The last intact shotgun house in Santa Monica, dating from the 1890s and designated a historic landmark in 1999, has been given a new lease on life. At a recent City Council meeting, Council members voted to let the house be permanently sited on the public parking lot at Second Street at Norman Place, just a few blocks from where it was originally built in Ocean Park.

“This house is a survivor,” commented Sherrill Kushner, Santa Monica Conservancy’s shotgun house committee chair. “It’s been saved twice from demolition, been moved twice to different storage sites, and now it will return to Second Street, the same street and same orientation as its original location, among other historic landmarks.” Across from the parking lot is the Ocean Park Library, a Carnegie library the Classical Revival style was opened in 1918. Adjacent to the lot is the Streamline Moderne building, built in 1938, that once served as the headquarters of the Merle Norman cosmetic company.

“The shotgun house, the library, the nearby California Heritage Museum, housed in an 1894 Victorian historic house, and the Third Street Neighborhood Historic District, will offer a visible history of our city as seen through its architecture,” notes Karen Ginsberg, assistant director of the Community and Cultural Services Department. She worked on the staff report that recommended the proposed site.

Site preparation for the shotgun house will also improve the appearance of the existing parking lot which has long been an eyesore and a source of complaints from nearby retail stores and residential neighbors. The trash bins will be enclosed, and new lighting and landscaping will be installed. The current site plan shows that only one parking space will be forfeited, although architect Mario Fonda-Bonardi, a community leader and advocate for preserving the landmark structure, has proposed a way to keep the current parking number of spaces intact.

The staff report also recommended a list of criteria to be met by a prospective tenant. The tenant who is ultimately selected must use the house for public benefit, and among other requirements, must raise the funds and oversee the work to rehabilitate the structure, estimated to cost approximately $250,000. In the coming months the city staff will publicize a request for proposals (“RFP”) for nonprofit organizations.