OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Building History

William George and Louise Eshman Kerckhoff lived in this house with their two daughters. William Kerckhoff (1856-1929) was the son of German immigrants who came to Los Angeles, CA, (from Terre Haute, IN) in 1879. At first, the Kerckhoff Family ran the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill and Lumber Company, which provided imported wood for the building boom of the 1880s. Over the years, he became active in the provision of electricity and natural gas to the growing city. He achieved great success developing these utilities and also was involved in port development at San Pedro, CA, and banking.

He liquidated much of his holdings in 1927, and stepped up his charitable giving thereafter; one beneficiary was the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to which his wife donated a large sum to build Kerckhoff Hall, the first student union. He died 02/22/1929. Following his death, Louise Kerckhoff (1860-1946) took over the family's philanthropic giving; following her death, she donated this mansion to the University of Southern California (USC). She was a generous donor to UCLA, USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Hunt, Eager and Burns, Architects, designed this English Tudor Revival dwelling, while landscape architect, Wilbur Cook, Jr., laid out the grounds.