Lummis House, Stone house in Highland Park, Los Angeles, United States.
The Lummis House is a two-story residential structure in the Highland Park neighborhood built from local stones and bricks with rustic architectural features. The design incorporates handcrafted wood beams and blends Native American and Spanish colonial influences throughout its composition.
Charles Fletcher Lummis bought the three-acre lot between 1895 and 1897 and named it El Alisal after the alder and sycamore thicket in the arroyo. The 4,000-square-foot stone house took thirteen years to build. In 1905 he founded the Arroyo Seco Foundation; in 1940 the Arroyo Seco Parkway, the first freeway, was built between the house and the new flood control channel. The Historical Society of Southern California moved in in 1965 and left in January 2015, after which the city's Recreation and Parks Department took over.
The name El Alisal means "alder grove" in Spanish, after the alders and sycamores that grew in the Arroyo Seco. Guests who stayed in the property's guest houses included Clarence Darrow, Will Rogers, John Philip Sousa and John Muir. Lummis founded the Arroyo Seco Foundation in 1905 to promote recreation and protect the arroyo's habitat.
The house welcomes visitors on specific days of the week for guided tours through the interior and native plant gardens. It helps to check in advance which days and times tours are available.
The house's name, El Alisal, means "alder grove" in Spanish, taken from the alder and sycamore thicket that grew in the arroyo. Lummis chose the site in 1895 largely for a mammoth ancient sycamore; that tree has since died and been replaced by four saplings. The stone tower that once stood on the exterior was later demolished.
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