827 East Adams Boulevard


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  • Built in 1901 at 1023 East Adams Street and relocated to 827 East Adams Street in 1925
  • Original commissioner: builder Bickford P. Hutchinson
  • On November 25, 1901, the Times reported that "an $800 cottage, for B. P. Hutchinson, is in progress at No. 1023 East Adams street." New Hampshire–born Hutchinson and his wife, née Nancy Stead, moved into the house for a year before Bickford built 857 East Adams, to which they moved in early 1903
  • Edmond C. Hurth, a baker around the corner at 2521 Central Avenue, was in residence at 1023 East Adams by 1905. The property at 1023 would become part of a larger bakery operation when Hurth sold it to German-born Frank Joseph Eupperle by 1922; Eupperle acquired property just to the east of 1023 and lots behind it facing East 25th Street to expand his business, which was the Superior Pound Cake Bakery. By 1926 the business was doing very well; after a merger with a rival, the firm became known as the Superior Wheeler Cake Company and would be distributing its products to Southern California markets


As seen in the Times on August 1, 1926: F. J. Eupperle was one of
many prominent local businessmen to be featured giving
testimonials for automobiles and other products
during the 1920s, presumably with some
sort of compensation such as,
perhaps in this case,
a year's free oil
changes.


  • Seeking to expand his commercial operations, Frank Eupperle decided to relocate his residence at 1023 East Adams westward. The house, built on Lot 3 of Grider & Dow's Orangedale Tract, was trundled by the Starr House Moving Company to Lot 19 of Block B in the Menlo Park Subdivision #1, where it became 827 East Adams Street. The Department of Building and Safety issued a permit for the move on September 17, 1925; a permit for a new garage at 827 was issued on November 17. Frank Eupperle closed down his wholesale bakery business in 1938 and retired, although it appears that Rose, using her middle name, continued wholesaling fruitcakes marketed under the "Grace Eupperle" name. Frank and Rose Eupperle remained at 827 East Adams until 1939, when they sold the property and moved to a rented house at 212 West 71st Street
  • Minnie C. Johnson was the owner of 827 East Adams Boulevard by 1940; apparently divorced, she appears soon after to have reverted to her first husband's name of Robinson. She was enumerated at 827 in the 1940 Federal census along with her 19-year-old son, Meredith Bonaparte Robinson, a draftsman, his 16-year-old wife Bernice, and their 11-month-old daughter Constance 
  • On May 6, 1947, the Department of Building and Safety issued Minnie Robinson a permit to "reside [the] entire house with genuine grey stone siding."
  • By April 1950, Leslie Mertinello Dickson Sr., born in Oklahoma of Cherokee descent, was in residence at 827 East Adams Boulevard with his wife Joanna, two sons, Leslie Jr. and Julius, and Mrs. Dickson's maiden sister Naomi Irish. The family would still be living at 827 36 years later when Leslie Dickson was issued a permit by the Department of Building and Safety to lathe and plaster and re-stucco the house
  • Still living at 827 East Adams Boulevard, Leslie Dickson Sr. died at the age of 86 on July 6, 1992
  • A new owner, Hector Villalpando, was issued a permit by the Department of Building and Safety on August 10, 1999, to replace the roof   


Illustrations: Private Collection; LAT