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Money in the bank: three case studies in the adaptive reuse of midcentury bank branch buildings

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Money in the bank: three case studies in the adaptive reuse of midcentury bank branch buildings

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MONEY IN THE BANK:

THREE CASE STUDIES IN THE ADAPTIVE REUSE OF MIDCENTURY BANK BRANCH
BUILDINGS

By

Sean Morales

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF HERITAGE CONSERVATION

May 2019

Copyright 2019 Sean Morales

ii
Acknowledgements

This thesis is behind schedule and over budget. After two intensive years finishing the
coursework for my dual degrees in Master of Planning and Master of Heritage Conservation, I
have spent the last year and a half researching and writing this thesis. This was no easy task
while working full-time, three hundred miles away from my subject properties. For most of this
time, finishing this paper felt like an insurmountable task. I must acknowledge those that made it
surmountable.
I would first like to thank my friends and family for their support. They believed in me,
not because they knew what heritage conservation was, but because they had confidence that I
could persevere in anything I set my mind to. In particular, I would like to thank my wife Emily
(girlfriend when I started this thesis). She motivated me to work when I felt like relaxing and to
continue when I felt like giving up. Without her support writing this thesis may have continued
in perpetuity.
I would also like to thank my thesis committee. The support I received from the three
faculty members in the School of Architecture while writing this paper mirrored the thoughtful
and encouraging support I received throughout my degree program in Heritage Conservation.
Peyton Hall pushed me to question the claims I made and turn a collection of observations into a
heritage conservation thesis. Jay Platt improved my writing style and encouraged me to always
consider how to put what I wrote in context for the reader. My thesis advisor, Trudi Sandmeier,
is the glue that holds the program and this thesis together and my gratitude for her work is
boundless.

iii
Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... ii

LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................................v

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................. vii

INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER 1: ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY OF AMERICAN BANKS: COLONIAL
PERIOD TO POSTWAR .............................................................................................................3
Midcentury Bank Branch Character-Defining Features ....................................................18

CHAPTER 2: SANTA FE SAVINGS AND LOAN: PALM SPRINGS ART MUSEUM .....26
The Building ......................................................................................................................26
The Conservation Battle ....................................................................................................29
After the Battle Was Won: Path to Conservation .............................................................31
The Reuse ..........................................................................................................................34
Project Summary ...............................................................................................................47

CHAPTER 3: HOME SAVINGS AND LOAN: PIH HEALTH OFFICE .............................47
Home Savings and Loan ....................................................................................................47
End of the Original Use .....................................................................................................53
The Conservation Context ................................................................................................54
The Developer ...................................................................................................................55
The Reuse ..........................................................................................................................55
Project Summary ...............................................................................................................67

CHAPTER 4: VAN NUYS SAVINGS AND LOAN: LOS ANGELES FURNITURE
CENTER .......................................................................................................................................69
Suburbanization in the San Fernando Valley .....................................................................70
Van Nuys Savings and Loan ..............................................................................................71
The Architects ...................................................................................................................74
The Building .....................................................................................................................75

iv
The Reuse ..........................................................................................................................76
Project Summary ...............................................................................................................85

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND GUIDANCE ...................................................87
Social Context in Midcentury Bank Branch Reuse ...........................................................87
Material Issues in Midcentury Bank Branch Reuse and the Standards ............................91
The Adaptability of Midcentury Bank Branch Buildings ..................................................97

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................99

BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................101

v
List of Figures

Figure 1.1: Bank of North America .................................................................................................4
Figure 1.2: Bank of Pennsylvania ....................................................................................................5
Figure 1.3: Branch Bank of the United States .................................................................................6
Figure 1.4: Second Bank of the United States ................................................................................8
Figure 1.5: Thompson Bank ............................................................................................................9
Figure 1.6: Life and Trust Company Bank ....................................................................................11
Figure 1.7: Bowery Savings Bank ................................................................................................13
Figure 1.8: National City Bank of New York Broadway Branch .................................................15
Figure 1.9: Manufacturers Trust Bank ..........................................................................................18
Figure 1.10: Security-First National Bank of North Hollywood ..................................................20
Figure 1.11: Security-First National Bank of Colton ....................................................................21
Figure 1.12: Farmers and Merchants Bank of Watts ....................................................................22
Figure 1.13: Boulevard Bank Branch Opening .............................................................................23
Figure 1.14: Bank of Lankershim .................................................................................................24
Figure 1.15: Security-Pacific National Bank of Beverly Hills .....................................................24
Figure 2.1: Main Entrance to the PSAM Architecture and Design Center ...................................26
Figure 2.2: Reconstruction of the Barcelona Pavilion ..................................................................27
Figure 2.3: Western Elevation of the PSAM Architecture and Design Center ............................28
Figure 2.4: Proposed Baristo Loft Project ....................................................................................30
Figure 2.5: Desert Landscaping on North Elevation ....................................................................34
Figure 2.6: Bank Vault Reused as the Museum Gift Shop ...........................................................36
Figure 2.7: Drive-Up Teller Window ...........................................................................................37
Figure 2.8: Entrance Landscaping at Three Points in Time. .........................................................40
Figure 2.9: Museum Interior .........................................................................................................44
Figure 2.10: Bank Interior .............................................................................................................45
Figure 3.1: PIH Health Montebello North Elevation ....................................................................47
Figure 3.2: Howard Ahmanson Sr. ...............................................................................................48
Figure 3.3: First Sheets Home Saving and Loan Commission .....................................................49
Figure 3.4: Marlon Brando Protesting with CORE ......................................................................52
Figure 3.5: PIH Health Montebello North Elevation ....................................................................53
Figure 3.6: PIH Health Montebello First Floor Waiting Room ....................................................56

vi
Figure 3.7: Home Savings and Loan Claremont, CA Lobby ........................................................57
Figure 3.8: Interpretive Exhibits in the First Floor Waiting Room ..............................................58
Figure 3.9: PIH Health Montebello Stained Glass ........................................................................60
Figure 3.10: Haphazard Graffiti Removal and Sprinkler Staining ...............................................62
Figure 3.11: Original Grout with Signs of Loss ...........................................................................63
Figure 3.12: South Elevation While Bank Was Vacant ................................................................65
Figure 3.13: South Elevation After Remodel by PIH Health .......................................................66
Figure 3.14: North Elevation While Bank Was Vacant ................................................................66
Figure 3.15: North Elevation After Landscape Remodel .............................................................67
Figure 4.1: Los Angeles Furniture Center Front Elevation ..........................................................69
Figure 4.2: Advertisement for Panorama City Branch Opening ...................................................73
Figure 4.3: Los Angeles Furniture Center Main Lobby ...............................................................79
Figure 4.4: Rear Elevation as Seen in the Film Stealing Harvard ................................................79
Figure 4.5: Los Angeles Furniture Center Rear Elevation ...........................................................80
Figure 4.6: Los Angeles Furniture Center Lobby with Original Column .....................................81
Figure 4.7: Los Angeles Furniture Center Mezzanine Level ........................................................81
Figure 4.8: Building Shortly After Construction .........................................................................84
Figure 4.9: Los Angeles Furniture Center Front Elevation Including Former Planter Area ........85

vii
Abstract

Bank branch buildings are a ubiquitous aspect of life from the most urban to the most
rural communities. Pre-WWI bank branches have successfully been adaptively reused to become
seed banks, restaurants, galleries, and much more. Bank branches from the midcentury period are
endangered, reaching the end of their usefulness in their original function due to changing
banking practices, even as the general public is beginning to appreciate their design. Midcentury
bank branch buildings are becoming excellent candidates for adaptive reuse, but they also pose
problems that are unique to this typology from this time period.
This thesis looks closely at three case studies of former midcentury bank branch
buildings in the Southern California region that have been reused for new functions. The wide-
ranging cases provide three different examples of conservation, from full rehabilitation, to
exterior-only rehabilitation, to conservation by neglect. The intent of this thesis is to explore best
practices for the reuse of this building type and provide guidance for those looking to be a part of
this process whether from the public sector, private sector, local community, or conservation
profession.

1
Introduction

Any era contains tiers of building types that appear most worthy of preservation. Building
typologies such as grand mansions and global headquarters are the obvious first choice because
they are the most well-known buildings in any particular city. Further down the list are the more
utilitarian structures that are often taken for granted in everyday life. Bank branch buildings fall
into this latter category. This second tier of building is often in danger because they are not
immediately recognized as important, in danger of alteration or demolition before the general
public realizes their importance. At the same time, buildings from the recent past are often the
most difficult and controversial to conserve. At the time of this thesis, the midcentury era,
roughly 1945-1975, is reaching the important 50-year age threshold.
There is disagreement about whether the rise of online banking will make bank branch
buildings redundant, but it is clear that banking practices are changing rapidly.
1
A number of
recent high-profile news stories have also shown that the midcentury bank branch building
typology is in threat of growing losses as formerly low-density urban locations become targets of
redevelopment.
2
The impending loss of the former Lytton Savings in Los Angeles brought this
building type to my attention. Soon I noticed excellent examples of midcentury bank branches
such as the former Great Western Savings in Gardena sitting underused or vacant. In the face of
these pressures, it is imperative to consider ways to reuse this building typology while retaining
this element of our built heritage.
This thesis provides insight into how the midcentury bank branch building typology can
be reused for new purposes while maintaining historic integrity. The groundwork for this study
will be laid in a survey of bank design throughout United States history from Colonial times to
the postwar period. By contrasting with banks from previous periods, the unique characteristics
of bank branches built in the midcentury period become clear. Identifying the character-defining
features of midcentury bank branch buildings shows what is unique about this era architecturally
and also provides insight to conservationists, community members, building owners, or public

1
Brett King, Breaking Banks: The Innovators, Rogues, and Strategists Rebooting Banking Singapore: Wiley, 2014.
2
"Chase Bank / Lytton Savings," Los Angeles Conservancy, https://www.laconservancy.org/issues/chase-bank-
lytton-center.

2
officials of what features must be conserved in order to maintain the historic integrity of the
building type.
Following the survey of bank design, three case studies will be explored. Each case (in
Palm Springs, Montebello, and Panorama City) investigates the context in which the building
was conserved as well as the physical challenges of reusing the building for a new purpose. One
of the critical ways each project will be analyzed is how well it adheres to the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is defined as the, “act or process of making
possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while
preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural
values.”
3
The Standards provide a framework to judge whether each reuse was successful as a
heritage conservation project and in what ways.
Each of these case studies takes place in a unique social context. Each building and level
of reuse are also unique. However, when looked at as a group there are broader lessons to
extrapolate about the adaptive reuse of midcentury bank branch buildings. The final chapter will
discuss the projects’ commonalities and differences and draw conclusions about what aspects of
the conservation process are especially important when embarking on a reuse project with this
building type.

3
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, Revised
by Anne E. Grimmer, 2017, 75.

3
Chapter 1
Architectural History of American Banks: Colonial Period to Postwar

In order to understand midcentury bank design and what features are unique to the era, it
is important to understand how American bank design has evolved over three centuries. The
features that make midcentury-era banks unique and worthy of conservation become clear when
contrasted to earlier bank design.
Banking has existed in one form or another in the United States since before
independence. Throughout the centuries, bank building design has responded to architectural
trends and innovations in materials and design. Additionally, bank designs have responded to
societal views on how money should be handled and stored.
Because of their prominent place in local communities, desire to exude confidence, and
inherent access to capital, banks have often hired the most prominent architects in their region or
the nation to design their buildings.
There were no banks in Colonial America, because the British did not allow them.
4

Leaving aside this tyrannical prohibition, early Americans also did not have banks because they
did not have a need for them. The colonists used the little money they had to buy homes and
land. They did not have easy access to the coins made of various metals that the British used.
Instead, colonists traded in goods such as beaver furs, fish, corn, and tobacco.
5
Banking, by
definition, is a luxury for those with excess capital that need a place to store it. America’s ascent
from a small and scrappy upstart to a leading world superpower can be tracked by the size,
number, and holdings of its banking institutions.
The earliest American banks did not have their own buildings. The nation’s first bank, the
Bank of North America, established in Philadelphia in 1781, occupied a store building owned by
the cashier and did not move into its own building until 1847.
6
(Figure 1.1) Initially, the building
did not have any particular exterior design elements that indicated it was a bank but looked

4
Charles Belfoure, Monuments to Money: The Architecture of American Banks (Jefferson, MO: McFarland, 2005),
9.
5
Murray Rothbard, A History of Money and Banking in the United States: The Colonial Era to World War II
(Auburn, Ala.: Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 2005), 48.
6
Susan W. Wagg et al., Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture (Montreal: Centre Canadien
Darchitecture, 1990), 18.

4
instead like a Philadelphia row house. A counter separating customer space from employee space
is one interior design element that persists to this day.
7

Figure 1.1: Bank of North America (building without signage), n.d. Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Free
Library/Print and Picture Collection; item no. pdcc00730
(https://libwww.freelibrary.org/assets/digital/items/pdcc00730/images/large.jpg).

The first bank that developed its own exterior design concept was the First Bank of the
United States (1795) located in Philadelphia, PA. The designer, Samuel Blodgett, used the Bank
of England as the precedent for the three-story monumental structure with a hexastyle Corinthian
portico.
8
Blodgett had a combination of skills and interests that made him uniquely suited for
bank design. He was an amateur architect as well as a businessman and economist. He had
helped to establish the Union Bank in Boston and the Bank of Columbia in Georgetown. More
important than the design itself, the First Bank of the United States began the tradition, in the
United States, that bank buildings demanded architectural attention and grandeur.
9
This tradition
would continue in the largest cities and smallest towns for the next 150 years.
Benjamin Latrobe’s Bank of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (1797) set a tone for bank
design as temples of finance that persists today.
10
(Figure 1.2) The Bank of Pennsylvania is also

7
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 10.
8
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 15.
9
Wagg et al, Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture, 24.
10
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 17.

5
recognized as the nation’s first Greek Revival building of any function.
11
This style would go on
to become synonymous with bank buildings well into the twentieth century.
12
In the nineteenth
century, the Federal style would also become typical for bank architecture. However, this style
was not singularly used for banks. The Federal style was also common in residential architecture.
After the bank panic of 1830 that caused many closures, a number of the closed banks were then
used as residences.

Figure 1.2: Bank of Pennsylvania, 1800. Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Free Library/Print and Picture
Collection; item no. pdcp00457 (https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/39935).

Despite the popularity and lasting influence of Latrobe’s Bank of Pennsylvania, he did
not only design in the Greek Revival style for this building typology. Latrobe’s Bank of
Philadelphia (1808) was designed in the Gothic Revival style.
13
The two styles have in common
a large and foreboding presence that emanated power. The Bank of Philadelphia building was
abandoned by the bank only twenty-eight years later because “the board was thoroughly tired of

11
Ibid.
12
Donna Reiner, Follow the Money: Identifying the Custom Architecturally Designed Branch Bank (Maryland
Shared Open Access Repository, 2008), 17.
13
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 21.

6
the building. Not only was it badly arranged, but it was now too small.”
14
The Greek Revival
exterior bank design had a simplicity of form inside and out that outlasted other more ornate
styles.
Charles Bulfinch, the first professional architect born in the United States, provided an
alternative to the classicist approach.
15
Bulfinch’s Branch Bank of the United States (1798), in
Boston, was designed in the Federal style. (Figure 1.3) The Bank of the United States branches
were among a select few financial institutions that could afford to open new branches with
monumental architecture. Most banks at the time opened up in former residences or other
existing buildings and often waited years to grow their capital and ensure that the location could
be successful before funding a brand new facility.
16

Figure 1.3: Branch Bank of the United States, date unknown. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons;
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/1798_Bank_OfThe_UnitedStates_StateSt_Bulfinch_Boston
.png).

Even new banks were often residential in design. Banks were owned by wealthy men and
at this time they had their banks designed to make them feel at home.
17
This may seem like it
would dissuade the average customer from entering a bank that felt like they were breaking into

14
Ibid.
15
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 23.
16
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 24.
17
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 27.

7
a lavish palace to get their banking done. However, most banking customers of the time were
also wealthy men accustomed to lavish surroundings. The bank served as much as a club of
wealth as a place of business in these times. The Bank of Alexandria, Virginia (1807) is an
example of one such bank with a residential feel. Designed as a commercial building from the
start, it has many of the characteristics of a townhouse mansion including double hung windows,
keystone lintels, and a large drawing room on the second floor.
18

The end of the charter of the First Bank of the United States in 1811 and the ensuing
turmoil that led to the eventual rise of the Second Bank of the United States (1820) was a
transitional phase in bank design. The Second Bank of the United States was a break from the
then-popular Federal style. (Figure 1.4) William Strickland, who worked under Latrobe, helped
to redefine the Greek Revival style as the architecture of American finance.
19
Strickland modeled
his Doric order design after images he had seen of the Parthenon.
20
The Greek Revival style
began in England in the mid-eighteenth century, and first came to the United States in 1780, with
Latrobe’s Bank of Pennsylvania, but did not become a lasting model for bank design until the
Second Bank of the United States. Unlike other classically influenced architecture of early
America, Strickland’s Greek Revival style for the Second Bank was the first public building
patterned as a strict reproduction of a Greek temple. Strickland was so true to his source, the
Parthenon in Athens, Greece, that his use of the building as a bank almost became a form of
adaptive reuse of a temple structure.
21
Later in life, Strickland would admit that fitting a banking
function into a temple form was one of the hardest projects he ever worked on.

18
Ibid.
19
Reiner, “Follow the Money: Identifying the Custom Architecturally Designed Branch Bank,” 17.
20
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 44.
21
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 45.

8

Figure 1.4: Second Bank of the United States, 1859. Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Free Public
Library/Print and Picture Collection; item no pdcp00969 (http://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/zoom/56393).

In this new era of banks, the cashiers no longer lived above their place of work. In the
case of a branch for the Bank of the United States in Erie, Pennsylvania (1839), the cashier lived
in a townhouse next door designed by William Kelly, the same architect that designed the bank.
This bank followed the Greek Revival trend, with six Doric columns on the portico and even
Greek fretwork in the interior.
22
The bank failed in 1849 and now houses the Erie Museum.
On the western frontier and in the south, towns were busy building their own miniature
Greek temples. In Louisville, Kentucky, James Dakin designed one of the finest banks in the
Greek Revival style. The Bank of Louisville (1834) was not historically accurate to Greek
Revival design, but made up for its lack of accuracy with ingenuity.
23
Dakin used a column-in-
antis design for the portico rather than a full pediment. The blocky framing posts on the portico
give extra strength to the exterior. The bank did not try to stand out like the Acropolis, as did
many other Greek Revival banks, but instead fit slimly between two other buildings while

22
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 46.
23
Wagg et al, Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture, 29.

9
maintaining a sense of space and style, as expressed in the acroterion and other design elements
on the entablature. The interior is equally stylized with an elliptical dome in its ceiling.
Other “country” banks in small towns would also use the Greek Revival style on a
modest scale. The Thompson Bank (1835) was originally built in Connecticut and was later
moved to the living history museum of Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. (Figure 1.5)
The Thompson Bank is a good example of vernacular Greek Revival design tucked far away
from the booming seaports and mining towns. The bank is 20 feet wide by 24 feet long and is
mostly constructed of brick on top of a fieldstone and granite foundation.
24
There was likely no
architect involved, and the builders crafted the four fluted columns out of proportion. The
wooden columns lead up to a wooden false-front parapet rather than a pediment. The small town
nature of the bank is also evident on the interior where there is little separation between public
and private space.

Figure 1.5: Thompson Bank, n.d. Photo courtesy of Chemeketa Community College;
(http://faculty.chemeketa.edu/thodgson/202ON/unit1/OldSturbridgeVillageTour/ThompsonBank.html).

By the mid-1840s, the Greek Revival style was losing favor with Americans. The
oversaturation of the style led Alexander Jackson Davis to claim in 1842 that it was hard for
visitors to American towns to “distinguish between a church, a bank, and a hall of justice,”
25

because they all looked like Greek temples. The Italianate style was popularized in London and

24
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 62.
25
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 70.

10
soon made its way over to the states. Bankers were fond of the style because of its association
with Florence, Italy, the birthplace of modern banking in the fifteenth century. The human-scale
style was also less intimidating than large Greek columns. A welcoming banking atmosphere
began to gain importance as banking became attainable by the growing middle class.
The Italianate era of bank design coincided with the wide availability of banking
magazines. Banking magazines let bankers in small towns across America know what the large
banks in New York were building to house their funds. For their part, the bank designers in New
York continued to follow the example of their counterparts in England. Sir Charles Barry began
the craze for Italianate design with his Italian Renaissance Palazzo-style work for the Travelers’
Club in London in 1829, which was based on the Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence from 1520.
26

Italianate designs became especially useful in urban settings as they did not require as large of a
footprint as Greek Revival designs. Italianate designs, with their tall slender windows and tall
slender columns, also lent themselves to multiple-stories. The Italianate was also adaptable for
rental space. Without the large porticos of the Greek Revival style, the street front space of
Italianate bank buildings could be leased to other businesses and help the bankers recoup the
investment in their new building.
The rise of Italianate design also coincided with the advent of cast iron for commercial
construction. Cast iron worked well in this style as craftsmen were able to pour the large and
intricate building façades into molds rather than having to carve them all from stone.
27
One
example of this pairing was the Bank of London and San Francisco (1873), in San Francisco,
California. The four-story bank featured all four orders of column on its façade, one on each
story. The cast iron façade was even able to withstand the fires that decimated the rest of San
Francisco’s financial district in 1906.
The Victorian Gothic style, used by Latrobe in 1808 for the Bank of Philadelphia, came
back into vogue in the 1860s. The British architectural theorist John Ruskin, who admired the
style for its organic ornamentation and interesting massing, popularized the style in England.
Victorian Gothic made its way first to New York and then spread to many parts of the United
States, often in local bank design.
28
Bankers did not mind the verticality of the towering gothic
banks because it meant more rentable space and offices. There was also less resistance to the

26
Wagg et al, Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture, 41.
27
Wagg et al, Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture, 42.
28
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 90.

11
similarity to cathedral design than there would be in today’s more secular culture. The widely-
recognized master of Victorian Gothic architecture in the United States is Frank Furness. Two of
Furness’s most interesting designs were for the same bank. He designed a diminutive Provident
Life and Trust Company bank in 1879, in Philadelphia. His ostentatious design, with its bulky
ornamentation and complex massing, became an advertisement in itself among a row of much
less ornate banks. (Figure 1.6) Furness then won a competition in 1888 to build a ten-story
addition to his original three-story building.
29
He placed a massive five-story bay on the corner,
placed a three-story tile roof on top, and used alternating levels of brick and stone to create a
horizontal striping effect.

Figure 1.6: Life and Trust Company Bank (fifth from right). Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Free Public
Library/Print and Picture Collection; item no pdcl00121 (http://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/zoom/2646).

Henry Hobson Richardson created an architectural style that originated in the United
States. Although the Richardsonian Romanesque style is a reinterpretation of eleventh century
Roman building design, it is unique for not originating in modern-day Europe before crossing the
pond to New York. Richardson only actually designed one bank in his career, and not in his
eponymous style.
30
However, many others used his new style to design bank buildings.
Richardson’s use of large arches on top of squat columns and asymmetrical massing can be seen

29
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 96.
30
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 104.

12
in banks such as Bruce Price’s Second National Bank (1893) in Cumberland, Maryland. Price
used an array of arches and an asymmetrical bay window to make the corner bank feel much
larger than its two-story height. Richardsonian Romanesque, which dominated bank design at the
end of the nineteenth century, was propelled upward by the advent of steel framing. For this
reason, large Richardsonian commercial blocks can be seen along major city streets all over the
country. Soon, the eclectic range of styles that supplanted one another and often overlapped
would be distilled to one style that dominated bank design in the early twentieth century.
The rigid styles of the 1850s to 1890s were replaced by a general style known as
neoclassical or classical revival. It was as if the rapid style shifts of the preceding fifty years
were a trial run for what a bank should look like. In the end, popular cultured decided that a bank
should look like a temple. Although banks are no longer designed to look like ancient temples
today, the stereotype of the bank as a neoclassical temple lives on. The period from the 1890s to
the 1920s was a golden era for bank design. The mid-1890s saw a bank panic that led to bankers
desiring more conservative buildings to ensure trust and comfort with their customers.
31
The
following years brought great economic prosperity to the country and an explosion of new banks
being built. It is because of this building boom that neoclassical banks can still be found along
many Main Streets across America.
One major influence on the shift towards Neoclassicism was the 1893 Chicago World’s
Fair. The fair’s chief architect Daniel Burnham said “the influence of the Exposition on
architecture will be to inspire a reversion toward the pure ideal of the ancients.”
32
The influence
of the fair was felt throughout architecture and especially on bank design, which already had an
inclination toward classical forms. The preference for classical bank design was then spread by
banking magazines. Stanford White’s Bowery Savings Bank design of 1894 was one of the first
and most influential neoclassical bank designs.
33
(Figure 1.7) The large sculpted pediment was
supported by four massive Corinthian columns. During this time banks began to build upwards.
They would often go up to three or four stories for their own use in big cities, but soon the land
in prominent office districts became too expensive to afford on their own. In order to collect
rental income, banks began building even taller skyscrapers and renting out the offices above.

31
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 128.
32
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 127.
33
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 148.

13

Figure 1.7: Bowery Savings Bank, 1893. Photo courtesy of Museum of the City of New York; image
90.44.1.1008 (https://collections.mcny.org/Doc/MNY/Media/TR3/2/2/c/0/MNY210365.jpg).

In most contexts, skyscraper banks were still rare. In cities and towns all over the
country, banks were often one of the most prominent buildings in town, but still only one or two
stories tall. These banks often used corner sites to their advantage with grand entrances where the
streets met. Even in small towns like Carbondale, Pennsylvania, architects and builders knew the
most up to date building styles from reading architectural periodicals. The Carbondale Miners
and Mechanics Bank (1915) was based on published images of the Knickerbocker Trust (1909)
in New York.
34
Banks often had more capital than any other business in small towns and could
afford the most prominent parcels of land with the most striking and expensive buildings.
The advent of branch banking in the early 1900s began the erosion of America’s ideal of
a bank. Up to this point, most towns had one or two local banks that only had to compete with
each other for customers.
35
Local banks lobbied congress to ban branch banking and keep the

34
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 180.
35
City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA: Los Angeles Historic
Resources Survey Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Commercial Development, 1859-1980:
Neighborhood Commercial Development, 1880 -1980, (Los Angeles, CA, 2017), 68-78.

14
large urban banks out of their towns. Federal legislation in 1865 limited national banks to one
office. At that time, most states also banned branch banking. This began to change when, in the
1920s, states began allowing state-chartered banks to open branches. A.P. Giannini and his Bank
of Italy, later Bank of America, in California was the first bank to branch out on a large scale. By
1925, the Bank of Italy had ninety-eight offices in sixty-five California towns.
36
Early on, branch
banking did not create a large amount of new bank architecture. Many branches opened up in
former local bank buildings. Post World War II suburbanization would be the catalyst for branch
bank construction on a wide scale.
In the midst of the Classical Revival period, a contingent of architects in the Midwest
began to experiment with bank design. The Prairie School was influenced by the low rolling hills
of the Midwest and the low slung buildings that suited them. Frank Lloyd Wright was the leader
of the Prairie School and lead architect on the City National Bank (1910) in Mason City, Iowa.
This bank did not incorporate the classical columns and pediment that were ubiquitous at the
time. Wright provides a link to the Modern period.
Neoclassical bank design did not disappear all at once. The stereotype of banks as
temples of finance that reflect our connection to the great thinkers of antiquity was and continues
to be deeply ingrained in the American psyche. Even in the early twentieth century, some critics
were commenting that the strong and dignified Greek Revival design was also cold and
forbidding. The cold austerity of the Greek Revival would eventually be traded for the inviting
glass exteriors of the midcentury era, but before that International Style became truly
international and took hold of American architecture, there was a transitional period pre-WWII
that would later be called Art Deco. Art Deco took many of the same forms of classical
buildings, stripped away the excess, smoothed out the lines, and resulted in a less forbidding
exterior. One of the firms that defined this era was Walker and Gillette in New York. Speaking
of the firms National City Bank of New York Broadway Branch (1927), Matlock Price observed
“it now appears that columns are not necessary at all, and a bank can look dignified and
impressive entirely by virtue of fine proportions and an essentially modern sophistication.”
37

(Figure 1.8) That bank had no projecting cornices or ornate columns. A subdued classical
influence can be seen in the limestone block materials as well as the large glass openings that are

36
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 192.
37
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 214.

15
encased by what appear to be four classical columns that have been squared off and stripped of
their ornament.

Figure 1.8: National City Bank of New York Broadway Branch, 1928. Photo courtesy of Museum of the
City of New York; image 93.1.1.799 (https://collections.mcny.org/Doc/MNY/Media/TR3/1/e/f/6/MNY36030.jpg).

The financial crash and ensuing Great Depression that began in 1929 caused an abrupt
stop to bank architecture. While very few banks were constructed during this time, architects
continued to theorize and architectural styles continued to evolve. By the time the United States
reemerged from the downturn in the late 1930s, modernism was overtaking neoclassicism and
Art Deco as the style of choice.
Public mistrust for banking institutions was at an all-time high after the Great Depression.
Bankers wanted to shed ties with their stereotypical image in order to form a new relationship
with customers. The stereotypical image of banks as temples of finance had negative
connotations after the depression because many people had only had bad relationships with their
bank, whether they lost all their money and owed money to the bank or the bank went under and
owed its former customers. Modernism was a way for banks to have a new trustworthy image

16
based on technological advancements. Banks still did not have large amounts of capital available
for completely new buildings but instead, initially, updated their image with thoughtful remodels
of old buildings.
One interior renovation that many banks made was to reduce the teller window. The large
wooden inset windows of traditional banks were replaced with small glass dividers that allowed
better connection with customers. This was the beginning of a shift in how bank owners thought
of their buildings. In 1945, a panel of bank owners expressed their opinion that “the bank
building as well as the banker, must get rid of the ‘stiff collar and fishy eye’ and meet the
customer at least as engagingly as a first-rate retail store.”
38
Banking, which was once practiced
by a small circle of wealthy individuals in banks that resembled their own homes, was becoming
an everyday event for the now-dominant middle class. Bank design reflected this
democratization of the banking act with large street-facing windows that welcomed customers in
and well-lit modern interiors that catered to a popular aesthetic. One happy coincidence for
bankers that occurred with modern bank design is that the materials were less expensive. Banks
no longer had to import heavy blocks of stone from Italy or Indiana, they could get by with thin
metal beams and large plates of glass.
After the building materials restrictions of WWII were lifted and America had truly come
out of the Great Depression, there was a boom in banking and bank building. Almost all of these
new bank buildings used the modernist or International Style. The Citizens National Trust and
Savings Bank (1948) by Stiles Clement Associated Architects & Engineers was a five-story grid
of large glass plates incased in a stone and brick building. Although banks had flirted with glass
curtain wall modernism previously, the Manufacturers Bank (1954) designed largely by Gordon
Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) in New York City, is considered the
pioneering shift in bank design toward openness.
39
(Figure 1.9) The four-story façade was
encased in 13,000 square feet of glass, broken up only by thin steel columns that looked more
structural than aesthetic.
40
The largest sheets of glass were 10 feet by 22 feet, a half-inch thick,
and weighed over 1,500 pounds each. The most radical aspect of the building was the vault,

38
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 244.
39
Anne-Christine Frandsen et al., “From Money Storage to Money Store: Openness and Transparency in Bank
Architecture,” Business History 55, no. 5 (July 1, 2013), 696.
40
Ibid.

17
which was completely visible from outside the bank.
41
The vault, although highly secured with
the most modern technology, was little more than a showpiece. The inception of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1933 meant that banks were insured for almost any
physical losses they had. Banks no longer needed to provide the service of having the strongest
vaults in town, but instead differentiated themselves by providing the best customer service.
Banks did not begin to use glass in the midcentury period solely to instill trust in their customers.
They also wanted to change the relationship that middle class customers had with their money.
The banks wanted to be seen less like commercial safes where money was stored away, but as a
money store where cash was traded back and forth with the same facility it is in the
neighborhood corner store.
42
The more activity banks could encourage from their customers, the
more money the banks could accumulate from fees and investments. The design also had future
adaptability in mind. The president of the Manufacturer’s Trust Bank, Horace Flanigan, worked
through the Great Depression and knew the difficulty of leasing closed bank buildings for new
uses. Flanigan advised that SOM design the bank as to be easily convertible to a new use.
43
As
this was the first glass curtain wall bank branch building and inspired many others that came
after it, it can be extrapolated that midcentury bank branch buildings have adaptive reuse as a
core design element.

41
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 250.
42
Frandsen, “From Money Storage To Money Store: Openness And Transparency In Bank
Architecture,” 701.
43
Frandsen, “From Money Storage To Money Store: Openness And Transparency In Bank
Architecture,” 697.

18

Figure 1.9: Manufacturers Bank, date unknown. Photo courtesy of Best of the Bank (http://best-of-the-
bank.blogspot.com/2015/07/manufacturers-hanover-corporation.html).

Soon after the Manufacturers Bank was unveiled, the “fish bowl” bank took over bank
design. In some cases, fish bowl design simply meant featuring glass walls, but in other cases
like the Harbor Savings and Loan (1963), designed by Young and Remington in Los Angeles,
the banks were actually large cylinders encased by entirely glass walls. Another fish bowl bank
was Skidmore Owing and Merrill’s branch of the American Trust Company in San Francisco.
The branch was cylindrical and featured a folding roof and glass walls. Other banks followed the
example of Mies van der Rohe and designed banks of glass boxes and exposed steel beams.
Craig Ellwood’s South Bay Bank (1957) in Manhattan Beach, CA used modern technologies for
sun control into the bank such as heat absorbing wire glass and aluminum bars on the window
walls for sun control.
44

Midcentury Bank Branch Character-Defining Features:
The design of branch banks in the midcentury period shifted dramatically from branch

44
Belfoure, Monuments to Money, 257.

19
buildings in previous eras in clear ways. In Preservation Brief 17 the National Parks Service
(NPS) defines character-defining features as elements that include “the overall shape of the
building, its materials, craftsmanship, decorative details, interior spaces and features, as well as
the various aspects of its site and environment.”
45
The NPS then devises a three step process to
figure out the important characteristics of a building. These three steps involve analyzing the
overall visual character, visual character at close range, and interior visual character of a
building. There are distinct character-defining features of this building typology that can be
analyzed using this three step process to determine what features should be conserved before
beginning a reuse project. The character defining features of banks from this era were influenced
by new materials and technologies in combination with a new resolve by banks following the
Great Depression to put the customer experience at a premium.
Overall Visual Character
The overall visual character of a building is the distinguishing physical aspects that can be
seen without focusing on its details.
46
Setting is a character-defining feature of midcentury bank
design. A location at the corner of popular thoroughfares was a feature of banks long before the
midcentury period. However, there is a difference in banks from this era in exactly how they are
situated on the corner. Bank branches in the prewar period were often situated on prominent
corners with little to no setback from the public way. (Figure 1.10) In a pedestrian-oriented
environment, banks wanted to be as easily accessible from the sidewalk as possible because that
is where their customers entered. Neighboring businesses were often built with little to no
setback from bank branches in this period in order to maximize the usable area of small lots in
the urban core. In contrast, bank branches in the midcentury period were setback from the public
way and had larger setbacks between neighboring businesses. The branches were setback from
the sidewalk because customers were no longer expected to enter from the street. Instead, banks
expected many customers to come by automobile and enter through doorways facing the parking
lot. Instead of locating banks directly adjoining the public sidewalk, many branch buildings were
setback and incorporated landscaping.

45
U.S. Department of the Interior - National Park Service, 1988 (revised for Internet), Preservation Briefs 17 -
Architectural Character - Identifying the Visual Aspects of Historic Buildings as an Aid to the Preservation of Their
Character, (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office), https://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-
preserve/briefs/17-architectural-character.htm.
46
Ibid.

20

Figure 1.10: Security-First National Bank of North Hollywood, 1948. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles
Public Library/Valley Times Collection; item no. 00124206
(https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/56391/rec/9).

The widespread use of the automobile in this period led to the incorporation of large
parking lots in almost all branch banks. Previously, branch banks were located in walkable urban
areas. The suburbanization of America in the postwar period led to the construction of branch
banks in newly developed automobile-oriented suburban neighborhoods. Previous banks relied
on customers traveling by foot and streetcar. Suburban branch banks expected almost all of their
customers to arrive in their personal automobile, and supplied parking lots to meet those needs.
The drive-in teller window was another result of automobile dominance. (Figure 1.11)

21

Figure 1.11: Security-First National Bank of Colton, date unknown. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public
Library/Security Pacific National Bank Collection; item no 00072658
(https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/114732/rec/287).

Midcentury Bank Branch Character-Defining Features:
- Rear Parking Lots
- Setback from the public way
- Drive-in teller window
- Landscaping

Close Range Visual Character
There are some character defining features of midcentury branch banks that become
legible at a shorter distance from the building. New technologies and building materials were
available in this period and show themselves in the bank exteriors. Bank buildings from earlier
periods relied on robust masonry columns for support. These support systems took up large
sections of wall space and reduced the possible size of window openings. (Figure 1.12)

22

Figure 1.12: Farmers and Merchants Bank of Watts, 1948. Building constructed 1910. Photo courtesy of Los
Angeles Public Library/ Shades of L.A. Collection; image 00002048
(https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/76250/rec/742).

In the midcentury period, steel frame construction revolutionized how bank branches
supported themselves structurally. The thin steel systems allowed for almost wall-to-wall
windows with only thin metal surrounds. The advances in structural materials also drove changes
in exterior cladding. In earlier periods, the visible exterior materials played a role in supporting
the building structurally. With the advent of steel frame construction, the structural elements of
the building were not large enough to take up an entire wall. Since structural support was no
longer a concern, designers typically used plate glass walls or incorporated a decorative material
such as travertine or flagstone. (Figure 1.13) In addition to decorative cladding materials, many
bank owners and designers incorporated artwork on exterior walls.

23

Figure 1.13: Boulevard Bank Branch Opening, 1963. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library/Valley Times
Collection; image 00123740 (https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/56420/rec/308).

Midcentury Bank Branch Character Defining Features:
- Plate glass walls
- Non-structural and decorative cladding
- Exterior artwork

Interior Visual Character
In addition to the trip to the branch location by automobile, banks in this period focused
on the customer experience inside the bank itself. New techniques and materials, such as steel
frame construction, allowed for the design of large open lobbies and waiting areas. Steel frame
construction allowed for the elimination of structural columns within the interior. The open
spaces, combined with the use of plate glass walls, created bright and inviting bank interiors that
contrasted with banks in previous era that were crowded with columns and had less fenestration
resulting in dark interiors. (Figure 1.14) In addition to the open lobby, the customer experience
changed dramatically at the teller counter. In previous eras, tellers were shielded from their
customers by large intricately designed teller windows. In the midcentury period, teller windows
all but disappeared. This is likely due to an increased desire by banks to have a friendly
connection with their customers, but also because of an increased sophistication in security
technology such as alarm systems. Other customer experience features include artwork on the

24
interior walls of the building and meeting rooms available to local community groups. (Figure
1.15)

Figure 1.14: Bank of Lankershim, 1910. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library/Valley Times Collection;
image 00128770 (https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/59758/rec/2).

Figure 1.15: Security-Pacific National Bank of Beverly Hills, n.d. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public
Library/Security Pacific National Bank Collection; image 00019415
(https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/89671/rec/9).

25

Midcentury Bank Branch Character Defining Features:
- Open lobby
- Undivided teller counter
- Interior artwork
- Large amounts of natural and manufactured light
- Community meeting room

Midcentury Branch Bank Reuse:
The design of bank buildings in the United States has evolved throughout history. A
dramatic shift in the design of this building typology took place in the midcentury period. A
combination of factors including new building technologies, public distrust of bankers post-Great
Depression, and an increase in middle class banking customers led to a shift in bank architecture.
These factors transformed banks from bulky temples of finance to transparent, light-filled, and
inviting spaces where customer experience was put at a premium. This shift in bank design is
apparent in a number of interior and exterior character-defining features. In this thesis, these
character-defining features will be useful tools to judge how successful the three adaptive reuse
case studies were from a heritage conservation perspective. The three case studies will also show
how these character-defining features are conducive to the reuse of this building typology.

26
Chapter 2
Santa Fe Savings and Loan: Palm Springs Art Museum

The former Santa Fe Savings and Loan Association branch building on South Palm
Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, CA is a lauded modernist design in a city which boasts an
impressive collection of midcentury modern architecture.
47
Since its reuse in 2011, it not only
showcases the design legacy of Palm Springs in its form but also showcases that same legacy
within its walls as the Palm Springs Art Museum (PSAM) Architecture and Design Center
Edwards Harris Pavilion. (Figure 2.1) The bank stood empty or underused for years before it
found new life as an exhibition space.

Figure 2.1: Main Entrance to the PSAM Architecture and Design Center, 2018. Photo by author.
The Building
Completed in 1960, the bank is an excellent example of the influence that European
modernist designers had on American architects. Mies Van Der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion of
1929 is the clear precedent for Palm Springs architect E. Stewart Williams’s design. (Figure 2.2)

47
Marmol Radziner, California Office of Historic Preservation 2016 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award
Nomination Form, 4.

27
A flat roof with a broad cantilevered overhang sits above glass walls in both designs. This
architectural movement was known as the International Style, named after an exhibition at the
Museum of Modern Art in 1932 titled Modern Architecture: International Exhibition.
48
The
proponents of the new and modern International Style and its lack of applied ornamentation were
known as modernists. As with other architectural styles that originated in Europe, it took years
for the style to reach California.

Figure 2.2: Reconstruction of the Barcelona Pavilion, 2011. Photo by Mary Ann Sullivan courtesy of Bluffton
University; (https://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/spain/barcelona/mies/rthalf.jpg).
Williams adhered to many of the modernist design tenets of the International Style. He
used steel-frame construction. Many of the walls are plate glass, making the steel construction a
central part of the design by exposing the steel beams that support the structure and including
steel posts outside of the wall planes. Broad cantilevered overhangs are mirrored by the concrete
slab base. The two horizontal planes draw attention to the glass walls in the center. The building
appears to float four feet above the sidewalk due to the slab base cantilevering over the ground.
(Figure 2.3) Because the vertical steel columns were placed outside of the banking area, the
interior is completely open. Williams employed the modernist idea that parts should appear “off
the shelf,” in that they follow rational dimensions, even when custom designed. Spurning the

48
Peter-Tolin Baker, “International Style,” Design: Retail 26, no. 7 (August 1, 2014): 32.

28
intricate detailing of earlier architectural styles such as Italianate or Art Deco, the modernists
used materials where beauty lay in the simplicity.

Figure 2.3: Western Elevation of the PSAM Architecture and Design Center, 2018. Photo by author.
After completion of the project, Williams submitted the design for the R.S. Reynolds
Memorial Award.
49
In the application, Williams put forth six tenets that give a sense of his
design ethos. They were as follows:
to arrange the client’s needs in the simplest most logical plan; to select a structural system
best suited to the desired spatial outcome; to design at a human scale; to pay “infinite” care to
details to promote unity; to create an environment that elevates the human spirit; and, within
the budget, to give the client the most professional job.
50

Through the lens of this design ethos, the Santa Fe Savings and Loan was a perfect synthesis
of Williams’s ideas about architecture. The bank is logically and simply designed for a bank,
with no excess ornament to distract from this use. The steel structural system allowed an open
banking space. The flat roofed single-story structure was welcoming to customers, and the
building was designed to project a high-style image on a local bank branch budget.
The bank building was used by the Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan Association until
1980, when the company merged with Pacific Federal Savings and Loan Association. It then
became the American Savings Bank. Most recently, before purchase by the museum, the

49
Sidney Williams. An Eloquent Modernist: E. Stewart Williams, Architect, (Palm Springs, California: Palm Springs
Art Museum, 2014), 99.
50
Ibid.

29
building at 300 S. Palm Canyon Drive held the offices of real estate developer John Wessman.
Wessman bought the building in 1997.
51

The Conservation Battle
In January 2007, four years before the eventual sale of the building to the Palm Springs
Art Museum, the PSPF weighed in on a potential development project on the site of the former
bank by its then-owner John Wessman. The PSPF is a non-profit organization whose mission is
to “educate and promote public awareness of the importance of preserving the historical
resources and architecture of the city of Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley area.”
52

Wessman has been a builder in the Coachella Valley for as long as the Santa Fe Savings
and Loan building has been in existence. Wessman moved to the area in 1960 after growing up
in Hemet, CA on the western side of the San Jacinto Mountains. He began his career in the
Coachella Valley with the building team of Warren Coble and Arthur Press. In 1964, after a year
of working for the pair, he bought into the corporation and then one year later he bought out
Arthur Press.
53
In 1972, Wessman began working independently and soon put his stamp on large
swaths of the Coachella Valley.
Wessman developed a wide range of building types from medical office buildings to
single-family subdivisions and restaurants. When Wessman bought the bank building in 1997 he
envisioned it as a restaurant stating he “thought it was a bookend to downtown, a fabulous
restaurant site because downtown stops at Baristo (street).”
54
However, he instead used the
building as the offices for his real estate business.
In 2005, the City of Palm Springs rezoned the downtown area to encourage development.
This rezone principally permitted a higher density mixed-use project on the bank site. After
learning of the rezone, Wessman realized the property could gain more value as a larger mixed-

51
Palm Springs Art Museum, "Palm Springs Art Museum Purchases Historically Important Santa Fe Federal
Savings and Loan Building in Downtown Palm Springs," News release, (Palm Springs, CA, 2011).
52
Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, http://www.pspreservationfoundation.org/mission.html.
53
"The Developers - John Wessman," Palm Springs Life Magazine, (May 1980).
54
Carla Breer Howard, "Something for the Ages," Desert Magazine, (September, 2011): 25.

30
use project than as a single-story corner commercial building. (Figure 2.4)

Figure 2.4: Proposed Baristo Loft Project. Image courtesy of Palm Springs Preservation Foundation.
The proposed project that the PSPF felt threatened the bank did not propose demolition of
the building. Wessman’s Baristo Lofts project proposed a four-story mixed-use development
with ground floor retail and nineteen condominiums above. The bank building was to be
adaptively reused as a restaurant in the Baristo Lofts project and he proposed ten feet of
separation between the two buildings. The PSPF felt that the proposed loft building was sited too
close to the bank building. The Palm Springs Architectural Advisory Committee agreed with this
analysis and ordered a new study by the developer incorporating the changes. Wessman
proposed nomination of the bank building as a Class 1 historic site by the city, but proposed it as
an element of the lofts project plan. This was an unlikely ask as the project went against aspects
of the definition of a Class 1 site. A City of Palm Springs Class 1 historic site is defined as a:
Structure/site qualified for city designation; may be qualified at the federal, state and/or
county level. Archival file will be maintained. Structure/site may not be modified nor
objects removed without the approval of the city council; usage may be limited by the
City Council to the extent that it may impair the integrity of the site. Site will be plaqued.
(Intended for use when the structure or site still exists as it did during the historical period
or is restorable).
55

The PSPF argued that the proximity of the proposed loft building would modify and
impair the integrity of the site. In August 2008, the PSPF wrote a letter to the City that claimed
by tying the nomination to the project, the bank building was held “hostage” by the loft project
and that this was not in the best interest of the historic building in the long term or the citizens of

55
Palm Springs Municipal Code § 8.05.125.

31
Palm Springs.
56
One of the other major concerns was proposed outdoor seating for the restaurant
in the bank building they felt would compromise its floating quality.
57

In January 2009, the Palm Springs Planning Commission voted 4-1 in favor of the
Baristo Lofts project, with an updated plan that did not include the outdoor seating. However,
over the next month, the PSPF continued to spread word about their disapproval of the Baristo
Lofts project. After sending out a message to their membership, eighty concerned citizens
attended the City Council hearing for the final approval of the project.
58
At the last minute, the
Wessman Development team withdrew their item from the agenda, leaving a room full of
preservation activists without a project to oppose. Presumably, Wessman was hoping to move
the meeting to another date and wait for the controversy to subside. In May 2009, the Palm
Springs City Council voted 3-2 to make the former Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building
a historic site on its own without tying it to the Baristo Lofts project, as Wessman had proposed.
This ensured that the integrity of the bank would remain intact. Erik Williams, son of the
architect E. Stewart Williams was in attendance and called the building one of his father’s best
designs.
59

After two years, no progress was made in approving the Baristo Lofts project. Likely,
Wessman knew that any attempt to bring the project to City Council for approval would bring a
large contingent of protesters and that the new historic designation on the site would make a
multi-story condo project just feet away very difficult.

After the Battle Was Won: Path to Conservation
The Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building was officially saved from the loft
project by the Palm Springs Art Museum. However, the organization is not a monolith, and it
took a handful of individuals putting their own time, money, and dedication on the line to get a
positive outcome. It also took a bit of luck. It did not hurt the bank’s chances of survival that its
architect E. Stewart Williams’ daughter-in-law, Sidney Williams, was the museum’s curator of
architecture and design, but this fact alone is not what saved the bank. When the preservation

56
William Kopelk to City of Palm Springs Planning Commission. August 12, 2008,
http://www.pspreservationfoundation.org/success.html.
57
Ibid.
58
"Santa Fe Federal Savings & Loan - 300 South Palm Canyon Drive," Palm Springs Preservation Foundation,
http://www.pspreservationfoundation.org/success.html.
59
Ibid.

32
commission effectively ended Wessman’s plan of building lofts, by assigning historic
designation to the bank, Sidney Williams got an idea for another use for the building. Williams
realized it would make a great exhibition space for the museum. Williams also saw the potential
of the building’s large basement space for art storage.
60
The nearby main Palm Springs Art
Museum building, which was also designed by E. Stewart Williams in 1976, was running out of
storage space. Additionally, interest in the rich midcentury architectural heritage of Palm Springs
was coming to a head around this time. The museum’s Architecture & Design Council was the
museum’s largest focus group with 378 members. The interest in architectural work as the
business of an art museum was growing.
61
The Palm Springs Museum of Art already held two
architecturally significant buildings in their collection: an Albert Frey residence up the hill from
the museum and the E. Stewart Williams-designed original museum building.
Sydney Williams approached the museum board of trustees about the idea and they were
also interested in the possibility. The main museum is downtown but is also off the beaten path
enough that tourists could not find the building without specifically looking for it. A space right
on Palm Canyon Drive, a main thoroughfare in Palm Springs, would bring more exposure to the
museum. Harold Meyerman, chairman of the museum board, gave Williams permission to go
ahead with the project as long as she could find funding. Maintaining the existing museum
building was already a challenge financially.
62

Though she had never performed the role of a museum building finance manager,
Williams was passionate enough about the project to try to attract donors. She found a natural
match with three donors: Beth Edwards Harris, Trina Turk, and Jonathan Skow. Harris, an
architectural historian, had been aware of the building for years, since John Wessman bought it.
Harris is well known in the local preservation world for her restoration of Richard Neutra’s 1946
Kaufmann House. The high profile public auction of the Kaufmann house in 2007 is said to be
one of the driving factors in the revived local interest in midcentury modern architecture.
63
Trina
Turk and Jonathan Skow, a fashion designer and photographer respectively, had taken on
preservation projects across Southern California. In Palm Springs, they rebuilt and restored the
badly fire-damaged Ship of the Desert. For that project they employed the Santa Monica

60
Howard, "Something For The Ages," 26.
61
Ibid.
62
Howard, "Something For The Ages," 27.
63
Howard, "Something For The Ages," 25.

33
architecture firm Marmol Radziner, whom they would call on years later to restore the Santa Fe
Savings and Loan bank.
John Wessman, the developer and owner of the bank, had had it appraised at $3.5
million. Had the building not been put on the local historic register, Wessman felt the property
could have been worth closer to $10 million.
64
Wessman’s analysis was reductive, and did not
consider the incentives that could have been available to increase the lower appraisal via
conservation easements or historic tax credits. Ultimately, Turk and Skow donated $1 million for
the acquisition of the bank building. Harris contributed another $1.5 million toward securing the
sale. Wessman was not ready to easily give the bank up for a million dollars less than it was
appraised for. It took negotiations from Harold Matzner, the museum’s vice chair, to finally
bring Wessman to sell the property for what the museum could offer. The final sales price was
$2.1 million. The economy also played a part in the sale. Once the economic downturn was in
full effect, Wessman realized that he would not be able to recoup what he had initially planned
from a condominium project.
Another way to raise money for the work to reuse the bank was to sell naming rights for
various pieces of the building. (Figure 2.5) The Palm Springs Art Museum created a booklet with
renderings of the proposed design annex and a history of the building and E. Stewart Williams.
Four different parts of the buildings were offered for naming: the Architecture and Design
Collection Vault ($350,000), the Exterior Landscaping and Restoration ($200,000), the
Curatorial Office ($100,000), and the Museum Design Store in the former bank vault
($100,000).
65

64
Howard, "Something For The Ages," 28.
65
Greg Polzin, Fundraising Booklet, (Palm Springs, CA: Palm Springs Art Museum, 2009).

34

Figure 2.5: Desert Landscaping on North Elevation, 2018. Photo by author.

The Reuse
Years of deferred maintenance and a lack of any major upgrades was a boon for
preservationists as it meant that many significant features were not “upgraded” over the years.
Architectural services were provided pro bono by Los Angeles-based architecture firm Marmol
Radziner. The bank was the first experience for Marmol Radziner to strictly be the architects on
a project and not also act as general contractor.
66
The project contractors D.W. Johnston, had
experience in rehabilitation projects and a “passion for restoring original architecture and
bringing the vibrancy back to historical buildings and properties.”
67

Deferred maintenance also meant the building did not meet current building and safety
codes. Some small changes had been made to the building, which needed to be addressed with
the reuse. One of the original anodized aluminum panels on the east side of the building was
dismantled and stolen, leading a later tenant to put tinted film over all of the glazing.
68

Landscape and retaining walls that encased the vegetation on the north and west sides of the

66
Leo Marmol, Modern Snapshots from the Field, Getty Center, Los Angeles, December 8, 2015. March 21, 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR6no4Fsjog.
67
"Historical Renovations," D.W. Johnston Construction, Inc, http://www.dwjohnston.com/historical-renovations/.
68
"Restoration of the 1960 Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan Building," Docomomo, (December 2, 2015)
http://www.docomomo-us.org/news/restoration-of-the-1960-santa-fe-federal-savings-and-loan-building.

35
building had been removed and the landscaping itself replaced with bright green turf. Returning
the landscape wall and desert plants was essential to returning the “desert” aspects to the famed
Desert Modern building. However, the landscaping was not returned right away. The museum
bought the building in 2009 and opened in 2010 and did not finish the landscape renovation until
2012.
The bank branch building was conserved using the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for
Rehabilitation.
69
Rehabilitation in this context is defined as “the act or process of making
possible a compatible use for a property through repair, alterations, and additions while
preserving those portions or features which convey its historical, cultural, or architectural
values.”
70
This is the most common form of conservation for adaptive reuse projects as it
foresees the need for flexibility when reusing a space while encouraging the most historically
sensitive reuse project. This level of conservation was required because the site is listed by the
City of Palm Springs as a Class 1 Historic Site. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards, also
known as “the Standards” must be followed as a requirement of the National Park Service of any
project that receives federal funding. Additionally, many state and local governments use the
Standards as guidelines for heritage conservation projects. The Standards consist of ten
guidelines that encourage best practices in heritage conservation. One of the measures of success
for the three case studies in this thesis is how well they incorporated the Standards into their
conservation work. Each of the ten of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation
are listed below with examples and critique from the Santa Fe Savings and Loan reuse project.

1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal
change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces and spatial relationships.
71

The new use as a museum space adheres to this standard. The property is not used as it
was historically, but the museum use required minimal structural changes to the interior and
exterior spaces. The museum use required less infrastructure than the original bank use. The

69
Marmol Radziner, California Office of Historic Preservation 2016 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award
Nomination Form.
70
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 75.
71
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 76.

36
museum was able to move in and retain most character-defining features including the bank vault
and drive-thru teller window. (Figure 2.6, 2.7) The cubicles and furniture that are visible in
documentation from the bank use just after construction are removed, but these features were not
permanent features of the building. The site and environment of the building were not impacted
except to attempt to reverse a change that was made by the previous owner by incorporating
desert landscaping into the exterior planters.

Figure 2.6: Bank Vault Reused as the Museum Gift Shop, 2018. Photo by author.

37

Figure 2.7: Drive-Up Teller Window, 2018. Photo by author.

2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive
materials or alteration of features, spaces and spatial relationships that characterize a property
will be avoided.

One of the choices that Marmol Radziner made with the site plan was removing parking
spaces in front of the main entrance on the south side of the building. The parking spaces were
replaced with a concrete slab and planters. The removal of parked cars in the space allows
anyone entering the building an unobstructed view of the entire south façade and makes the entry
more formal. The large at-grade parking lot is a character-defining feature of midcentury branch
bank sites, but this setting was not greatly impacted by the removal of a small number of parking
spaces. The Palm Springs reuse project retained character defining features by keeping the
majority of the terrazzo flooring, the drive-thru teller window, the bank vault, and the open
customer area.

38
Marmol related in a Getty talk in 2012 that one of the difficulties of conserving
Modernist buildings is the lack of existing materials. The architectural concept of Modernism
revolved around simplicity and pared down materials. For this reason, removing any of the
materials has a larger impact. Similarly, much of the innovation in Modern design had to do with
new technologies and systems. After years of deferred maintenance, saving these systems can
involve actually removing the historic fabric itself. There is a decision to be made about whether
the system or material is more important. Many times it is possible to repair the system with new
materials or preserve the materials and leave a failing system but is difficult to do both.
72
The
structural character-defining features of the Santa Fe Savings and Loan branch building include
the flat roof, deep overhangs, steel frame, reinforced concrete construction, and plate glass
walls.
73
Because the character-defining features of the bank are relatively few in number and
largely structural to the building, the team had to save all that what was there.

3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that
create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements
from other historic properties, will not be undertaken.

The Palm Springs case study involved elements of reconstruction, particularly for the
exterior landscaping. However, the landscaping was not conjectural because detailed
photographs of the exterior existed from just after construction that were used for reference. The
architects used archival images made by Julius Shulman in 1962, soon after the bank was
completed. Archival images show the evolution of the front landscaping over three distinct eras
of the building. (Figure 2.8) The archival images were the substantiating evidence used to
recreate the landscape. Likewise, the anodized metal sun screen that was created for the project
was not conjectural because one from the original set of two was extant. When designing a
replacement metal feature the U.S. Department of the Interior recommends, “It may be an
accurate restoration based on documentary and physical evidence, but only when the historic

72
Leo Marmol, Speech, Approaches to Conserving Modern Architecture in the USA, Getty Center, Los Angeles,
June 7, 2012. July 17, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR6no4Fsjog.
73
National Register of Historic Places, Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan Association, Palm Springs, Riverside,
CA, 16000892.

39
feature to be replaced coexisted with the features currently on the building.”
74
The anodized
metal sun screen was an integral part of the design of the original bank building and can be
recreated based on physical and documentary evidence.

74
U.S. Department of the Interior. The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards For The Treatment Of Historic
Properties With Guidelines For Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 75.

40

Figure 2.8: Entrance Landscaping at Three Points in Time. (top) Photo from © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty
Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)/ Julius Shulman photography archive, 1936-1997. Series II. Architects,
1936-1997; filename: Image 3466-04: Santa Fe Federal Savings (Palm Springs, Calif.), 1962,
(http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2004r10_job3466). (middle) Image Courtesy of Google Maps, 2011. (bottom) Photo by
author, 2018.

41

4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in
their own right shall be retained and preserved.

This standard is less relevant in midcentury bank branch buildings than in older property
types. Because the original construction of midcentury banks is from the recent past, there are
few changes that have existed long enough to gain historic significance. In the case of the Santa
Fe Savings and Loan branch building, there were many changes of varying size made to the site
and building over time. The exterior landscaping was remodeled and partitions were put up in the
interior for offices. These changes existed for a relatively short period of time, most likely during
the ten years John Wessman owned the property, and did not gain historic significance.

5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.

The Santa Fe Savings and Loan branch building is an early and distinctive example of
glass curtain wall construction in a bank branch. Removing the glass curtain walls of the bank
would not only drastically change the look of the building, but would remove one of the features
that exemplifies the construction. The curtain walls of this structure were retained. The U.S.
Department of the Interior allows for, “Installing new glazing or an entire new curtain wall
system, when necessary to meet safety-code requirements, with dimensions, detailing, materials,
colors, and finish as close as possible to the historic curtain wall components.”
75
However, the
lighting requirements of the museum do not rise to the level of a safety code risk and
replacement for this purpose would not adhere to the standard. The exterior columns are another
example of construction techniques that have been preserved. In the case of the Santa Fe Savings
and Loan, the International Style design of the building does not include any applied ornament
that could be removed. Removing many of the features would involve drastically remodeling the
building.

75
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 75.

42
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in
design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of
missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

The Santa Fe Savings and Loan building has been in continuous use and has received
routine maintenance to avoid deterioration. Alterations to the interior included removing non-
character-defining carpets to reveal terrazzo floors, which had been poorly repaired and replaced
by previous owners, and removing office dividers to return to the original open lobby space.
76

The architects made conservation decisions based on the new use. Because the space was going
to be an art gallery, they knew that the room would be furnished sparsely and that every material
would be in plain sight. This led to the decision to replace rather than repair the terrazzo in the
main gallery area. In a Getty Conservation Institute talk, Leo Marmol explained “we always
struggle with the question of at what point do we replace a material.”
77
The original floor had
been damaged, replaced, carpeted and uncarpeted over the years. The architects felt that an
inconsistent and for the most part unoriginal floor would be distracting to museum visitors. In the
end, they replaced the terrazzo floor in the gallery area and were able to restore the terrazzo on
the stairs leading to the basement. This outcome adheres to Standard six because the new
terrazzo matches the original material, which is still visible on the stairs, and can be confidently
used in the gallery space based on material and documentary evidence. Using replacement
terrazzo met this standard. The U.S. Department of the Interior rehabilitation guidelines
recommend “Repairing interior features and finishes by patching, splicing, consolidating, or
otherwise reinforcing the materials using recognized preservation methods. Repairs may include
the limited replacement in kind.”
78

7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic
materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be
undertaken using the gentlest means possible.

76
"Restoration of the 1960 Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan Building," Docomomo.
77
Leo Marmol, Speech, Modern Snapshots from the Field, Getty Center, Los Angeles, December 8, 2015, March
21, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR6no4Fsjog.
78
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 141.

43

This building did not require extensive surface cleaning. The method of cleaning used is
not known, but no sandblasting would have been required on any of the surfaces.

8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If
such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

Ideally, this standard will not come into play with adaptive reuse projects. The Secretary
of the Interior recommends “Minimizing disturbance of the terrain around buildings or else-
where on the site, thereby reducing the possibility of destroying or damaging important
landscape features, archeological resources, other cultural or religious features, or burial
grounds.”
79
In general, the most successful projects from a conservation-perspective will not
involve heavy machinery. Instead conservation projects should involve the gentlest means
possible for rehabilitation and should only in the most large scale projects have the possibility of
disturbing archeological resources.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic
materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and
shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the
historic integrity of the property and its environment.

One of the struggles for the reuse was putting a state of the art museum in a fully glazed
building that was originally conceived as a “little glass jewel box.”
80
The architects worked
closely with the registrar of the museum, who is tasked with maintaining archival conditions.
Most museum buildings are designed with little fenestration in order to facilitate light control.
This is in opposition to many bank buildings designed in the midcentury period, which
emphasized plate glass walls for transparency. The registrar and architects were in conflict over
the ultraviolet light levels streaming into the space. In the end, a reversible solution was used.

79
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 138.
80
Sidney Williams, An Eloquent Modernist: E. Stewart Williams, Architect, 99.

44
The architects designed a removable screen that could be installed when necessary to control the
amount of light into the space.

10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a
manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and
its environment would be unimpaired.

Standard ten is tied to Standard nine. Avoidance of damage to the art is an absolute
necessity for the building to function as a museum. In terms of the ultra violet light screen, there
are fewer impacts to the form and integrity of the historic property than other possible solutions.
In general, the museum use did not require additions because it required less infrastructure than
the original bank use. Rather than office partitions in the main commercial area, the museum
keeps the space completely open for exhibitions. (Figure 2.9, 2.10) The main museum area faced
the addition of track lighting on the ceiling. This addition was placed over the original acoustical
tile roof and is thin enough to not impact the historic integrity of the ceiling to a large extent.
Also, the lighting can be removed from the ceiling with minimal, if any, physical impact.

Figure 2.9: Museum Interior, 2018. Photo by author.

45

Figure 2.10: Bank Interior, 1962. Photo from © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
(2004.R.10)/ Julius Shulman photography archive, 1936-1997. Series II. Architects, 1936-1997; filename: Image
3466-27: Santa Fe Federal Savings (Palm Springs, Calif.), 1962, (http://hdl.handle.net/10020/2004r10_job3466).

Project Summary
Historic nomination as a means to stop development can be successful but is risky. The
Palm Springs Preservation Foundation attempted to put an end to the Baristo Loft project when
they nominated the building for Historic Site Class 1 designation. This is risky because
designating a site may save the building in the short run but leave it empty for years to come and
potentially lead to a worse fate. Even in the midcentury haven of Palm Springs, it took millions
of dollars in donations to upgrade the building. Having the institution of the Palm Springs Art
Museum behind the rehabilitation was a boon for conservation. However, in reality the backing
of the art museum was in name only. Even institutional level projects require individuals to
champion the project. The Palm Springs Art Museum as a large institutional entity was not ready
to fund any level of rehabilitation. In the beginning, it was essentially one person, Sydney
Williams, raising interest and three people that provided the initial funding. The rehabilitation
itself was a model for such projects as it adhered to the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for

46
Rehabilitation. This level of conservation was a mandate based on the local designation of the
site. In this way, designation of the site by the PSPF was not only a tool to stop a project they
disapproved of but also a tool to ensure the building was conserved on the interior and exterior to
a high standard. When the Standards are mandated, local conservation groups can rely on the
bureaucracy of this tool to ensure a good conservation project. However, as evidenced in the list
of Standards and how they were met in the project, there is some flexibility in how they are
approached. For this reason, simply knowing the Standards are a requirement does not
necessarily mean that the best conservation choice will be made in all instances. Ultimately, this
project is an example of a near ideal scenario for the adaptive reuse of a midcentury bank branch
building. The local conservation community was engaged and fought for the building. A local
institution bought the building. The rehabilitation was completed to the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards. And crucially, the new museum use is a success and will keep the building
under good stewardship for the foreseeable future.

47
Chapter 3
Home Savings and Loan: PIH Health Office

Figure 3.1: PIH Health Montebello North Elevation, 2018. Photo by author.

In some cases, an exterior-only approach to rehabilitating historic structures is the best
compromise that can be reached. This is often the case when there is not an active local
preservation group campaigning to retain interior features or when the interior has been
irreversibly altered. The former Home Savings and Loan Montebello branch is a case study in
exterior-only rehabilitation and the benefits of having a conservation-minded building owner.

Home Savings and Loan
In 1943, a young Howard Ahmanson opened a fire insurance underwriting firm called
H.F. Ahmanson and Co.
81
(Figure 3.2) This small Nebraska firm would grow into the largest
savings and loan business in the country. In 1947, Ahmanson bought Home Savings and Loan, a
bank which had been founded in 1889. Ahmanson reinvigorated the bank by increasing mailing

81
Eric John Abrahamson, Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream,
(Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California Press, 2013), 25.

48
advertisements, holding radio contests, and redefining the bank’s architecture.
82
Working with
designer Millard Sheets, he created a banking empire noted as much for its aesthetic sensibility
as its financial dealings. Beginning in 1953, Ahmanson commissioned Sheets to design over
forty Home Savings bank buildings. Even before he met Sheets, Home Savings and Loan was
one of the few California banks with a significant number of branch buildings. Ahmanson called
the branches “our greatest competitive weapon.”
83

Figure 3.2: Howard Ahmanson Sr., 1962. Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library/Security Pacific National
Bank Collection; image 00081956 (https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/photos/id/113177/rec/1).

The genesis and nature of the relationship between Ahmanson and Sheets is made clear in
a telegram that Ahmanson sent to Sheets in 1953.
Dear Sheets. Saw photograph building you designed, L.A. Times. Liked it. I have two
valuable properties, Wilshire Boulevard, need buildings. Have driven Wilshire Boulevard
twenty-six years, know year every building built, names of most architects, bored. If
interested in doing a building that will look good thirty-five or forty years from now
when I’m not here, call me.
84

Sheets accepted the offer and designed a Home Savings branch for Wilshire Boulevard (Figure
3.3). The building opened to much fanfare and praise, sealing a relationship between designer

82
Interpretive exhibit, Home Savings and Loan, PIH Health, Montebello, CA.
83
Adam Arenson, Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California,
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 2018), 67.
84
Abrahamson, Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream, 198.

49
and owner that would last for decades. The early working relationship between the artist and the
patron could be summed up in a statement from Ahmanson that came at the end of their first
meeting, “I want you to understand something now: I don’t want you to telephone me ever. I do
not wish to discuss these buildings with you. I’m going to let you do one, and if it’s right then
we’ll do another.” He went on to say “I want it done the way you would do it for yourself.”
85
The
Home Savings business model was such a success during these times that funding for new bank
branches was not an issue. The issue, in Ahmanson’s mind, was maintaining a high quality brand
and winning buy-in from community members.

Figure 3.3: First Sheets Home Saving and Loan Commission, 2012. Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Daniels,
(https://la.curbed.com/2012/9/14/10329742/touring-5-millard-sheets-projects-in-greater-los-angeles-).

The Home Savings branch buildings designs are midcentury icons in Southern California,
but not because the designs were on the forefront of modernist architecture at the time. Sheets’
designs did not follow the Bauhaus influenced architecture that was fashionable in Los Angeles.
The large travertine-clad boxes contained minimal fenestration and focused on applied

85
Abrahamson, Building Home: Howard F. Ahmanson and the Politics of the American Dream, 200.

50
ornamentation, two design choices that set Sheets apart from his modernist contemporaries. In
later years, Sheets attempted to move toward including more glazing in the bank designs but
Ahmanson was unwilling to tinker with a winning formula, saying “I’m not willing to gamble, to
change the image…. It’s foolish for us to get off of something that we know is right. The image
is established. Whether all people like it or not isn’t the important thing.”
86
Sheets admitted that
the public enjoyed the sense of security provided by the large stone walls. Many bank branch
buildings such as the Santa Fe Savings and Loan (1960) in Palm Springs or the Manufacturers
Trust Company Building (1954) in Manhattan turned to plate glass walls in the midcentury
period to figuratively and literally increase the transparency of banking operations. This was
important coming out of the Great Depression when public distrust of banking institutions was at
its peak. However, Home Savings exploited a different long held feeling that the public had
about banks. Sheets and Ahmanson knew that no matter what benefit there was to increasing
transparency of banking practices, the public would always also desire a sense of privacy and a
sense of security. Richard Diehl, the longtime president of Home Savings and Loan stated “We
built fortresses… they looked like they were going to be there for not just a hundred, but a
thousand years.”
87
This public interest in security carried over into residential architecture of the
time as well. There was an increase in glazing and a focus on connectivity to the outdoors in the
designs of many Modernist residential architects, but this connectivity was focused on the rear
yard. In the front yard, where the home connects to the public realm, there was rarely the same
attempt to connect the indoors and outdoors. The iconic Stahl Residence (1960), which appears
to be floating above the Hollywood Hills in the rear, does not have a single window on the front
elevation. Connectivity was still second to privacy and security.
The great achievement of the Home Savings and Loan bank design was not the
architecture itself, but the incorporation of art into the design. Ahmanson concluded that, as a
general principle “Business could do itself a great favor by placing a greater emphasis on the
aesthetics of its buildings,” including adding “good art”
88
Sheets’ murals and sculptures were not
token pieces of art in the corner of a room. The art was the showpiece in the bank. In an
interview at an opening of one of his banks in Texas, Sheets stated “art is not a thing that should
be separated from everyday living… I think the environment in which people live and work and

86
Abrahamson, Building Home, 204.
87
Arenson, Banking on Beauty, 160.
88
Abrahamson, Building Home, 204.

51
play is deeply important to the spirit.”
89
The art was also thoughtful. The Sheets Studio team
studied the history of the region where a bank was to be located and incorporated those events
into the murals. Often the murals featured stereotypical caricatures of the history of the area.
However, the Sheets studio did not set out to tell definitive histories. They attempted to create
murals that were easily legible by a wide array of people and immediately identifiable as
representing the area. The grandiosity of the art in the branches was felt by the customers. When
asked why he chose Home Savings and Loan, a small boy once pointed at one of the statues and
said “I want to save my money where God does!”
90

In 1953, Home Savings and Loan had seven branches; by 1958, there were twenty.
91

Despite Ahmanson’s promise to stay out of Millard Sheets’ way when it came to design, that
only applied to the initial bank. Once the Home Savings and Loan image was created, Ahmanson
insisted on not straying from the successful design. As the booming 1950s turned into the
politically turbulent 1960s, there was increasing scrutiny of businesses like Home Savings and
Loan. It became clear that the American dream of a single-family home in a new suburban
subdivision was achieved by some at the cost of others. One case in particular in Torrance,
California became a lightning rod for this debate. Lloyd Ransom, an African American chemist,
was denied housing by Don Wilson, an influential developer in the area. In 1963, the Congress
of Racial Equality (CORE) of California took up this case and demanded that Ransom be
allowed to buy a home in the all-white subdivision. Home Savings and Loan was at the center of
the debate as they were financing the development. Picketers surrounded multiple Home Savings
and Loan branches in protest of their involvement. Celebrities such as Marlon Brando came
down from Hollywood to bring attention to the injustice. (Figure 3.4) Eventually, Ransom was
allowed to buy a home in the development and the negative attention for Home Savings and
Loan subsided. However, it was clear that the business model needed to change.

89
Arenson, Banking on Beauty, 115.
90
Arenson, Banking on Beauty, 161.
91
Arenson, Banking on Beauty, 97.

52

Figure 3.4: Marlon Brando Protesting with CORE, 1963. Photo by the Associated Press courtesy of the Daily
Breeze. (http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history/files/import/59123-brando.jpg).

The Watts Uprising of 1965 prompted governmental regulators to require more bank
branches in economically depressed communities. Home Savings and Loan responded by buying
a branch building in Pico Rivera. Similarly, the El Sereno branch received the Home Savings and
Loan logo on a former Royal Savings and Loan branch.
92
Often, banks in lower-income areas
were either renovations of existing bank buildings or were new construction with more
economical materials and less artwork. In 1974, Montebello became the first majority-minority
city to receive a “small but beautiful, brand new Home Savings and Loan branch.”
93
Around this
time, Home Savings and Loan was also producing commercials in Spanish. The Montebello
branch opened in the spring of 1974. (Figure 3.5) The design was envisioned by Millard Sheets
and then realized by the architecture firm Homolka and Associates. The firm founder Frank
Homolka was based in Long Beach and his firm worked as the licensed architects on a number
of Home Savings and Loan branches with Millard Sheets Studios.
94

92
Arenson, Banking on Beauty, 190.
93
Ibid.
94
Interpretive exhibit, Home Savings and Loan, PIH Health, Montebello, CA.

53

Figure 3.5: PIH Health Montebello North Elevation, 2018. Photo by author.

End of the Original Use
After the savings and loan crisis of the 1990s, many savings and loans specialists were
bought out by banks with a wider range of services. In 1998, Washington Mutual bought Home
Savings of America for approximately $10 billion.
95
This purchase resulted in the closure of
roughly 170 bank branch offices in Southern California where the two companies had
redundancies in location. The merger also provided Washington Mutual a boost in their home
loans market share. The Home Savings and Loan branch in Montebello was not closed, but
became a Washington Mutual Home Loans location. This location continued operations under
Washington Mutual for ten years following the merger. Washington Mutual was one of the most
egregious contributors to the home mortgage crisis that fueled the recession in 2008 and declined
rapidly. The entire company was bought for just $1.9 billion in the fall of 2008 by New York
firm JP Morgan Chase.
96
At the time of the merger, no California branches were targeted for

95
Debora Vrana and James Peltz, "Home Savings to Be Acquired in $10.1-Billion Deal," Los Angeles Times, March
18, 1998.
96
Tiffany Hsu, "JPMorgan Plans Expansion in California," Los Angeles Times, January 15, 2009,
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/jan/15/business/fi-nuwamu15.

54
closure. However, by 2009 the Montebello branch building was listed for lease.
97
The building
stayed on the market for close to two years before it was purchased by PIH Health for $1.765
million in May 2011.

The Conservation Context
Unlike in Palm Springs, there was no major preservation battle over this building.
Montebello is not served by a strong preservation advocacy group that would have fought for the
building. The Montebello Historical Society is focused almost solely on preservation and
programming around the circa 1845 Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe and the local history of that
era.
98
A larger and more wide-ranging local preservation group in the neighboring city of
Whittier is the Whittier Conservancy. When reached for information on the bank reuse, a
representative for the Whittier Conservancy was unaware that the building had recently been
rehabilitated. The Los Angeles Conservancy, which advocates for historic preservation in all of
Los Angeles County, does not typically have a role in preservation issues unless a building is in
danger of demolition and they are made aware of the project. It is unknown whether potential
demolition of this building would have prompted a response from preservation advocacy groups,
although likely given the interest in the work of Millard Sheets. The Los Angeles Conservancy
Modern Committee created a comprehensive list of all of the Sheets-designed bank buildings in
Southern California in order to monitor them. Unlike Palm Springs, Montebello is not a city that
is on the radar for most architecture enthusiasts and development news there is not tracked to
nearly the same degree. Additionally, the City of Montebello does not have a local preservation
ordinance. Had a local ordinance existed and the building was listed, a level of bureaucracy to
protect the building would have been created. In the situation as it stands, the building owner,
PIH Health, did not face any additional review other than the standard building plan check.

97
"2205 West Beverly Boulevard." LoopNet. Accessed January 19, 2019.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/16292978/2205-West-Beverly-Boulevard-Montebello-CA/.
98
Abdul T. Shaikh, "Montebello Historical Society," Montebello Historical Society Museum,
https://montebellohistoricalsociety.org/history/.

55
The Developer
PIH Health was founded in 1959 as Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital out of “a
significant community need for improved healthcare.”
99
The local community financed the
construction of a 188-bed hospital. The creation of PIH came from funds provided by the Hill-
Burton Act. Passed by congress in 1946, the act gave hospitals, nursing homes, and other health
facilities grants and loans for construction and modernization.
100
In return for access to funding,
the hospitals had to provide a reasonable volume of services to persons unable to pay and make
their services available all residents of the facility’s area. There was a desperate need for local
healthcare facilities as thousands of World War II veterans came back to their hometowns with
physical and mental injuries. Since 1980, more than $6 billion in uncompensated services have
been provided to eligible patients through Hill-Burton.
101

PIH expanded during the 1960s and ‘70s, and was a local innovator in cardiology-related
care. Today known as PIH Health, it is a nonprofit regional healthcare network with two
hospitals and numerous outpatient neighborhood medical offices. The network serves more than
2.1 million residents in Los Angeles and Orange counties and throughout the San Gabriel
Valley.
102
The Montebello location is one of these local outpatient offices, specializing in ear,
nose, and throat, family medicine, and urgent care.

The Reuse
PIH Health took on the rehabilitation by choice. The idea to rehabilitate the building
came from Dave Klinger, a Senior Vice President of Real Estate and Facilities at PIH Health.
Klinger explained, “We needed a location in Montebello and when we were doing our search we
came upon the building. The fact that we could do the historic preservation was icing on the
cake.”
103
The scope of the preservation work was to meticulously preserve the exterior features
of the building. The banking interior was not retained. In this case, an exterior-only approach
was used for multiple reasons. Most significantly, there was no mandate to preserve the interior.
In the mind of the owner, the historic and new uses were incompatible from an interior design

99
"Our History," PIH Health, https://www.pihhealth.org/about/our-history/.
100
"Hill-Burton Free and Reduced-Cost Health Care," Health Resources & Services Administration, March 01,
2018, https://www.hrsa.gov/get-health-care/affordable/hill-burton/index.html.
101
Ibid.
102
"Our History," PIH Health.
103
"Interview with Dave Klinger," E-mail interview by author. June 2018.

56
standpoint. Home Savings and Loan branches are better known for their trademark exterior and
artwork than their interior design. Furthermore, the exterior of Home Savings and Loan branches
contained fine artwork that would often be found on the interior of other buildings. Because they
were not conserving the original interior features, PIH Health made more extensive changes to
the interior to meet their needs. The interior spaces were securely partitioned for patient meeting
rooms and the usable square footage of the building was increased by expanding the existing
mezzanine.
104
No original photos of the Montebello Home Savings and Loan could be located,
but Figure 3.6 and 3.7 compare the open floor plan of a typical Home Savings and Loan lobby to
the first floor waiting room after PIH Health made renovations.

Figure 3.6: PIH Health Montebello First Floor Waiting Room, 2018. Photo by author.

104
Ibid.

57

Figure 3.7: Home Savings and Loan Claremont, CA Lobby, date unknown. Photo courtesy of Claremont Colleges
Library Photo Archive; image xs02725 (http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ccp/id/8507).

PIH Health hired professionals to perform the exterior rehabilitation. Dave Klinger met the
cultural resources professional Margarita Jerabek while working on another project and hired her
to oversee the rehabilitation of the Montebello branch building.
105
Ms. Jerabek is the Director of
Historic Resources at Environmental Science Associates, which was then known as PCR
Services. PCR Services oversaw the materials conservation work and also created the
interpretive exhibits that are located on the first and second floor of the building. (Figure 3.8)
The exhibits are informative, but do not appear to be archival. It is not known whether the
information is archived in an off-site library, which would be the industry-standard approach.
The materials conservation work on the travertine and marble cladding, glass mosaic, and stained
glass was performed by Preservation Arts (now CGI Preservation), led by Charles Kibby. There
is an obvious difference between the level of heritage conservation on the exterior and interior of

105
Ibid.

58
the building. Looking at both aspects from the perspective of the Secretary of the Interior’s
Standards for Rehabilitation makes these differences even more clear.

Figure 3.8: Interpretive Exhibits in the First Floor Waiting Room, 2018. Photo by author.

1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal
change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces and spatial relationships.
106

The new medical office use does not adhere to this standard. The property is not used as it
was historically and the new use requires drastic changes on the interior. Medical offices require
completely separated rooms for privacy and cleanliness. Whereas branch bankers often meet
their customers in cubicles that are only superficially separated from the adjacent lobby area,
doctors, for the privacy of their patients, must have meeting areas that are completely out of view
from other customers. Additionally, doctors must have access to equipment and sinks that
require more built infrastructure. In the Palm Springs case study, the museum use required less
infrastructure than the historic use, which allowed the architects to retain many of the original

106
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 76.

59
features and highlight them. In Montebello, the new use required much more infrastructure and
therefore covered up any remaining original interior features with suspended ceilings, cabinets,
and other additions.

2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive
materials or alteration of features, spaces and spatial relationships that characterize a property
will be avoided.

From a heritage conservation perspective, the adaptive reuse of the Home Savings and
Loan is almost two separate projects. The interior remodel does not meet the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, as essentially no original material remains. The historic
character on the exterior is retained and preserved. Distinctive materials and features on the
exterior were conserved by CGI Preservation.

3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that
create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements
from other historic properties, will not be undertaken.

On the interior, no conjectural features or elements were added as there was no attempt to
retain a physical record of the time and place of the bank interior. The interior does not meet this
standard. On the exterior, the building remains a physical record of its time and place.
Conjectural features and elements were not added to the façade. Rather, the existing materials on
the façade were retained and repaired. No additions were made to the property in order to make it
appear historical.

4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in
their own right shall be retained and preserved.

This standard is less relevant in midcentury bank branch buildings than in older property
types. Because the original construction of midcentury banks is from the recent past, there are
few changes that have existed long enough to gain historic significance. In the case of the Home

60
Savings and Loan branch building, the pre-project interior was not documented and thus it is
unknown what changes were made over time. On the exterior, a detached ATM kiosk was added
in the years after initial construction. This structure did not gain historic significance in its own
right and was removed with the project.

5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.

It is unknown which features, finishes, or construction techniques existed on the interior.
It is possible that some of the features remain under the carpeting or above the suspended ceiling
that was inserted into the interior. On the exterior any distinctive features remain, as the exterior
was rehabilitated and not altered or covered up. The distinctive features on the exterior include
the mosaic artwork on the north elevation, the stained leaded glass art on the south elevation, and
the gold ceramic tiles that wrap around the top of the building. (Figure 3.9) All of these features
were rehabilitated in place by CGI Preservation.

Figure 3.9: PIH Health Montebello Stained Glass. 2018. Photo by author.

61
Because midcentury buildings are only recently reaching the age necessitating
professional conservation, materials experts such as Kibby are not as familiar with midcentury
building materials as they are with the materials found on buildings from eras that have been
commonly conserved in California in recent decades. Kibby explained that the difference he
found between midcentury era buildings and earlier periods is “a less massive approach to
construction, since structural steel and the concept of shear value began to assert themselves
during this transition to the postwar concept of construction design… less reliance on massive
URM [unreinforced masonry] design techniques.”
107
From an aesthetic standpoint, the design of
the Santa Fe Savings and Loan building and the Home Savings and Loan Montebello building
are starkly different. However, the underlying construction of both are representative of the era
in which they were built in similar ways. Both buildings were constructed without relying on
brick walls, which were ubiquitous for commercial buildings of earlier periods. Steel frame
construction was revolutionary for skyscrapers at the turn of the century, and was applied to
smaller commercial structures more and more in the midcentury period. The construction
technique is evident in the travertine curtain walls that clad the building.

6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in
design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of
missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

The interiors were not repaired in any instance. All of the interior features were removed.
The pre-construction interior is not documented, though it is unlikely that any of the interior
features were replacements of an existing interior feature. On the exterior, the repairs were done
with the gentlest means possible. The building construction influenced the rehabilitation work on
the Montebello building. The conservator Charles Kibby explained that, “given the dominance of
our practice restoring buildings from the period of 1890-1920, I was concerned that we [would
not] be up-to-date on the construction methods of a mid-century building.”
108
Buildings from the
midcentury period are constantly being repaired by contractors all over the world. However,

107
"Interview with Charles Kibby." E-mail interview by author. June 2018.
108
Ibid.

62
there is a vast difference between repairing a building and rehabilitating it with conservation in
mind. In many cases, a conservator must spend just as much time removing or repairing the poor
repair work that has been completed over the years as they do on the original building materials.
In this case, there were numerous areas all over the travertine exterior where previous repairs
needed to be repaired. Some of these areas included haphazard graffiti removal and poor
patching of cracks. (Figure 3.10)

Figure 3.10: Haphazard Graffiti Removal and Sprinkler Staining, date unknown. Photos courtesy of CGI
Preservation.

7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic
materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be
undertaken using the gentlest means possible.

In addition to damage done by previous repair jobs, there was damage on the cladding
from typical processes such as staining from sprinklers spraying the bottom of the travertine

63
wall.
109
For deep-seated stains, a solvent-based poultice was used to gently repair the surface. In
other locations the tannins from the potting soil of the planted area would solubilize and leach
into the matrix of the travertine from below.
110
These marks were repaired using a very light
abrasive process to remove the soiling without significant removal of the substrate. In all cases,
the gentlest means possible were used to repair the travertine surface.
One of the primary objectives of the exterior conservation effort was cleaning and repair
of the exterior glass tile mural and the leaded glass mural. (Figure 3.11) On the mural, grout
between tesserae had slightly degraded and had eroded in many areas. The repair of the mural
included replacing missing grout and using a sealer on the mural. On the leaded glass artwork,
broken glass portions were repaired rather than replaced.

Figure 3.11: Original Grout with Signs of Loss, date unknown. Photo courtesy of CGI Preservation.

109
Ibid.
110
"Travertine Marble Restoration, Mural Preservation for Millard Sheets Home Savings and Loan Building,"
Travertine Marble Restoration and Repair -- Los Angeles, CA,
https://www.cgipreservation.com/millard_sheets_building.

64

8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If
such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

Ideally, this standard will not come into play with adaptive reuse projects. The Secretary
of the Interior recommends, “Minimizing disturbance of the terrain around buildings or else-
where on the site, thereby reducing the possibility of destroying or damaging important
landscape features, archeological resources, other cultural or religious features, or burial
grounds.”
111
In general, the most successful projects from a conservation-perspective will not
involve heavy machinery that may disturb the earth. Instead, conservation projects should
involve the gentlest means possible for rehabilitation and should only in the largest scale projects
have the possibility of disturbing archeological resources. In the case of the Home Savings and
Loan rehabilitation, no archaeological resources were affected by the project as no soil was
affected.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic
materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and
shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the
historic integrity of the property and its environment.

The interior does not meet this standard. The new additions on the interior destroy, or at
least cover up, the historic materials that characterize the property. The new interiors are
differentiated from the original interiors, but they are not compatible with the massing of the
original. The suspended ceilings and addition to the mezzanine level completely change the
interior of the lobby. The historic integrity of the interior is lost.
On the exterior, there are minor additions and alterations to the site. The south entrance to
the building has been remodeled. Where previously there was a set of stairs, there is now stairs,
an accessible ramp, a planter, and a small fence. (Figure 3.12, 3.13) When accessible entrances
are necessary, the U.S. Department of the Interior recommends, “finding solutions to meet

111
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 138.

65
accessibility requirements that minimize the impact of any necessary alteration on the historic
building, its site, and setting, such as compatible ramps, paths, and lifts.”
112
The solution used for
the accessible ramp could have been altered to reduce impacts to the historic integrity of the
south entrance. Another alteration to the site was the addition of landscaping to the former north
entrance. There was formerly an entrance to the building along Beverly Boulevard. (Figure 3.14)
That entrance has been removed. In place of the exposed aggregate concrete leading to the
entrance, there is now landscaping and a monument sign. (Figure 3.15) This change meets the
standard because the landscaping is differentiated and is compatible with the size and massing of
the surrounding landscaping.

Figure 3.12: South Elevation While Bank Was Vacant, 2011. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

112
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 148.

66

Figure 3.13: South Elevation after Remodel by PIH Health, 2018. Photo by author.

Figure 3.14: North Elevation while bank was vacant, 2011. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

67

Figure 3.15: North Elevation after landscape remodel, 2018. Photo by author.

10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a
manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and
its environment would be unimpaired.

Standard ten is tied to standard nine. The historic integrity of the interior is lost. The
changes made to the interior are not reversible. The two previously described changes to the site
including the accessible stairs and the additional landscaping can be considered less damaging
but not easily reversible. The accessible entrance would have to be removed and reconstructed.
The added landscaping can also be removed but not easily. These site changes do not affect the
essential form and integrity of the historic property as they do not impact the character-defining
features including the travertine cladding, tile and glass artwork, and single-story massing.

Project Summary
If there is no mandate for building owners to conserve a building, then the result will be
unpredictable. The Home Savings and Loan Montebello branch reuse is a somewhat positive

68
example, considering the building was not listed. The property owners had no requirement to
conserve the interior or exterior. The lack of historical designation and lack of active local
preservation advocates meant that the building owner had free will to do what they liked with the
building. By chance, the new building owners wanted to conserve the exterior of the building.
Exterior-only conservation often appears more simple for building owners. Rather than adapt the
new use to the original space, a full interior renovation requires less planning.
If an exterior-only conservation project is proposed and there is no mandate to encourage
the owner to conserve the interior, there are still options available to create a more conservation-
minded project. In the Montebello case, the building owner used a conservation professional for
the exterior and also hired a cultural resources specialist to create interpretive exhibits for the
interior. PIH Health incorporated information on the history of Home Savings and Loan and the
restoration process of the building in their exhibit. Although the building owner did not conserve
the interior, they made conservation-minded choices on the exterior that affected the interior
such as not creating new window openings. This case study is both an example of the dangers of
lack of designation and the positives of a conservation-minded building owner.

69
Chapter 4
Van Nuys Savings and Loan: Los Angeles Furniture Center

A third, and common, scenario of adaptive reuse is when a building is reused without any
professional interior or exterior rehabilitation. This is often the case for buildings in low-income
areas. Whereas buildings in affluent or gentrifying areas are often the subject of private capital
investment or publicly-funded redevelopment, there are many middle- or low-income areas with
aging buildings that are preserved by neglect and reused without professional rehabilitation. To
understand this process, it is important to understand the economic history of a particular area.
Typically, this happens when the area experiences an economic boom time at some point, when
the majority of the buildings are built, and then sees disinvestment as the area becomes less
wealthy. One example of this phenomenon is the Panorama City branch of the Van Nuys Savings
and Loan in Panorama City, a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los
Angeles. (Figure 4.1)

Figure 4.1: Los Angeles Furniture Center Front Elevation, 2018. Photo by author.

70

Suburbanization in the San Fernando Valley
The Panorama City branch bank was constructed in 1957 in the booming San Fernando
Valley. The San Fernando Valley grew rapidly in the years following World War II. The Valley
transformed from an agricultural region to being almost completely developed in a matter of
fifteen years. Many of the policies and events that prompted the suburbanization of the San
Fernando Valley had the same effects in urban areas all over the United States.
The national economy gained traction during the Second World War. In the Los Angeles
area, this was due to a robust manufacturing sector, especially airplane manufacturing. In
addition to manufacturing, the proximity to a large port as well as a large number of military
bases meant that soldiers from all over the country passed through Los Angeles and contributed
to the wartime economy. Many of these soldiers settled in the mild climate of Southern
California after the war rather than return to their home towns around the country.
113

There was a housing shortage across the nation because of a steep increase in population
following the war. The national birthrate increased from 2.2 babies per woman in the 1930s to
3.5 babies per woman in the late 1950s.
114
This housing crisis was soon alleviated by the mass-
production of housing. War-time entrepreneurs such as Henry J. Kaiser were able to produce
housing materials at rapid rates using the techniques they perfected building weapons and
military housing quickly during the war years. Panorama City is an example of this rapid
suburbanization in the San Fernando Valley. In 1947, Kaiser teamed up with Fritz Burns to
master plan and build an entire community of over 4,000 homes. Many of these homes were
bought with FHA or VA loans.
115
Kaiser and Burns bought the land from the Panorama Ranch
north of the Van Nuys community.
116
Panorama City was the first planned tract community in
the post-World War II period in the San Fernando Valley.
117

113
James Thomas Keane, Fritz B. Burns and the Development of Los Angeles: the Biography of a Community
Developer and Philanthropist, (Los Angeles, Calif.: Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los
Angeles, Loyola Marymount University, 2001), 75.
114
Larry Ford, Cities and Buildings : Skyscrapers, Skid Rows, and Suburbs. Baltimore: (Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1994), 164.
115
Keane, Fritz B. Burns and the Development of Los Angeles, 47.
116
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency, Historic Property Evaluation Report/ Cultural
Resources Identification Report for the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, (Los Angeles, CA, 2017), 193.
117
Ibid.

71
The suburban neighborhoods designed by Burns and other builders were meant to solve
the inherent problems of cities. Cities were crowded, and therefore suburban tracts were built
much less densely. Each home owner was promised their own plot with their own large yards,
providing safety and privacy for their family. Commercial areas in suburbs took the form of large
shopping centers with even larger parking lots to accommodate the residents coming from distant
suburban neighborhoods as well as buildings easily visible from the street by quickly passing
cars with large rear parking lots. The Panorama City branch building follows this trend in
planning and development of the time. The unique domed architecture was meant to lure passing
motorists and the large rear parking lot ensured that finding a space was carefree.

Van Nuys Savings and Loan
Van Nuys Savings and Loan already had one location in the San Fernando Valley when
they constructed their Panorama City branch in 1957. The Panorama City branch was built in the
booming neighborhood that was created ten years earlier when Fritz B. Burns master planned the
community in 1947.
118
The architecture of the bank was the second selling point, only after the
savings rates. Savings and loans, or “thrifts” as they were called, were constantly in competition
with one another to offer the highest interest rates on their savings accounts to customers. These
savings rates featured prominently in advertisements as they competed for a fraction of a percent
advantage over their rivals. However, architecture also featured prominently in advertisements of
the bank at the time. (Figure 4.2) The modern architecture was marketed as complimentary to the
savings rate, seemingly to say that a future-looking design for a bank meant that futuristic
banking technology would be available to customers to help handle their savings. In one
advertisement the connection was made explicit with the headline “Modern Savings Facilities
Serve You Better.”
119

The building was not advertised as attractive for following known trends in modern
architecture at the time. Rather, the building was marketed for its unique design even among
other modernist buildings. A 1957 Valley News article reporting the impending opening of the
building proclaimed the, “building code had to be changed to permit construction of this office

118
W. W. Robinson, The Story of San Fernando Valley, (Los Angeles, CA: Title Insurance and Trust, 1967), 47.
119
Van Nuys Savings and Loan, "...From Van Nuys Savings and Loan." Advertisement. Valley News (Van Nuys,
August 29, 1961).

72
because of its advanced design.”
120
The article goes on to add to the uniqueness saying,
“according to the designers, Bank Building Corporation, there is not another building like it in
the United States.”
121
Despite the probable hyperbole, it is clear that the architecture of the
building was a source of pride for the bank and a major selling point marketed to its customers.
After serving the San Fernando Valley for forty-one years, Van Nuys Savings and Loan was
bought out by Equitable Savings in 1966, which was then bought out by Great Western Savings
in 1970. A number of factors led to the decimation of the savings and loan model for local banks
in the mid-1980s including rising federal rates and poor regulation.
122
Great Western Savings
then became Great Western Financial Securities.
123
By the end of the ‘90s, there was no longer a
bank occupying the building.

120
"New Office for Savings Opens Soon," Valley News, December 29, 1957.
121
Ibid.
122
Miranda Ferrara, Michele P. LaMeau, Corporate Disasters What Went Wrong and Why, (Detroit: Gale, 2012),
188.

73

Figure 4.2: Advertisement for Panorama City Branch Opening, Dec. 29, 1957. Image courtesy of Los Angeles
Times.

74

The Architect
The Bank Building and Equipment Corporation of America started as a specialized bank
fixtures company in St. Louis, Missouri in 1913. At the time, the company specialized in the
design, fabrication and installation of wood cabinetry, teller cages, letter trays and other wood
fixtures such as custom paneling for executive offices, board rooms and courthouses.
124
Over the
ensuing years the company added more services including planning and architecture of banks.
The company weathered the Great Depression and World War II when bank building and
remodeling was at nearly a complete standstill. The end of the war ushered in a time of
prosperity in banking. Bank architecture had stagnated over the previous decade plus of financial
depression. The newfound prosperity ushered in a new wave of bank architecture that reflected
the future-looking and optimistic stance of the financial sector and the general populace.
The Bank Building and Equipment Corporation built upon their deep experience in bank
architecture and pioneered many innovations in the building type. The company helped to
innovate the drive-up teller, the full-service suburban branch, and increased use of automation.
125

The company was also an innovator in the design-build process. Unlike other firms, Bank
Building and Equipment Corporation were able to complete the whole project from design to
construction, even adding materials suppliers to their umbrella. In the late 1950s and early 1960s
the company completed an average of one project every three days.
126

The Van Nuys Savings and Loan was designed and constructed during this time of
prosperity. The Chief of Design, Wenceslao Alfonso (W.A.) Sarmiento designed the bank in an
eye-catchingly futuristic way. Sarmiento was born in 1922 in Trujillo, Peru and grew up in Lima.
He graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Ingenieros in 1946.
127
He then served in the Peruvian
army, where he flew mail in a biplane. In 1947, Sarmiento, along with other architects, signed
the Manifesto of Principles of Expression that declared art and engineering should be combined
to create a new architecture. After this, he worked as a draftsman in the office of the Brazilian
modernist architect Oscar Niemeyer. During a visit to his sister in Missouri he met Joseph

124
Kirk Huffaker, "A Brief History of the Bank Building & Equipment Corporation of America," Defining
Downtown at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the Bank Building and Equipment Corporation, 2010,
http://www.midcenturybanks.recentpast.org.
125
Ibid.
126
Ibid.
127
Steve Chawkins, "W.A. Sarmiento Dies at 91; Architect Redesigned Banks for Modern Era," Los Angeles Times,
December 4, 2013, https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-wenceslao-sarmiento-20131205-story.html.

75
Gander, the owner of the Bank Building and Equipment Corporation. Sarmiento moved to the
United States soon after to join the firm. He started his own firm in 1965.
Unlike many of their projects, the Van Nuys Savings and Loan was not a design-build
contract for the Bank Building and Equipment Corporation. The firm acted as the licensed
architect, but the engineering was provided by L.R. Dillon and the construction by Myers Bros.,
a prolific builder of large commercial and residential developments.
128

The Building
The bank is an example of Expressionist architecture in the form of a bank branch
building.
129
The building was identified in SurveyLA, the city-wide Los Angeles historic
resources survey, as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places and California Register
of Historic Resources as an excellent example of Expressionist architecture designed by
significant Los Angeles architect W.A. Sarmiento.
130
The building was also found eligible for
listing on the National Register of Historic Places and California Register of Historic Resources
under Criteria C/3 as an “excellent example of Mid-Century Modern architecture and the work of
W.A. Sarmiento”
131
in a 2015 survey of the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor for the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (Metro). The property remains
undesignated, but by virtue of officially adopted surveys is considered a historic resource under
California law.
The Panorama City branch of the Van Nuys Savings and Loan is irregular in plan and has
a roof with two crossed buttresses and a sloping curved roof. At the time of construction, there
was only thought to be two other buildings like it in the United States.
132
The precedents, Kresge
Auditorium at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology designed by Eero Saarinen and the St.
Louis Lambert Airport Terminal designed by Minoru Yamasaki, are considered seminal works

128
T.C. "'Shake On It' His Only Contract," Los Angeles Times, October 25, 1964.
129
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency, East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, 193.
130
City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA: Los Angeles Historic
Resources Survey Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement: Commercial Development, 1859-1980:
Neighborhood Commercial Development, 1880 -1980. Los Angeles, CA, 2017. 68-78.
131
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency, East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, 193.
132
“Van Nuys Savings and Loan Assn. Building in Panorama City,” Los Angeles Times, Jan 22, 1957.

76
of twentieth-century architecture.
133
Unlike those other two institutional structures, the Brazilian-
American architect W.A. Sarmiento brought this unusual architectural form to a compact
commercial use. The building pushed the limits of engineering of the time. The Columbia
University professor and nationally known engineer Mario Salvadori was a consulting engineer
according to newspaper accounts of the time.
134

The modern architecture of the bank was used in advertising to hint at the forward
thinking ideals of the business. Alongside the news article that proclaimed the bank the third
building of its kind, an advertisement stated, “Just as this building of the future (the only one of
its kind in the world) is now under construction, so your future begins the moment you open your
savings account at Van Nuys Savings.”
135

The Reuse
The demographics of the San Fernando Valley began to change in the 1970s and by the
1980s and 1990s many neighborhoods were drastically different from the immediate postwar
years. Important employment centers like the Lockheed Martin plant in Burbank and General
Motors Plan in Van Nuys closed during this time.
136
Communities in the East San Fernando
Valley such as Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and Panorama City began to see a younger
workforce of mostly service workers and many more immigrants.
137
Unlike the examples in
Palm Springs and Montebello, there was no capital investment in the Van Nuys Savings and
Loan with heritage conservation in mind. Capital investment requires a reason for investment
from an interested party with access to capital. Reiner’s How to Recycle Buildings is a text
dedicated to evaluating buildings that are suitable for reinvestment. This text does not have
heritage conservation in mind and is therefore a useful look at what building owners look for
from a purely economic perspective. Reiner makes clear that he, “does not advocate the location
of any such project, no matter what its future purpose, in a decaying area where there may be

133
“Yamasaki, Minoru.” Britannica Online Academic Edition, October 24, 2018.
http://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/article/77769; D. M. Foxe, “Saarinen's shell game: Tensions, structures,
and sounds at MIT”, Nexus Network Journal, 12(2), 191-211. http://dx.doi.org.libproxy2.usc.edu/10.1007/s00004-
010-0027-3.
134
“Van Nuys Savings and Loan Assn. Building in Panorama City,” Los Angeles Times, Jan 22, 1957.
135
“Advertisement,” Los Angeles Times, Jan 22, 1957.
136
Jean-Paul Deguzman, “Resisting Camelot Race and Resistance to the San Fernando Valley Secession
Movement,” California History 93, no. 3 (2016): 28.
137
Ibid.

77
danger to the future occupants or danger of vandalism to the property. Recycling in such an area
can be accomplished only with governmental or institutional sponsorship.”
138
The Los Angeles
Times ranks communities according to violent crime and property crime statistics per capita.
Panorama City is ranked 62
nd
out of the 209 neighborhoods in Los Angeles for violent crimes
and 87
th
out of 209 for property crime.
139
If over 2/3
rds
of Los Angeles neighborhoods have better
crime statistics, there is little reason for a company to invest in reusing a building in that area, by
Reiner’s standards. While some low-income areas have seen an increase in investment in the last
twenty years, Panorama City has seen continued disinvestment. The median household income
of residents in the postal code where the bank is located dropped 12% from the years 2000-
2014.
140
Because this site is not viable as an investment for reuse by a major commercial
company, it is a candidate for conservation by neglect.
After the last financial institution left the building in the 1990s, the declining economic
vitality of the area left the future of the bank building in question. In 2001, Su Casa Furniture
(now Los Angeles Furniture Center) moved into the space. Unlike the previous two case studies,
in which the owners reused their buildings with the unique architecture in mind, the owners of
Los Angeles Furniture Center, like many building owners, reused the building out of practicality
because it was a viable place to house their business.
141

The low economic vitality of the area drew a business with little capital for tenant
improvements. When asked why they kept the character-defining details of the bank intact, the
manager of the store said they like how the building looks.
142
When interviewed, the manager
was suspicious of why someone would be interested in the architectural value of a building that
has not seen any real maintenance of the architectural details in decades.
There is a subset of the field of research on adaptive reuse that focuses on reuse
performed by those without professional rehabilitation or large amounts of capital for investment
into the building. Plevoets and Sowinska coined the term vernacular adaptive reuse to draw a
distinct line between those reuse projects that are performed by government agencies or large

138
Laurence E. Reiner, How to Recycle Buildings, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979), 10.
139
"Panorama City," Los Angeles Times. http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/panorama-
city/crime/.
140
Office of Mayor Eric Garcetti, "Los Angeles Index of Neighborhood Change,"
http://geohub.lacity.org/datasets/57e9231c3bd34d44ae49b309b0cb440e_1/data?page=10.
141
John H. Stubbs, Time Honored: a Global View of Architectural Conservation: Parameters, Theory, & Evolution
of an Ethos. (Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2009), 60.
142
"Interview with Los Angeles Furniture Center Manager," Interview by author, June 22, 2018.

78
commercial interests with those that are performed by a local community without top-down
preservation practices.
143
Although not an exact representation of this term as it was defined by
the authors, the Van Nuys Savings and Loan branch bank building shares many traits with the
vernacular adaptive reuse defined by Plevoets and Sowinska. Vernacular reuse often leads to
conservation by neglect, because the least expensive way to reuse a building is to move in
without making any changes at all. Conservation by neglect is not a sustainable planning policy
for heritage conservation. However, cases such as the Panorama bank show that there are viable
uses for midcentury bank branch buildings that can be successful. Although the Los Angeles
Furniture Center does not have institutional backing like the Palm Springs bank does to hire
architects and come up with design solutions for their reuse, the business has made use of the
building for seventeen years while retaining many of the character-defining features of the
building. The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation are a useful way to see what
heritage conservation outcomes are the product of conservation by neglect.

1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal
change to its distinctive materials, features, spaces and spatial relationships.
144

The new furniture store use requires minimal change to the distinctive materials, features,
spaces, and spatial relationships of the building. Similar to the museum use, the furniture store
requires little infrastructure. No partitions are necessary in the character-defining open lobby
space. (Figure 4.3) One distinctive feature that has been compromised is the rear parking lot. The
Van Nuys Savings and Loan provided a large rear parking lot to its Panorama City Branch
customers. (Figure 4.4) This feature has been compromised by a row of large storage facilities
that were constructed on the property in 2001. (Figure 4.5)

143
Julia Bie Plevoets, “Community Initiatives as a Catalyst for Regeneration of Heritage Sites: Vernacular
Transformation and Its Influence on the Formal Adaptive Reuse Practice,” Cities 78 (August 2018), 128.
144
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 76.

79

Figure 4.3: Los Angeles Furniture Center Main Lobby, 2018. Photo by author.

Figure 4.4: Rear Elevation as Seen in the Film Stealing Harvard (1999). Although this is a dramatization of the
parking lot striping, it gives a clear representation of the parking lot without storage buildings, date unknown. Photo
courtesy of Revolution Studios.

80

Figure 4.5: Los Angeles Furniture Center Rear Elevation, 2018. Photo by author.

2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive
materials or alteration of features, spaces and spatial relationships that characterize a property
will be avoided.

The interior of the Panorama City branch has little documentation to substantiate the
original design. However, there are character-defining features remaining on the interior that
speak to the era in which it was constructed. One feature that was ubiquitous across almost all
midcentury bank branch buildings was an open lobby area. The Panorama City branch of Van
Nuys Savings and Loan has one main floor with a mezzanine above. The open character of the
lobby remains as there have not been any partitions put up on the main floor. The original
structural columns that support the mezzanine floor remain. (Figure 4.6) The teller counter has
been removed. There is no interior artwork remaining, if any existed, but there are artistically
designed interior features that remain on the mezzanine level. The original light fixtures along
the west wall remain, though they are no longer in use. The wooden sunscreens along the west
wall also remain to temper the large amounts of light from the plate glass windows. (Figure 4.7)
These features could easily be seen as outdated, considering lighting and heating and air
technology have advanced considerably since the buildings construction. This case shows that

81
these features are not incompatible with a contemporary retail business.

Figure 4.6: Los Angeles Furniture Center Lobby with Original Column, 2018. Photo by author.

Figure 4.7: Los Angeles Furniture Center Mezzanine Level, 2018. Photo by author.

3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place and use. Changes that
create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements
from other historic properties, will not be undertaken.

82
On the interior, no conjectural features or elements were added as there was no attempt to
create a false sense of historical development. The interior and exterior of the building remain a
physical record of its time as many character-defining features are intact. The large open lobby,
original fixtures, and original spiral staircase are intact. On the exterior, the distinctive dome
shape, plate glass front elevation, and relation to Van Nuys Blvd. remain intact.

4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in
their own right shall be retained and preserved.

This standard is less relevant in midcentury bank branch buildings than in older property
types. Because the original construction of midcentury banks is from the recent past, there are
few changes that have existed long enough to gain historic significance. In the case of the Van
Nuys Savings and Loan branch building, no documentation of the original interior was located.
Despite the lack of evidence, there are obvious changes to the interior that have been made such
as the lack of a teller desk. Archival images show that changes have been made to the exterior
such as the removal of the original signage, awning, and landscaping.

5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.

The Van Nuys Savings and Loan did not incorporate decorative cladding or exterior
artwork into the design of the building. Many bank branches of the period were steel framed
boxes that would have looked plain without interesting cladding materials. The unusual arched
roof structure of the Van Nuys Savings and Loan provided enough visual interest that exterior
artwork and decorative cladding were not a necessity. The building does bear similarities to other
bank branches in the incorporation of glass curtain walls. The entire front elevation is made up of
a system of glass panels of the same width and similar height. Archival images and
advertisements of the time show that the intention of the glass wall was to provide transparency
into the interior, a common theme among banks of the period. These construction features
remain intact. Examples of craftsmanship such as the wooden screens and unique light fixtures
also remain.

83
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in
design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of
missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

The clear drawback of conservation by neglect is that deteriorated features are not
repaired or well-maintained. Conservation by neglect allows the features to live on without
insensitive alterations, but it also allows for features to deteriorate to the point where they may
not be able to be recovered in the future. Clear evidence of replacement include multiple
incorrectly-sized sections of glass on the main elevation and a new monument sign,

7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic
materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be
undertaken using the gentlest means possible.

It is unclear if any cleaning of materials has taken place with the new use. Exterior
materials such as the brick pillars and walls as well as the concrete dome appear to be in good
condition.

8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If
such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

Ideally, this standard will not come into play with adaptive reuse projects. The Secretary of
the Interior recommends, “Minimizing disturbance of the terrain around buildings or else- where
on the site, thereby reducing the possibility of destroying or damaging important landscape
features, archeological resources, other cultural or religious features, or burial grounds.”
145
In
general, the most successful projects from a conservation-perspective will not involve heavy
machinery that may disturb the earth. Instead, conservation projects should involve the gentlest
means possible for rehabilitation and should only in the largest scale projects have the possibility

145
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 138.

84
of disturbing archeological resources. In the case of the Van Nuys Savings and Loan
rehabilitation, no archaeological resources were affected by the project as no soil was affected.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic
materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and
shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the
historic integrity of the property and its environment.

The bank building was constructed with a setback from Van Nuys Blvd. The building has
not been moved or expanded toward the street and therefore retains the setback of roughly 35
feet from the back of curb. Archival images reveal that there was originally landscaping
incorporated into the front setback. (Figure 4.8) Two teardrop-shaped at-grade planter areas were
surrounded by a wide walkway of smooth concrete that led to the main entrance. In the
intervening years, those planter areas were filled with exposed aggregate concrete. The exposed
aggregate differentiates the former planters from the rest of the smooth concrete. (Figure 4.9)
Other landscape areas on the south side of the building and under the monument sign remain,
though the plantings have changed. The storage containers added to the rear parking area
severely impact the view of the rear elevation as well as the character-defining rear parking area.

Figure 4.8: Building Shortly After Construction, 1958. Photo courtesy of Charles Phoenix.

85

Figure 4.9: Los Angeles Furniture Center Front Elevation Including Former Planter Area, 2018. Photo by author.

10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a
manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and
its environment would be unimpaired.

The Panorama bank has not had additions or new construction made to the main bank
building. The additions with the furniture store reuse were made to the site. The large storage
structure in the rear impact the integrity of the rear elevation, but are ultimately removable
without altering the integrity of the site. Other modifications to the site including the removal of
landscaping and the addition of a wall sign are also removable. No documentation was found of
the interior features, which makes tracking additions difficult. Likely additions include adding
carpeting over original flooring and adding window shades on the main elevation. These
additions are minor and removable.

Project Summary
Conservation by neglect is not the ideal process for the adaptive reuse of midcentury
bank branch buildings. However, this is a common circumstance for buildings that are located in
economically depressed areas. While it is not a positive ultimate outcome, there are benefits to
identifying this development in process. The benefits of conservation by neglect include leaving

86
the building intact, allowing for thorough documentation, and allowing time for designation. In
many ways, conservation by neglect acts as a pause for the life of the building. The building
remains intact because it is either vacant or in use by a tenant that cannot afford a major remodel
that would seriously alter the building. Thorough documentation and designation can be done
because the building is not under imminent development pressure. Without the deadline of a
building being razed or altered, there is time to properly research the history and document the
features of a building for future reference or designate for perpetuity.
The Panorama bank reuse shows the flexibility of this building typology. Unlike the Palm
Springs or Montebello case studies, the building owners did not hire a team of designers and
conservators to design solutions to adapt to the building. The interior remains intact with a
successful retail business located inside for over fifteen years. The Panorama bank reuse does not
meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, but there are lessons that can be
taken away from the example in how a new use can move into an architecturally significant
building and retain character-defining features without a large project budget.

87
Chapter 5
Recommendations and Guidance
The three case studies discussed in this paper exemplify a range of approaches to the
rehabilitation of midcentury bank branch buildings for new uses. Each case is unique and
influenced by the particular situation. In looking at them, two tracks emerge in what determines
the success of a project from a heritage conservation perspective. The first is the social context
for the reuse. Each situation is unique with different public and private motivations involved.
There are clear lessons to be learned from the case studies in the planning and policies that lead
to the best outcome as well as the social issues that are particular to midcentury bank branch
buildings. The second track is the physical reuse of the building. When scrutinized against the
U.S. Department of the Interior’s best practices for adaptive reuse described in the Secretary of
the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, best practices for approaching this building typology
emerge.

Social Context in Midcentury Bank Branch Reuse
Adaptive reuse projects are not completed in a vacuum. The context of the project impacts
the outcome as much as the physical state of the building. There are key aspects of the context
that impact the success of the adaptive reuse of midcentury bank branch buildings, which include
the public perception of preserving the recent past, the previous documentation and planning,
and the power of local preservation advocacy groups.

Preserving the Recent Past:
The recent past is defined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation as historic
resources that are less than 50 years old.
146
Midcentury bank branch buildings, constructed
between 1945 and 1975, straddle this definition. Because they are more common than their
earlier counterparts, resources from the recent past are often overlooked. Whereas a bank branch
from 100 years ago is more obviously seen as historic because of sheer age and the difference in
architectural style from today, a midcentury bank branch building has more in common

146
Jeanne Lambin. Preserving Resources from the Recent Past. (Washington, D.C.: National Trust for Historic
Preservation), 1.

88
architecturally with contemporary buildings, as well as there being more extant resources.
Despite this, it is important to save those resources that are exceptional.
Midcentury bank branch buildings are prevalent across the American landscape. The
population and economic boom in the postwar period created a need for local banking
institutions. The earliest of these buildings reached fifty years of age in 1995. Because they are
relatively new, it is only recently that this era of bank branch buildings are endangered by
change. Recent well-publicized preservation battles have shown the danger that these buildings
are in now that they are reaching the age to be outdated functionally but not old enough to be
seen as historic to the broader public.
Resources from the recent past face challenges with lack of public appreciation,
perceived obsolescence, demolition, development pressure, and insensitive alterations.
147
Some
may not appreciate buildings from the midcentury period because they are still too recent and
lack the sense of context in history that older buildings have. When the general public thinks of a
historic building there are cultural touchstones such as a haunted Victorian-era house or a grand
Beaux Arts library. Midcentury buildings, especially those with somewhat utilitarian origins
such as bank branches, do not conjure up the same idea. Even in the heritage conservation field,
there is debate about the value of midcentury buildings. There are preservationists alive today
who stood in front of the wrecking ball in the 1960s and ‘70s to prevent the demolition of older
structures that made way for buildings that are now reaching fifty years old. Unlike older
structures that may have been constructed on undeveloped land, many buildings in the
midcentury period were built where a building previously stood. Resources from the recent past
also have to contend with perceived obsolescence. Similar to the lack of public appreciation,
building owners are likely to see the style as outdated but not historical, leading to unsympathetic
alterations in the name of updating.

Documentation and Planning:
The three case studies show the importance of prior documentation for the success of
adaptive reuse projects. Without documentation and research by trained professionals, there is
little chance of knowing the original condition of buildings.

147
Ibid.

89
Most historic resource surveys capture the exterior of buildings. These surveys provide an
important reference for later study. Architectural historians can refer to photos and descriptions
from surveys to identify remaining exterior character-defining features and trace insensitive
alterations.
148
Unfortunately, building interiors are not captured in typical reconnaissance
surveys. Surveys do not record the interior conditions of buildings for legal reasons relating to
trespassing and property rights laws. However, documentation of interior conditions is important
when beginning an adaptive reuse project. Even if changes to the original interiors are proposed,
it is necessary to know what the original conditions are in order to attempt to adhere to the
Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation. In Palm Springs, the interior was
professionally documented soon after construction via interior and exterior photos by
architectural photographer Julius Shulman. These photos were indispensable when planning the
reuse. There were many insensitive alterations to the interior and exterior that were easily
reversed by referencing the photos. Without the photos any work attempting to recreate the
original would be conjecture and not meet Standard three relating to avoiding a false sense of
history.
149
Even if original building plans exist, there are changes that happen during
construction and many details and finishes that are not specified on building plans. In the case of
the Montebello branch bank, no original interior photos were recovered. In this instance, because
the building owner desired a specific medical use that required a complete remodeling, interior
photos may not have provided much benefit to the scope of the proposed project. However,
knowledge of original interiors can be used as leverage to make the case for conservation rather
than remodel and provide the opportunity to recover some interesting character while
accommodating change of use. Additionally, there was no preservation advocacy group fighting
to conserve the interior of the Montebello building. If documentation existed and was available
the conversation about interior conservation would have been possible. Furthermore, even
without outside pressure, building owners and architects are more likely to incorporate historic
character if documentation is available to support its importance. Without interior documentation
there is little leverage for advocacy groups to advocate for interior conservation. In the case of
Panorama City, the building is currently in a state that should be documented. In the future, small

148
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Register Bulletin 24 - Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for
Preservation, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office),
https://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb24/.
149
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 138.

90
interior alterations over time may lead to an interior that looks nothing like what exists even
today, fifty years after construction. For example, the light fixtures on the mezzanine level could
be removed without any building permit required. Local planning officials and preservation
advocates would have no way of knowing when they were removed unless they had visited the
store. Now, with documentation of the interior, there is a reference for future professional reuse
of the building.
Interior documentation must become a greater focus for government agencies, especially
for commercial properties. For the most part, local governments only manage the exterior of
listed properties. However, the National Park Service regulates interior work for tax credit
projects. Local governments must incentivize property owners of eligible buildings to provide
interior documentation, even before properties are listed, if no previous documentation exists.
Ideally, this would mean any property eligible for listing would be documented with the
standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey. In reality, this would likely include
photographing significant rooms and features. This documentation would provide dividends in
the future for adaptive reuse projects whether with tax credit financing or otherwise.

Active Preservation Advocacy Groups and Local Listing:
Preservation advocacy groups are at the front lines of almost every preservation battle. The
three case studies illuminated the difference that a preservation group makes. The Palm Springs
Preservation Foundation was vocal in opposing the condominium project. No major alteration
was proposed to the building exterior, rather a building was proposed in close proximity to the
bank. The advocacy group nominated the building for listing and attended a hearing to oppose
the project, leading the developer to withdraw the project and eventually sell the building.
In the case of Montebello, there was no advocacy group in the area to fight or support the
project. Fortunately, the building owner had a conservation-minded plan for the building. An
exterior-only approach to conservation is better than demolition or an insensitive exterior
alteration, but both interior and exterior conservation may have been a possibility if a strong
local advocacy group were present. Without advocacy groups there are no checks to the building
owners’ proposals. This is especially true in cities like Montebello where there is no local
historic preservation ordinance to provide government regulation in the form of local listing.
This case also exemplifies the importance of focused advocacy groups. The Montebello

91
Historical Society centers its efforts on maintenance of the Juan Matias Sanchez Adobe and has
no formal interest in midcentury era resources. Groups such as the Art Deco Society have shown
the power of focusing on historic resources from an era that is important and the weight that it
brings to statements that are made before hearing bodies.
In Panorama City, a strong preservation advocacy group, the Los Angeles Conservancy
Modern Committee, exists. As of now, the building has not faced serious alteration. This
example shows how slow changes over time are hard to oppose from an advocacy point of view,
especially if the building is not listed. The former Van Nuys Savings and Loan has been declared
eligible for listing at a National, State, and Local level. However, in its current state there is no
mechanism to stop continued minor alterations. The building has remained remarkably intact
considering the number of banking institutions it housed and the reuse by a furniture store. The
building has suffered insensitive alterations including the addition of large storage containers in
the parking lot and the removal of the at-grade landscape planters at the front of the property.
Theoretically, the Los Angeles Conservancy would strongly advocate for the building if it were
ever to be threatened with demolition. In California, the California Environmental Quality Act
(CEQA), serves an important role as a backstop for potential impacts to historic resources.
150

Material Issues in Midcentury Bank Branch Reuse and the Standards
There are materials issues in the rehabilitation of midcentury banks that are unlike other
historic resources. Until recently, conservators have been tasked to work on buildings with
earlier construction methods. The general guide for when a building has the potential to be
considered historic is fifty years of age. Buildings from the midcentury period, 1945-1975, only
recently began to reach this point. Because of the lack of projects from this era, there is a lack of
scholarship and not yet an understanding of best practices for conserving buildings from this era.
Because of the introduction of many new building materials in the midcentury era, there is still
much research left to be done on the best restoration techniques.
151
This will be less and less of
an issue as more case studies are completed and publicized. From the three case studies, there are
conservation issues that become clear with buildings from this era. The lack of decorative detail
makes conservation choices more difficult. Art Deco era buildings, for example, have character-

150
California Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Historic Preservation, California Office of Historic
Preservation Technical Assistance Series #1 (May 23, 2001), http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/ts01ca.pdf.
151
Stubbs, Time Honored, 59.

92
defining features that are applied ornamentation and are obvious to anyone encountering the
building.
152
Midcentury buildings often have character-defining features that include the
structural materials and craftsmanship themselves. For instance, two of the most important
character-defining features of the Panorama Bank exterior are the shape of the building and the
completely glazed front elevation.
The three case studies described in this paper provide insight into differing ways that
midcentury bank branch buildings have been reused for new purposes with varying degrees and
types of success. By comparing the three case studies, best-practices and key insights on the
reuse of this building type emerge. There are aspects of midcentury bank branch buildings that
make them unique candidates for reuse. By using the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for
Rehabilitation as a lens, issues specific to midcentury bank branch reuse emerge.
The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation (Department of Interior
regulations, 36 CFR 68) are the industry standard guidelines for adaptive reuse. Although these
ten standards listed below are static, they are interpreted, applied, ignored, and misunderstood in
various ways. The Standards are a good lens in which to judge the rehabilitation of the three case
studies and show what challenges midcentury bank branches face in common.

1. A property shall be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires
minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment.

The three case studies make clear that the programming of the new use plays an
important role in the conservation of character-defining features. In Palm Springs, the new use
required less infrastructure than the original use. The museum use was able to move in and retain
most character-defining features including the bank vault, drive-thru teller window, and open
lobby area. The cubicles and furniture that are visible in documentation from the original bank
use just after construction were removed, but these features were not permanent features of the
building and therefore not character-defining features. The Montebello example did not meet this
standard. Certain uses that require large amounts of partitioning and equipment will be difficult

152
Herbert Gottfried and Jan Jennings, American Vernacular Buildings and Interior Design, 1870-1960, (New
York: W.W. Norton, 2009), 69.

93
to meet the “minimal change” aspect of this standard. The Panorama City branch does not meet
this standard.

2. The historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved. The removal of historic
materials or alteration of features and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided.

The character-defining features of midcentury bank buildings must be retained or they
will no longer convey their historic sense of place. The complete renovation of the Home
Savings and Loan Montebello branch interior removes all of the interior defining characteristics.
One of the biggest shifts in midcentury banking practice was the attention to customer service
through design. Many of these tactics involved the customer experience within the bank itself
including open lobbies, undivided teller counters, and interior artwork. This history is lost in the
Montebello branch. The Palm Springs and Panorama City case studies retain character-defining
features with government-mandated rehabilitation in one and conservation by neglect in the
other.

3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes
that create a false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or
architectural elements from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.

None of the case studies added conjectural features. The Palm Springs case study
involved elements of reconstruction, particularly for the exterior landscaping. However, the
landscaping was not conjectural because detailed photographs of the exterior existed from just
after construction that were used for reference. The key way to remain a physical record of its
time is for a building to retain character-defining features. Retaining character-defining features
is the basis of success for adaptive reuse projects from a conservation perspective. There are
other lenses through which to judge reuse projects such as economic success, but from a
conservation perspective, character-defining features are essential. Thorough documentation that
identifies important features as well as previously constructed insensitive alterations is crucial.
Previous documentation of buildings is critical when attempting to identify alterations.

94
4. Most properties change over time; those changes that have acquired historic significance in
their own right shall be retained and preserved.

At the moment, this standard is less relevant in midcentury buildings than in older
property types. Because the original construction of midcentury banks is from the recent past,
there are few changes that have existed long enough to gain historic significance. In many cases,
the bank building itself has not yet or just recently reached the fifty-year benchmark for historic
significance. The exterior site of the Panorama City bank has endured the most change over time
but none of these changes can be considered historic in their own right. It is possible that in the
coming decades some changes may be considered historic, but there is not yet context to judge
those changes.

5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.

This standard is critical for midcentury bank branch buildings. The midcentury period of
design was characterized by new features, finishes, and construction techniques. For example,
the Palm Springs bank is an early and distinctive example of glass curtain wall construction on a
bank branch building. Removing the glass curtain walls of the bank would not only drastically
change the look of the building, but would remove one of the features that exemplifies the
construction techniques of the era and sets it apart from earlier bank branch buildings.
This standard is essential for midcentury bank branch buildings because by the nature of design
in this era there are a small number of building features that each play an outsized role in the
design. Buildings from earlier periods may feature an array of applied ornament on the exterior
but banks of the midcentury period were much more sparsely ornamented. The exterior of a
Greek Revival bank could feature fluted columns, column capitals, a pediment, cornice,
architrave, acroterion, and dentils just over the entrance. The street side of the Montebello bank,
arguably the most ornamental of the three case studies, in contrast contains stark travertine walls,
a tile mosaic, and a gold band around the roof. Losing any of these three features would be a
major loss to the exterior in a way that the Greek Revival losing an acroterion would not.

95
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature shall match the old in
design, color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where possible, materials. Replacement of
missing features shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or pictorial evidence.

Much like Standard four, this standard is not yet as relevant for midcentury buildings as
for older properties. This building type has not reached the age where it is deteriorating on a
large scale, aside from those examples that have received minimal maintenance since initial
construction. Deterioration generally exists in these buildings on the fringes. In Palm Springs for
example, the terrazzo flooring required maintenance. The architects made the argument that the
museum use required an especially homogenous floor and that repair would yield uneven results.
Similar to Standard five, the character-defining features of a midcentury bank likely involve its
essential structure. This makes repairing rather than replacing the feature all the more important
but also more difficult. If a character-defining feature that is also a major construction
component is deteriorating or becoming obsolete it could be a larger issue than if an applied
ornament is deteriorating. The original glass curtain wall on the front elevation of the Panorama
bank is likely less sustainable than a modern counterpart. However, replacing the original glass
curtain wall with a new system would likely not be found to meet this standard. Instead, more
creative and non-intrusive methods will be required to solve structural problems involving
character-defining features.

7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as sandblasting, that cause damage to historic
materials shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures, if appropriate, shall be
undertaken using the gentlest means possible.

This standard applies to all heritage buildings. However, the relative youth of midcentury
buildings may lead to a lack of awareness of the importance of this standard. The materials used
in midcentury bank buildings are likely more durable than century-old brick, but insensitive
treatments could damage these resources equally. Professional heritage materials
conservationists use this standard as a guiding principal for all work they do. Charles Kibby, who

96
worked on the Montebello bank, used light abrasive materials in some areas and a solvent-based
poultice in others to clean the travertine that was damaged by irrigation systems and graffiti.

8. Significant archeological resources affected by a project shall be protected and preserved. If
such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures shall be undertaken.

Ideally, this standard will not come into play with adaptive reuse projects. The Secretary
of the Interior recommends, “minimizing disturbance of the terrain around buildings or else-
where on the site, thereby reducing the possibility of destroying or damaging important
landscape features, archeological resources, other cultural or religious features, or burial
grounds.”
153
In general, the most successful projects from a conservation-perspective will not
involve heavy machinery. Instead conservation projects should involve the gentlest means
possible for rehabilitation.

9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction shall not destroy historic
materials that characterize the property. The new work shall be differentiated from the old and
shall be compatible with the massing, size, scale, and architectural features to protect the
historic integrity of the property and its environment.

This standard is key for midcentury bank branch buildings. In general, these buildings are
just one or two stories tall and have a relatively small building footprint. Unlike an expansive
school campus or a tall office building, small additions to bank branch sites can have a
significant impact on the historic integrity. In Palm Springs, the local advocacy group fought the
proposed condominium project because at less than twenty feet away and four stories tall the
new structure would not be compatible with the size and scale of the corner bank building. In
Panorama City, a long row of metal storage structures was added to the rear parking lot. The
structures are not compatible with the architectural features of the thin shell concrete and glazed
curtain wall bank building.

153
U.S. Department of the Interior, The Secretary Of The Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties with Guidelines for Preserving, Rehabilitating, Restoring & Reconstructing Historic Buildings, 138.

97
10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a
manner that if removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and
its environment would be unimpaired.

While not compatible in scale or architecture with the historic building, the metal storage
buildings at the Panorama City building do not impact the material integrity of the building. In
Palm Springs, the new museum use of the building required greater light and ultraviolet ray
control than the original curtain wall system could provide. The architects devised a removable
screen system that could be used when necessary to control the amount of light that enters the
space.

The Adaptability of Midcentury Bank Branch Buildings
The three case studies exemplify the flexibility of the midcentury bank branch building as
a choice for adaptive reuse projects. Many of the character-defining features are what contribute
to the flexibility of this building type for reuse. The open lobby areas that were a result of the
shift toward customer comfort and transparency in this period are easily reused by many
commercial uses. The museum and furniture store uses moved into their respective spaces with
no interior partitions required. This easy transition could be the case for many other uses
including open office space and dining areas.
Another character-defining feature of this building type that lends itself to easy reuse is the
omnipresent rear parking lot. Rear parking lots combine walkable street frontages with easy
automobile accessibility. Many jurisdictions have high parking demands for new uses.
Midcentury bank buildings, unlike their older counterparts, were constructed in a time of
increased automobile usage. These large surface parking lots can accommodate new uses that
may require large amounts of on-site parking such as a medical office in the case of the
Montebello case study.
The third biggest contributor to the adaptability of midcentury bank branch buildings is
their relative youth. Many of these structures are reaching the age where they may be eligible for
historic designation and yet they are for the most part still in good condition. The Panorama bank
is an example of adaptable this building type remains. Despite its historic status and recent
neglect from major maintenance, the Panorama bank is not a dilapidated structure. Midcentury

98
bank branch buildings, because of their age, use many of the same systems for heating, air, and
other essential functions. This makes the building type more adaptable inherently, because less
adaptation is necessary to bring the building to modern standards.

99
Conclusion
Midcentury bank branch buildings are a historic resource typology that is reaching a
crucial point in its existence. With banking technology moving most functions online, there is
less and less of a need for local brick and mortar branch buildings. Additionally, the bulk of
these resources are reaching a point where building owners will begin to find some of the
functions obsolete. A number of high-profile cases, including the Lytton Savings Bank in Los
Angeles and the Wiletta branch of Valley National Bank in Phoenix show that important
examples of this building type are at risk of demolition.
154
Many more branch banks have already
been subject to irreversible alterations.
This thesis explored three case studies that provide unique examples of the adaptive reuse
of midcentury bank branch buildings. Each of the case studies in the Southern California cities of
Palm Springs, Montebello, and Panorama City, Los Angeles exemplify specific social contexts
and unique architectural problems. Each new use, whether a museum, a medical office building,
or a furniture store has provided a viable new life for the respective building. However, in order
to truly conserve our built heritage, simply providing a viable new use is not enough. After
studying the three cases, there are lessons to be learned about how to not only create a great
adaptive reuse outcome, but a great heritage conservation outcome. Half of the equation for a
successful reuse from a heritage conservation perspective is managing the social context of the
project. The unique issues of preserving the recent past and the importance of active local
preservation groups and thorough surveying and documentation are evident in all three projects.
The other half of the equation is the ability to follow the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for
Rehabilitation. Because of the relative youth and particular character-defining features of
midcentury bank branch buildings, there are issues specific to this building typology that should
be looked at closely in relation to the Standards.
Adaptive reuse has many positive effects on communities. Reusing existing buildings is
often more sustainable than new construction as it conserves the embodied energy of the building
and requires fewer new building materials. Reuse projects can also often be a way to catalyze
reinvestment in economically stagnant areas. In addition to these effects, adaptive reuse is the

154
Brenna Goth, "Phoenix 'Midcentury Marvel' Bank Building Demolished near Hance Park," Azcentral, March 30,
2017, https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/03/29/phoenix-midcentury-marvel-bank-building-
demolished-near-hance-park/99785728/.

100
most effective way to retain heritage buildings that have lost their original user. Midcentury bank
branch buildings that retain their character-defining features are an aspect of our built heritage
that is threatened, but the three case studies explored here prove that there are effective ways to
conserve this building typology while also meeting economic and sustainability goals.
This paper looks holistically from a conservation perspective at the adaptive reuse of the
three former bank branch buildings. Further research should be done at both a more focused level
as well as a broader look at a range of case studies. Adaptive reuse is a complex process that
requires experts in multiple disciplines including architectural history, architectural design,
building science, construction, finance, real estate, law, and public policy among other fields.
This paper touches on these disciplines in order to look at the full story of the reuse of each
building. Focusing on just one aspect of adaptive reuse in relation to bank branches would enable
deeper insights. For example, the introduction of new building materials in the postwar period
heavily influenced bank branch design. Building materials are incorporated into this paper as a
character-defining feature and there is a broad discussion of materials used in the time period.
However, a closer examination of the specific materials used in each building and an
interrogation into their maintenance and rehabilitation would yield insight into how long this era
of building can last before reaching obsolescence and how best to treat problems with the
specific materials in order to help the buildings last into the future with a new use.
Likewise, a broader survey of midcentury bank branch buildings would yield insight into
the viability of adaptive reuse of this building typology. This paper chronicles three instances of
adaptive reuse in the Southern California region. A survey of all former midcentury bank branch
buildings in this region would yield data on which buildings have remained banks and why,
which buildings are being reused and with what use, and which of these buildings are being
demolished and under what circumstances. Many examples of this building type are only now
reaching the important fifty-year mark, and there is much research left to do in how we can retain
important examples of this aspect of our built heritage.

101
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Asset Metadata

Creator Morales, Sean (author)

Core Title Money in the bank: three case studies in the adaptive reuse of midcentury bank branch buildings

School School of Architecture

Degree Master of Heritage Conservation / Master of Planning

Degree Program Heritage Conservation / Planning

Publication Date 03/13/2019

Defense Date 03/12/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag adaptive reuse,Architecture,bank,bank branch,design,E. Stewart Williams,Home Savings and Loan,Howard Ahmanson,midcentury,Millard Sheets,Montebello,OAI-PMH Harvest,Palm Springs,Panorama City,Santa Fe Savings and Loan,Van Nuys Savings and Loan,W.A. Sarmiento

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sandmeier, Trudi (committee chair), Hall, Peyton (committee member), Platt, Jay (committee member)

Creator Email seanfmorales@gmail.com,sfmorale@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-133420

Unique identifier UC11675704

Identifier etd-MoralesSea-7153.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-133420 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-MoralesSea-7153.pdf

Dmrecord 133420

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Morales, Sean

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA