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Overview

The Los Angeles architectural tandem of Buchanan and Herbert designed the large-scale commerical office block, the Baker Building, for Colonel Robert S. Baker, a prominent businessman in the still small city of Los Angeles, CA. During the 1880s, the Baker Block was probably the city's most prominent commercial building, admired for its scale, solidity and craftsmanship.

Building History

The three-story Baker Building took up a large portion of the southeast corner of North Main Street and Arcadia Street, and was a prominent commercial fixture in early Los Angeles's commercial business district that neighbored the Pico House Hotel (1870), one block to the north. Offices occupied the upper two floors while shops lined the first. An awning wrapped around the front facade, sheltering shoppers from the strong sun and rare rain shower.

Rhode Island-born businessman Robert S. Baker (1825-1894) commissioned the grand building, considered to be one of the finest commercial addresses in Los Angeles of the 1870s and 1880s. Baker was on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Savings Bank c. 1875, serving with J.S. Slauson, J. Bixby, J.M. Griffith, H.B. Tichenor, and George S. Dodge.

In 1874, Robert Baker married the widow of early Anglo-American landowner Abel Stearns (1798-1871), Arcadia Bandini de Stearns (1825-1912), who also descended from the landed Bandini Family. The Baker Block was erected on land formerly occupied by the adobe residence of Arcadia and Abel Stearns.

Design work was underway on the building in 1877 by the Los Angeles architectural firm of Buchanan and Herbert. An advertisement appeared in the San Francisco newspaper, the Daily Alta California, on both 09/28 and 10/02 of 1877 seeking "plans and specification of the cast iron work of Baker's Block at Los Angeles." (See "Notice to Iron Founders," Daily Alta California, vol. 29, no, 10038, 10/02/1877, p. 4.) Los Angeles, at this time, may not have had the iron working expertise to produce cast-iron elements for the building; the architects found it necessary to advertise in San Francisco to attract contractors who could complete the work. The San Francisco office at which information was available to potential iron contractors was that of Christy and Wise, wool commission merchants, at 607 Front Street.

An article in the Los Angeles Herald of 03/1878 indicated that spaces in the building were renting briskly: "The statement which appeared in the public prints to the effect that all the store rooms in the Baker Block had been already rented is a mistake. Many applications are received for these store rooms, but they have not yet been acted on in many cases." (See "Local Brevities," Los Angeles Herald, vol. 9, no. 98, 03/22/1878, p. 3.) Advertisements for lawyers with offices in the Baker Block began to appear in the Herald by 10/1878.

Goodwill Industries, proprietors of thrift stores and job-training centers, bought the property in 1919, and held it until 1941, when the City of Los Angeles obtained it to complete a road extension project.

Building Notes

The Second Empire Style Baker Block was notable for its three towers, particularly its central belltower.

The Howard L. Morris and Thomas Wright Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1879-80, included an extensive description of the Baker Block: “Adobes have given way to more substantial buildings and stores, and there are now edifices within its limits which would do credit to any of the older cities in the United States. The one most worthy of note, perhaps, is the Baker Block, on the corner of Main and Arcadia streets. It has 186 feet front by 107 feet depth. The architectural style of the first story in Roman Corinthian, the second and third stories inclining to the modern Renaissance. The exterior is stuccoed in Portland cement, which hardens and grows better with time. It is surmounted by three towers, the height of the central one being 110 feet, and that of the two others 85 feet each. Some idea of the solidity of this block may be obtained when we state that there is not in the whole building a well less than twelve inches thick. The exterior and basement walls range from twenty-six to twenty-one inches in thickness. The exterior walls will average two feet six inches—a guarantee of solidity and permanence which cannot be excelled by any building in private hands in the State. It contains, exclusive of closets and bath-rooms, more than 120 apartments. There are six basements. The two adjoining Arcadia streets, with entrances from that street and one from the main hall, were originally designed for a large and commodious saloon or beer hall. This portion of the basement is twelve feet six inches in height, and the other basements ten feet six inches. The first story is divided into six large store-rooms and a main hallway, the latter being twenty-three feet wide by a hundred deep. The main hall is the handsomest in its line we have ever seen. The floor is laid in English tiles, far-exceeding in effect and cost ordinary mosaic. A double parallel stairway leads up to the second story, on which there are fifty rooms, exclusive of closets and bathrooms, with a main hall thirty-eight feet square. The main parlor is twenty-two feet square, with marbleized iron mantel, and a bronze chandelier with six lamps. On the third floor are sixteen suites, each containing from two to five rooms. The main hall is lighted by two skylights and one main skylight, which is twenty-two feet square. We must not close our description of this magnificent building without referring to the cupola on the high tower. Here one has the most magnificent view of the city and its surroundings that can be had. The Baker Block is so named after its projector and owner, Colonel R.S. Baker, who expended the sum of $150,000 on its erection and finishing, which sum is not at present considered more than one-half its value.” (See Howard L. Morris and Thomas Wright Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1879-80, pp. 19-20.)

The Western Union Telegraph office was located in the Baker Block, c. 09/1882. The Lacy Manufacturing Company (a steel products company) occupied Office #4 in the building, 03/1897, as did the L. Booth and Sons Machinery Company. The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) Photo Database record noted that the Baker Block had been built in 1875, erected on the site of the Abel Stearns House.

All interior millwork was of old-growth redwood. A writer for the Los Angeles Times commented in 1942: "All woodwork, door casings, doors and trimmings are of redwood--for the main-floor stores, the second-floor offices and the third-floor living quarters." (See "Wrecking Crews at Work Demolishing Old Baker Block," Los Angeles Times, 05/30/1942, p. A3..) It is also possible that large structural members such as floor joists were also of old-growth redwood. As the article indicated, retail commercial spaces were located on the first floor, offices spaces on the second, and residential apartments for the Bakers on the third.

In 1883, the Los Angeles Club occupied Rooms #1, 2, 3, and 5 of the Baker Block. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1883, p. 126.) The Los Angeles Telephone Company had its office in the Baker Block in the same year. (SeeLos Angeles, California, City Directory, 1883, p. 126.)

The Los Angeles Daily Herald, edited by Joseph Lynch, had its offices in the Baker Block. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1883, p. 127.)

In 1886, the Los Angeles Produce Exchange occupied Room #1 of the Baker Block. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1886, p. 137.)

Demolition

The Baker Block was razed in late May and June of 1942. Historian Brian Hsu has said: "...The faded landmark was slated to give way to one of the most mundane projects in the 1930 Civic Center plan: a two-block extension of Aliso Street from Los Angeles Street to Broadway. ...The Metropolitan Garden Association launched an effort to move the Baker Block to another location and reopen it as a public recreation center. Furthermore, a group of City Councilmen led by Arthur E. Briggs organized a fundraising initiative to convert the building into a city history museum. (See Urban Diachrony.com, "The Baker Block, southeast corner of Main and Arcadia Streets, c.1938-2011," accessed 02/15/2017.)

A Los Angeles Times article of 05/30/1942, chronicled the building's demolition. It reported: "A relic of the glamourous days of early Los Angeles, when beautiful Senora Arcadia Bandini de Baker was the queen of Los Angeles society, the structure with its gingerbread-trimmed towers and sidewalk canopy had long since reached the stage where it was considered a bar to progress, and a menace. Gone are the hand-carved walnut bannisters of the great staircase. Gone is the shining tile from the front entrance hallway. That tile is said to have been imported from Scotland at great cost. Long since the luxurious furnishings of the third-floor suites, with their all-over Aubusson carpeting, great crystal chandeliers and real Alencon lace curtains, had been just memories. Legend has it that the edifice was constructed at a cost in excess of $1,000,000. Its value last year was $157,119, when the city offered to purchae it...for wrecking." (See "Wrecking Crews at Work Demolishing Old Baker Block," Los Angeles Times, 05/30/1942, p. A3..) Items that were salvaged included the redwood millwork, wiring, joists, nails, pine stair treads, bricks, tin roofing and cast-iron columns with Corinthian capitals.

PCAD id: 327