Ramsay-Durfee Estate facts for kids
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Ramsay--Durfee Estate
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Ramsay-Durfee Estate, 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 | 2425 S. Western Ave., West Adams, Los Angeles, California |
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| Built | 1908 |
| Architect | Frederick Louis Roehrig |
| Architectural style | Tudor Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 89000821 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 24, 1989 |
The Ramsay-Durfee Estate, also known as Durfee Mansion or Villa Maria, is a beautiful old house in Los Angeles, California. It was built in the Tudor Revival style, which looks a lot like old English homes. This mansion is very important because it has been named a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special building that people want to protect and remember for its history and design.
Exploring the Mansion's Design
This amazing house was finished in 1908. It has three floors and a huge 42 rooms! The famous architect Frederick Louis Roehrig designed it. He also planned the beautiful gardens and the layout of the entire property.
The mansion sits on a large piece of land, about 2.8 acres. This land includes a fancy garden and a separate building called a carriage house. This carriage house even had living space for a driver.
When the house was new, the Los Angeles Times newspaper wrote a big article about it. They said it was "among the finest homes in Los Angeles." The newspaper described the outside of the house as looking like a typical English home. It was built with stone, wood, and plaster, and had a slate roof. People thought it was the best example of an English-style house in the city.
Inside, the house had a grand staircase made of mahogany wood. Big, colorful art glass windows lit up the stairs. The third floor was mostly taken up by a massive ballroom. This room was about 25 feet by 99 feet! It had a large brick fireplace and a ceiling with open wooden beams. Imagine having a party in a room that big!
The Mansion's Interesting History
The house was first built for a rich lumberman named William E. Ramsay. Sadly, he passed away in 1909, not long after the mansion was finished. His wife lived there until she died in 1916. In 1913, the house was even featured in a book about Los Angeles mansions.
In the early 1920s, a couple named William G. and Nellie McGaughey Durfee bought the property. They paid a lot of money for it, $105,000, which was a huge amount back then! Mr. Durfee loved horse racing. Nellie was the daughter of a very wealthy man. Their marriage was quite talked about in the newspapers at the time.
During the 1920s, the house became a popular spot for people in the movie business. Its grand staircase and fancy rooms were often used as filming locations for movies. Mr. Durfee died in 1927. Nellie continued to live in the house until she passed away in 1976. She reportedly lived a very private life there.
A newspaper writer named Jack Smith visited the Durfee house in 1976. He found that the house looked almost exactly the same as it did when Mr. Durfee died 50 years earlier! Even though it was during a time called Prohibition (when alcohol was illegal), the house's wine cellar was still full of old wines from the 1890s and 1900s. There were also 183 bottles of old whisky! Mr. Durfee's hats and suits were still hanging in his closet. Smith wrote that Mrs. Durfee died at 99 years old in an upstairs bedroom, surrounded by her belongings like ostrich feathers, unopened boxes of silk stockings, sculptures, paintings, and Oriental rugs.
In 1978, a religious group called the Brothers of St. John of God bought the property. They operate hospitals and bought the mansion to be their main office for the western United States. In 1982, the house was opened to the public for the very first time for a special dinner to help raise money for a radio station called KUSC.
Why It's a Historic Landmark
In 1980, the city's Cultural Heritage Commission officially named the property a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. They called it "Villa Maria" and said it was a great example of Tudor Revival architecture from the early 1900s. It was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, which is a list of places across the country that are important to history.
