Eugene W. Britt House facts for kids
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Eugene W. Britt House
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Eugene Britt House, 2008
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 Location in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Location in California
Location in the United States
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| Location | 2141 W. Adams Boulevard, West Adams, Los Angeles, California |
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| Built | 1910 |
| Architect | Alfred Rosenheim |
| Architectural style | Georgian Revival-Colonial Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 79000483 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | May 17, 1979 |
The Eugene W. Britt House is a large, beautiful house built in 1910. It has three stories and is made of red bricks. It's located in the West Adams area of Los Angeles, California. The house is designed in a mix of Georgian Revival and Colonial Revival styles, which are old, grand building styles.
In 1984, it became a sports museum. It held a huge collection of sports items from the Helms Athletic Foundation. Since 1986, it has been the main office for the LA84 Foundation. It's also home to the LA84 Foundation Sports Library. This library is known as the best sports library in the world!
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Early Years of the Britt House
A famous architect named Alfred Faist Rosenheim designed the house. It was built in 1910 for Eugene W. Britt, who was a lawyer.
Saving a Historic Home
In the late 1970s, the owner wanted to tear down the house. But the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission stepped in. They decided the house and its gardens were important to history. So, on August 23, 1978, they made it a Historic-Cultural Monument.
The house was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 1979. This list includes important places across the country. However, in 1980, the owner asked the city to remove its historic status. They said it was hard to find someone to buy the house with these rules. The City Council agreed to remove the historic monument title.
A Home for Sports History
The house was saved in the early 1980s. This happened thanks to Peter Ueberroth, who led the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, and his wife, Ginny Ueberroth.
Many years before, a Los Angeles businessman named Paul Helms started collecting rare sports items. This collection was part of the Helms Athletic Foundation. It was shown in different places over the years. In 1970, the company that sponsored the collection stopped. The collection was moved to a warehouse, and there were plans to break it up.
Peter and Ginny Ueberroth stepped in to keep the collection together. They used their own money to help the foundation. Then, in 1982, First Interstate Bank agreed to become the new sponsor.
Ueberroth and First Interstate bought the Britt House to be the new home for the sports collection. The house was in bad shape, so it was fixed up. This cost about $2 million.
In 1984, the Britt House opened as a sports museum. It was ready just in time for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Olympic Games were held nearby at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The museum had about 50,000 items! These included:
- A bat used by baseball legend Ty Cobb.
- Boxing gloves used by Jack Dempsey.
- Baseball uniforms worn by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
- Bronzed track shoes used by Jesse Owens.
- Size 24 shoes worn by boxer Primo Carnera.
- The World Trophy, given to the best amateur athlete since 1896.
Since the Olympics were happening, the collection also had many Olympic items. These included gold, silver, and bronze medals from 1896. There were also Olympic relay torches and the wreath placed on Ralph Craig's head. He won gold medals in running at the 1912 Summer Olympics.
The LA84 Foundation Today
Today, the Britt House is the main office for the LA84 Foundation. First Interstate and Peter Ueberroth gave the Helms collection and the Britt House to the LA84 Foundation in 1985.
The LA84 Foundation is a private group that helps young people through sports. It was started with extra money from the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. Its goal is to help kids get involved in sports and to share knowledge about sports.
The Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center
A new building, the Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center, was built on the Britt House grounds. It opened in 1988. This center is home to the LA84 Foundation Sports Library. It is the biggest sports research library in North America. Many people call it "the premier sports library in the world."
This library is a modern place for studying sports. It has about 40,000 books and 7,000 videos. It also has 400 different sports magazines and 90,000 photos.
Some special items in the collection are:
- Official reports from every modern Olympic Games.
- Stories from many Olympic athletes.
- Videos of Olympic Games TV coverage since 1988.
- Records from early International Olympic Committee meetings.
- Documents from cities that wanted to host the Olympic Games.
The Foundation also has a large collection of old sports art and items. Many of these came from the original Helms Foundation. The World Trophy is still on display at Britt House.
