About

History:

“Vinmont House”

Roland E. Coate, architect.

Potential Historic Preservation Overlay Zone.

Jacques Vinmont was an executive with the California Petroleum Corporation. The house was designed by Roland E. Coate, Sr., who also designed homes for Gary Cooper, Melvyn Douglas, Frank Capra, and Davis O. Selznick. Lily Pons, French opera singer and Hollywood movie star lived here. (Source: Los Angeles Conservancy Hollywood at Home Tour in Laughlin Park, April 6, 1997.)

“A characteristic Mediterranean Spanish Colonial Revival, 2-story house by an architect who specialized in this mode but he also did equally well in the Tudor & Colonial revival styles”. (Source: Gebhard and Winter, 1977, p. 159. g&w, 1985, p.176.) Source: John Douglas brochure: 1927, 7000 sq-foot, 1-acre lot.

“House of Jacques Vinmont, LA”; Katherine Bashford, landscape architect. (opposite Winona) (Source: Architectural Digest, 1927, vol. 6 No. 3, p. 5, photographs.)

See a History of Vinmont House. 47-page document researched by Tim Gregory, 1996.

1930 census:
5136 Los Feliz Blvd. (Value: $150,000?) 1) Jacques Vinmont, owner and head of household; 49 year old married white male; married at age 24; born in Switzerland; parents born in Germany; speaks German; to U.S. in 1887, a naturalized citizen; a financier in the oil industry. 2) Helen Z. Vinmont, wife; 39 year old white married female; married at age 21; born in California; father born in Northern Ireland, mother in California; not working. 3) Helen V. Vinmont, daughter; 26 year old white single female; in school; born in California. 4) ??? Vinmont, son; 12 year old single white male; in school; born in California. 5) Jacques J. Morneau, servant; 48 year old married white male; married at age 33; born in France; parents born in France; speaks French; to U.S. in 1911, a naturalized citizen; a servant in a private family. 6) He-lene V. Morneau, servant; 38 year old white married female; married at age 28; born in Finland; father born in Sweden, mother in Finland; speaks Finnish; to U.S. in 1927, citizenship pending; a servant in a private family. 7) Freda H. Huguenot, servant; 41 year old single white female; born in Germany; parents born in Germany; speaks German; to U.S. in 1912, an alien; a servant in a private family.

1940 Census:
5136 Los Feliz Boulevard (Value $30,000): 1) Charles F. House, head of household; white married male 55 years of age; born in Colorado; not working. 2) Elizabeth B. House, wife; white married female 45 years of age; born in Alabama; not working. 3) Charles William House, son; white single male 19 years of age; born in California; in school. 3) Mary E. Howe, sister-in-law; white widow 62 years of age; born in Alabama; not working. 4) Julia E. Eminger, mother-in-law; white widow 83 years of age; born in Kentucky; not working. 5) Josephine Jaramillo, maid; white single female 22 years of age; born in California; housekeeper in a private family; earns 480.