the people who live there are proud stewards of its legacy.
Please stand with us and protect this piece of Venice’s history, and its present. The Marco Place community and its contributions to affordable housing, architectural heritage, and neighborhood character are worth fighting for.
Sincerely,