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# Council overrules Landmarks Commission, designates rare 1913 Pico 'airplane bungalow'
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/council-overrules-landmarks-commission-designates-rare-1913-pico-airplane-bungalow/
- Published: 2026-11-05T17:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-05T17:00:00.000Z
- Author: Matthew Hall
- Tags: Government & Politics, City Hall

As last week’s council meeting crossed into the early hours of Wednesday morning, council overturned the Landmarks Commission and designated a vacant 1913 Craftsman airplane bungalow at 1921 20th St. as a city landmark, over the objections of an owner who bought the property this year planning to redevelop it.

The council voted 5-0 to grant an appeal by Landmarks Commissioner Jack Hillebrand and designate the two-story house under three of the six landmark criteria: as an example of the city's history, for its aesthetic value and as a rare example of an architectural type. The council also designated the parcel as a landmark parcel, with the 1948 rear accessory unit and 1951 garage listed as non-contributing. Councilmember Barry Snell recused himself because he lives nearby, and Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick was absent. Staff will return with a formal statement of official action.

The commission voted 4-2 on Sept. 14 to deny the Santa Monica Conservancy's application, finding the house met none of the criteria, even though Historic Resources Group, the city's own consultant, found it eligible under three. City staff had recommended against designation.

Councilmember Dan Hall, who made the motion, said the house is one of only nine single-family homes built before 1920 that represent the earliest development of what was then Fairview Heights, now the Pico neighborhood. He said the ordinance asks whether a building manifests local history, not whether it sparked later development. Staff and the city's consultant agreed airplane bungalows, named for their cockpit-like second-story sleeping porches, have always been rare in Santa Monica, and Hall said the code expressly protects "a rare example" of a historical type.

Councilmembers repeatedly challenged staff's arguments against landmarking. Design and Historic Preservation Planner Stephanie Reich said the city has long interpreted the rarity criterion to apply to types that were once common and are now scarce. Councilmember Ellis Raskin noted the code does not say that. Asked how the house's condition factored in, Reich acknowledged that "staff made an unusual and unconventional and relatively controversial finding on integrity," but said the commission set that aside in its decision.

Mayor Caroline Torosis said letting deterioration count against designation would set a troubling precedent. "What stops an owner from letting any historic building decay until it no longer qualifies?" she asked. Reich said there was no evidence of intentional neglect.

Hillebrand told the council the commission effectively applied a seventh criterion by weighing integrity, and that commissioners were swayed by the owner's opposition and costs, which are not criteria. He also said staff told the commission the house was 612 square feet, when that figure belongs to the rear unit; the main house is about 1,379 square feet. "Neglect becomes the argument for demolition," he said. "Designation does not cause this house's condition; it is the cure."

Conservancy Vice President Nina Fresco said the house is the last surviving structure built by Anna and Simon Unfried, who settled on a 3-acre parcel in 1905\. In 1927 the couple built Unfried Hall nearby, a community hall that police closed in 1931 for violating a 1922 ordinance limiting dancing to downtown, a law created to shut down a Black-owned jazz club. The Unfrieds were foreclosed on in 1932\. Hall cited the city's 2022 apology to the Black community, which acknowledged the ordinance's purpose.

The Landmarks Commission representative said the commission focused on whether the house met the rarity criterion and concluded that being a rare subtype alone was not enough. The commissioner said the commission did not rely on integrity and that the adopted findings may have mistakenly retained that language.

Owner Lydia King, who bought the property Jan. 2, said no one told her it was on the city's Historic Resources Inventory. She described holes in the floor and roof, a strong mold smell, one full bathroom for four or five bedrooms and break-ins by people trying to live there. She said she had hoped to build affordable housing or a senior center on the R2 lot. "We cannot live like 100 years ago," she said.

Hall said King's real estate agent appeared to have "failed" her and asked staff to do outreach to local agents. Raskin and Negrete urged the Conservancy and the city to help King find rehabilitation tools, and Negrete noted that landmark status covers only the exterior and leaves room for interior remodeling and new housing at the rear.

In public comment, former Mayor Pam O'Connor said the case showed the weakness of the city's ordinance and accused the council of "misusing historic preservation to prevent the building of new housing."