Banning House
Banning House, also known as the General Phineas Banning Residence Museum, is a historic Greek Revival home in the Wilmington section of Los Angeles, California, built in 1863 by Phineas Banning.
History and architecture
Banning House originally had 30 rooms, but some rooms have been combined, and the house now has 24 rooms.[1][2] It was designed by Phineas Banning as his family home.[2] According to a history of the house written by its curator, Banning recruited help to build the house from shipwrights, balcksmiths, carpenters, and artisans employed on clipper ships visiting the Wilmington harbor.[3] Banning was reported to have lavishly entertained the ships' captains while they were at Wilmington, encouraging them to stay in port and seal up leaks in their ships with tar from the La Brea Tar Pits. The story goes: "Strangely enough Banning repeated this warning (about leaky ships) over and over for about three years until his mansion was completed in 1864."[3]
The house was a departure from the adobe haciendas that predominated in Southern California at the time, and the home became a showplace.[2] It was reportedly the site of "the first yachting party on the West Coast,"[2] and has been described as "the finest extant example of Greek revival style in Southern California."[4][5][1]
Banning arrived in Los Angeles in 1851 and built successful transportation businesses, including stage coach lines, ships and railroads. He founded Wilmington (named after his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware) in 1858, built the first railroad in Los Angeles (from the harbor in Wilmington to Downtown Los Angeles) in 1869, designed and promoted the first breakwater at the Los Angeles harbor, and is considered the "Father of the Port of Los Angeles." Banning was reportedly fond of walking up the stairs of the house to his fourth floor cupola where he would watch the ships arriving with cargoes.[2] He was also elected to the California legislature in 1867 and 1869. Banning lived in the house for more than 20 years until his death in 1885. During his life, Banning House was the site of parties, or "regales" as Banning called them, attended by United States senators, congressmen, governors, foreign dignitaries, ship captains, Army officers, and business leaders. It has also been said that "no home in all California represents the horse and carriage era more fully than the Banning Mansion, where for decades Phineas entertained the elite of the social, economic, and political world."[3] Banning died at age 53 after being run over by a carriage while visiting San Francisco.
Operation as a museum
After Phineas Banning died, Hancock Banning maintained the residence until his death in 1894,[6] and the house continued to be occupied by the Banning family until 1925.[1] In 1927, the house and grounds were purchased by the City of Los Angeles for use as a city park for the residents of Wilmington.[1][6] In 1934, the Los Angeles Board of Park Commissioners proposed restoring the house with the return of many of the original furnishings and equipment.[7][8] Several motion picture studios, including Twentieth-Century Fox, Warner Brothers and Paramount, contributed wallpapers to conform to the Civil War era.[9] Following the restoration, the formal dedication took place in 1936 and was attended by Governor Frank Merriam, Senator William Gibbs McAdoo, and Mayor Frank L. Shaw.[9] It opened to the public in 1938,[6][10] and reopened in 1952 after being closed since the start of World War II in 1941.[11][12][13]
The house is operated as the General Phineas Banning Residence Museum located in a 20-acre park known as Banning Park. The museum also includes a large display of 19th century stage coaches located in the barn and a one-room school house situated adjacent to the house. The gardens include eucalyptus trees (reputed to be the first to be planted in California)[14] and huge wisteria vines planted in the late 19th Century.
Historic designations
After the creation of the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, the house became one of the earliest sites designated as a Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #25) in October 1963.[14] It was one of the earliest in Los Angeles County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, receiving its listing in May 1971. It has also been designated California Historic Landmark #147.
See also
- List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles
- Drum Barracks - Civil War barracks built on land donated by Banning, located down the street from Banning House
References
External links
Vorlage:Registered Historic Places
- ↑ a b c d Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Department ("The House is built in the Greek Revival style and is considered the best extant nineteenth century in Southern California.")
- ↑ a b c d e Mary Lou Loper: A Fixer-Upper With a Past, Future, Los Angeles Times, 29. Januar 1976
- ↑ a b c Beverly Bubar: The Banning Mansion, The Shoreline, May 1977
- ↑ General Banning House Museum. University of Southern California
- ↑ Camilla Snyder: Banning Residence Restored: Living with History, Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, 18. April 1977 (""the house is one of the best examples of Greek Revival architecture in the west")
- ↑ a b c Juana Neal Levy: California History: Dedication Planned for Banning Home: Antique Structure to Serve as Museum for Storing Memories of Days of Western Pioneers, Los Angeles Times, 31. Mai 1936
- ↑ Banning Project Lauded: Proposal to Restore Old Homestead at Wilmington Acclaimed by Many in State, Los Angeles Times, 22. Februar 1934
- ↑ Early Home to Be Shrine: Historic Dwelling to Become Depository for Heirlooms of Southland, Los Angeles Times, 26. Januar 1936
- ↑ a b Landmark Plans Made: Ceremony on June 6 Will Be Attended by High Officials of State, Los Angeles Times, 7. Mai 1936
- ↑ Historic Home Opens Today: Reception and Tea in Banning House Planned by Women, Los Angeles Times, 11. Juni 1938
- ↑ Old Banning Home Reopens in Wilmington, Los Angeles Times, 31. März 1952
- ↑ Banning Home Reopening Will Feature Festival: General's Famed Residence Will Be Tour Mecca at Program of Recreation Department, Los Angeles Times, 23. März 1952
- ↑ Gen. Banning Residence Reopens to Public Today, Los Angeles Times, 30. März 1952
- ↑ a b Historic Banning Home Named State Monument: 99-year-old Home of Wilmington Founder Long Served for Civic, Business Gatherings, Los Angeles Times, 21. Oktober 1963