807 East Adams Boulevard

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  • Built in 1900 on Lot 23 in Block B of the Menlo Park Subdivision No. 1 by developer and contractor Robert J. Anderson
  • On December 16, 1900, Robert Anderson ran a classified advertisement in the Los Angeles Times: "...if you are looking for something extra fine in a new, modern, 8-room house and extra good barn, look at 807 E Adams...no expense was spared to make everything complete, if you want something good and are willing to pay one-half of what it is worth, you can get it for $3200...." Anderson had acquired a number of Menlo Park Subdivision lots, as well as parcels in other tracts, building houses on spec and moving from one completed project to the next. He had been living recently in a cottage he'd built at 927 East Adams and was marketing along with 807; the Andersons were listed at 807 East Adams in the 1901 city directory
  • Robert Anderson had acquired the unimproved Lot 23 from another real estate operator, John W. Cowie; in mid 1900; Anderson then appears to have sold the completed 807 to lumber-yard manager James Shultz, who quickly flipped it to mining man William Ward Boswell and his wife, Fannie, in January 1902
  • The Boswell's youngest son, Albert, died on March 28, 1903; the funeral was held from 807 the next day. (Clyde Boswell, the twin of Claude, a third son, had died of meningitis in 1898.) On March 13, 1904, the Herald reported that the Boswells were building a new house across the street; they were living at 824 East Adams by July
  • James M. Shepard and his wife, Rebecca, next occupied 807 East Adams; their time in the house was also brief owing to death. Mr. Shepard died on December 20, 1906; Rebecca Shepard expired on the following March 1
  • By 1908, 807 East Adams had been purchased by Dr. Downing D. Nice. Nice and his family remained at 807 until 1912, after which they moved to 741 East Adams
  • 807 East Adams saw an annual change of occupancy between the departure of Dr. Nice, presumably by renters, and its purchase by decorative artist Edward B. Hobson by 1915. On March 26, 1915, the Department of Buildings issued Mrs. Hobson—Emma—a permit to add outside rear stairs to the second floor as well as a kitchen and a screen porch to a new upstairs flat, resulting in the house's official conversion to a duplex. It was now 805-807 East Adams Street. Little is known about Mr. Hobson, although he may have found work in film; in December 1915, Emma Hobson was arrested for shoplifting trinkets from a downtown store. By 1923, the Hobsons had moved across the street to 808 East Adams, possibly retaining 805-807 as a rental, or selling it to someone who did 
  • During the 1940s, 805 East Adams was rented by the Reverend Yu Kwan of the Chinese First Presbyterian Church at 631 East Adams; that building had been built in 1905 as Third Presbyterian Church and transferred to the Chinese congregation in 1940. (The sanctuary is today the La Senda Antigua Church.) The Chinese Presbyterian School occupied 807 East Adams; by 1948, it had moved next door to 803
  • Now 119 years old, 805-807 East Adams appears to remain rental property combined with the house next door at 803, built in 1902



Illustration: Private Collection