About

“The Miller Residence”

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1190, declared 10/8/2019

Gable & Wyant, architects

Click here.to see the Los Angeles Department of City Planning Recommendation Report, which has additional details on the property’s architectural and historic significance.

Significance:

The Miller Residence by Gable & Wyant is a single-family, Spanish Colonial Revival-style residence located on Los Feliz Boulevard between Vermont and Western Avenues. The residence is built with reserved detail and embodies many of the defining features of Spanish Revival architecture, including elevated ceilings, a Mission-style corridor entryway, and multi-gabled roofing with tapered terracotta tiles, to name just a few. The defining feature of the house, however, is the center atrium–originally an open-air courtyard—with a tile fountain and exposed rafters. Constructed from October to December of 1922, the residence was built for automotive glass pioneer John F. Miller and his family.

The Miller Residence is also notable as one of the earliest works by the architects George Elmore Gable and Carl Stanley Wyant, having incorporated the same year as “Gable & Wyant, Architects.” In a career spanning more than three decades, Gable & Wyant built numerous residential and commercial structures throughout Southern California, their most notable work being Hangar One at Los Angeles International Airport. The duo’s renown was such that they were commissioned to build elaborate structures for both public and private parties, including residences, commercial buildings, and public schools. Further, Gable & Wyant are considered to be “master architects” by the City of Beverly Hills, and their works have been selected for preservation by the cities of both Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. In addition to the cities that have preserved the duo’s buildings, two of Gable & Wyant’s works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places—Hangar One and the Beverly Hills Women’s Club.

The architectural style of the Miller Residence, the reserved detail with which it is constructed, and the renown of architects Gable & Wyant all make the Miller Residence a structure worthy of preservation by the City of Los Angeles because, per Section 22.171.7 of the Cultural Heritage Ordinance, the Miller Residence “embodies the distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period, or method of construction; [and] represents a notable work of a master designer, builder, or architect whose individual genius influenced his or her age.” (Source: Los Angeles Department of City Planning Recommendation Report.)

1930 census:
5060 Los Feliz Blvd. (Value: $20,000): 1) John F. Miller, owner and head of household; 62 year old white married male; married at age 25; born in Ohio; father born in Germany, mother in New York; a manufacturer of leather goods. 2) Bertha R. Miller, wife; 59 year old white married female; married at age 22; born in Illinois; parents born in Ohio; not working.

1940 Census:
5060 Los Feliz Boulevard (Value $22,000): 1) John F. Miller, head of household; white married male 72 years of age; born in Ohio; real estate broker; earns more than $5,000. 2) Lois F. Miller, wife; white married female 70 years of age; born in Ohio; not working.

Photo courtesy Michael Locke, 2021