2091 West Adams Boulevard

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  • Built in 1911 on Lot 1 of the Adams Place Tract by Chester L. Whitnah; Whitnah was issued a building permit for an 11-room house on March 25 of that year, the same day that his brother-in-law, Christian C. Rohrer, was issued a permit to build next door at 2081 West Adams Street on Lot 2 of the Adams Place Tract
  • Architect: Hudson & Munsell (Frank D. Hudson and William A. O. Munsell), who also designed 2081; the contractor for both houses was the Alta Planing Mill Company
  • Whitnah and his wife, the former Libbie Frazier, had lived next door to his sister and her husband in Canton, Illinois, from which the Whitnahs and the Rohrers moved west together after having been winter visitors since the '90s and where the families had been prosperous farmers and stock raisers. The couples first appeared in the Los Angeles city directory in the 1906 issue, at addresses just around the corner from each other (the Whitnahs at 1264 West Adams Street, the Rohrers at 2708 Ellendale Place)
  • The Whitnahs moved back to Canton in 1919, selling 2091 to paving contractor William E. Hacker, who had been renting 1 Chester Place. Hacker remained in the house until the mid '30s, after which there were several owners before it was given over to institutional use
  • Under the ownership of Clarence E. Moore in 1945, a façade renovation was carried out under the direction of architect Paul Revere Williams. The front porch was removed and a bay added
  • 2091 West Adams, along with 2081 and other properties adjacent, would eventually belong to the People's Independent Church of Christ
  • Just as had the original building permits for 2091 and 2081 West Adams been issued on the same day, so too were those for their demolition. The People's Independent Church of Christ pulled permits to raze both on December 2, 1964. The Norman W.  Church house at 2105 had been the first of the church's three St. Andrews–corner properties to come down, a demolition permit for it being issued on April 8, 1963; a large complex including a seven-story apartment building for senior citizens was dedicated on the corner in the summer of 1966. It was christened "Independent Square" and remains on the site, with the address of 2455 South St. Andrews Place




Illustration: Library of Congress