The rich legacy of former local premier architect, John Byers, has been protected for posterity thanks to its next door neighbor and current owner, Joy Jones. Her application for landmark designation of her home at 404 Georgina Avenue was confirmed by the Landmarks Commission who agreed to the designation this past November.

Jones moved to in the neighborhood in 1979 and at one time lived across the street, then a block away and finally next door. As their neighbor, Jones knew the former owners and told them of her interest in the house. When they were ready to sell, she made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. It had been a rental property for many years before she bought it last April.

"I was interested in protecting the house and the neighborhood,” notes Jones, a property manager by profession. “I didn’t want to see someone tear this pretty house down and build a monster mansion that would fill the lot.” She hopes to remodel the interior, opening up the small rooms and ridding them of dust, mold and termites. “I would like to preserve the character and the flavor of the house and add on a second story while preserving the large lot around it,” she adds.

Architecture: Mexican Colonial Revival Style
Built in 1920, Byers styled this one-story, single family residence of adobe construction after dwellings once found on haciendas during the Mexican Colonial period (1821-1846). The Mexican Colonial Revival style was popular in Southern California, the Southwest, and northern Mexico, based on a style that first appeared in this region in the 18th Century. Byers, a former Santa Monica High School teacher, achieved a wide reputation in southern California with a large following among entertainment world celebrities. He was known for interpreting this style of architecture and using indigenous materials (especially adobe) and traditional construction methods to achieve this style. This home is one of the earliest examples of Byers’ use of adobe for residential construction in Santa Monica.

Common elements of Mexican Colonial Revival style include thick adobe walls finished with smooth stucco; low-pitched, red-tiled roofs; broad front porches or verandas shaded by deep overhangs; deeply recessed, wood-framed, windows; arcaded porches or walkways; heavy wood front doors; and interior courtyards.

The Georgina house had an original U-shaped floor plan that is traditional for hacienda-type structures built around an interior courtyard. It is constructed of adobe bricks sheathed in stucco and capped by a gabled, red tile roof. The front façade of the Georgina house is an especially authentic reproduction of the first adobe buildings. The two-story rear addition is rendered in the Mexican Colonial Revival style using compatible surface materials and architectural elements, similar to those of the original house.

Palisades Tract Neighborhood
The house is located in what is known as the Palisades Tract neighborhood which began to be developed in 1905. The Tract was laid out with broad, tree-lined streets that provided view toward Ocean Avenue and the Santa Monica Palisades. The area stretches from Montana Avenue to Adelaide Drive. The structure has been determined to be eligible for National Register status.

Former Owners
The house is listed on the City’s Historic Resource Inventory as the William S. Hart House, named for William S. Hart Jr. (1923-2004), the only child of Broadway actor and silent western film star, William Surrey Hart. Hart Jr. lived in the home from approximately 1952 to 1989. The first owner, a widow named May MacBennett, never occupied the house, but lived a few blocks away on Ocean Avenue. It’s speculated that it had been constructed as an investment rental property.