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Building History

The attorney James E. Degnan (born c. 02/13/1867 in Princeton, NJ- d. 04/16/1936 in Los Angeles County, CA) and his wife Dorothy C. Reuter Degnan (born c. 1868 in NY-d. 09/10/1936 in Los Angeles County, CA) commissioned the prolific Los Angeles architect Paul R. Williams (1894-1980) to design this Mediterranean and Spanish Colonial Revival house for them in the Altacanada tract of what was then rural Los Angeles, CA. Degnan was a partner in the firm of Lawler and Degnan, which had its offices in Room #800 of the Standard Oil Building in Downtown Los Angeles in 1929. (See Los Angeles, California, City Directory, 1929, p. 740.) Prior to building this residence, Degnan lived in South Pasadena (1914), at 407 East Chestnut Street (1922) and on a tract between East Mountain Avenue and Hacienda Drive in Monrovia, CA (1926).

Degnan migrated to CA from NJ in 1911, and formed a legal partnership with Oscar Lawler shortly after arriving. (See J.E. Degnan Mass to Be Said Monday," Los Angeles Times, 04/18/1936, p. A8.)

Degnan died in his legal offices suddenly in 04/1936, and his wife passed just five months later. (See "Widow Of Lawyer to Be Laid to Rest," Los Angeles Times, 09/12/1936, p. 6.)

Building Notes

In 1929, the Degnan House was in a relatively sparsely populated section of Los Angeles County, with a mailing address of Route 4, Box 400.

PCAD id: 24296