740 East Adams Boulevard

PLEASE ALSO SEE OUR COMPANION HISTORIES
FOR AN INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS BOULEVARD, CLICK HERE




  • Built in 1897 on a parcel comprised of the westerly half of Lot 29 and the easterly half of Lot 30 of Grider & Dow's Adams Street Tract by physician-developer Walter R. Gosewisch; the $3,000 paid for the property in November 1897 by William Evans Ludlow, a bookkeeper who at the time held the $900-per-year position of Assessment Clerk at the city's Street Department, indicates that the parcel had been improved by Gosewisch
  • William and Rosa Ludlow remained at 740 East Adams with their daughter Blanche, son Fred, and Mr. Ludlow's widowed mother Mary J. Weldy until selling the house to real estate dealer Oliver F. Scherer, as reported in the Los Angeles Herald on January 22, 1901
  • The Ludlows moved east to 1334 East Adams, settling soon after at 1319; before its next sale, Oliver Scherer's firm Shattuck & Scherer appears to have rented 740 East Adams to several individuals, including stenographer Bessie Bavistock. Miss Bavistock made the news when she eloped with automobile racer Barney Oldfield's pacer Charles H. Burman on April 5, 1906
  • Milo N. Miles, a real estate dealer living at 1231 East Adams, bought 740 in 1907 as his own home. That year, Miles opened a real estate office nearby at 2407 Central Avenue with William H. Murdoch; also in 1907, Murdoch, a former picture framer, bought 752 East Adams across the street from 740
  • Milo N. Miles died at 740 East Adams on June 3, 1909. His widow Alice remained at 740 until leaving for 723 East Adams by 1911. Mrs. Miles may have retained 740 as rental property, or sold it someone who did; several different parties occupied the house between 1911 and 1918 including temporary residence by Mary Case, who was renovating her duplex nearby at 608 East Adams in 1912
  • Renting 740 East Adams by 1918 was Harry Burstein, who was representative of one of the new demographics moving into South Los Angeles during the 1910s. Mr. Burstein was educated to become a rabbi but became a peddler instead; he and his wife Sarah and three of their five children were born in Russia, having arrived in New York by 1908 and in California by 1912. By 1920, Burnstein had established the California Sacramental Wine Company, which he appears to have operated out of the house. The Los Angeles Evening Express reported on April 7, 1922, that he and Sarah had recently been charged with having violated Prohibition laws, though the charges were dismissed when an informant was found to be unreliable. On April 12, 1924, an item in the Times told of burglars having broken a heavy padlock on a door to the basement at 740 and making off with 50 gallons of wine
  • Harry Burstein purchased 740 East Adams sometime during the 1920s; he would remain until the late 1940s. On August 18, 1933, and then again on November 15 of the following year, he was issued a permit by the Department of Building and Safety to build a garage on the property; a permit was issued to him on July 6, 1936, for miscellaneous repairs and for a new roof
  • An article in the Los Angeles Times on September 12, 1947, provides an interesting story regarding the Bursteins of 740 East Adams Boulevard. It seems that Louis, still living at home, died at 47 in an accident on November 3, 1941; his funeral was held three days later. The Bursteins' eldest child, Ida Jeffe, died at 53 on October 12, 1942. In the 1947 article, Harry is reported as having said that his first wife "died suddenly four years ago at the funeral of a son who had been killed in accident"; Sarah had actually died on January 22, 1944, a few days after her 79th birthday. The upshot of the Times article is that 84-year-old Harry had remarried in February 1945, his bride being woman named Gussie, "about 65" years old, and that he was now being granted a divorce after she deserted him. Burstein told the Times reporter that he "intended to marry still again and will take his bride to Palestine for their honeymoon"
  • Harry Burstein remained in possession of 740 East Adams until his death at the age of 90 on March 16, 1951
  • The ownership of 740 East Adams after the departure of the Burstein family is unclear until the late 1950s; in the meantime, several names are associated with the address in various records, including Mrs. Leatrice L. August. 
  • Dr. Samuel Y. Eng acquired 740 East Adams as an investment by 1959; on May 4 of that year he was issued a permit by the Department of Building and Safety to demolish a rear porch and rebuild it to code. Dr. Eng was still the owner of the house in 1972, further rehabilitating the property per a permit issued to him on May 25, 1972. He died the following November 6. A permit issued posthumously in Eng's name on April 11, 1973, allowed for the completion of the work started under the 1972 document
  • A new owner, J. C. Cole, was issued a certificate of occupancy for 740 East Adams on May 8, 1974. Security bars and smoke detectors were installed under a permit issued to J. C. and Rosa Cole on June 1, 1987. The Cole family in the form of a daughter appears to retain 740 as of 2020; the house has been well maintained and within the prior 20 years has been upgraded with a new foundation, a new roof, and new windows



Illustration: Private Collection