Los Angeles

Roberts Apartments Nominated for Landmark Status

The midcentury apartment building in Silver Lake was designed by Allyn E. Morris
The Roberts Apartments in L.A.
The Roberts Apartments in L.A.Photo: Courtesy of Noah Baylin

Tucked away along a bumpy side street in Silver Lake, the Roberts Apartments are quietly waiting to be deemed a historic cultural landmark. After being nominated earlier this month, the midcentury apartment complex could be approved by L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Foundation. Recognized on the grounds of being “an excellent example of a midcentury-modern, multifamily apartment building,” the stucco-clad structure is will soon ring in its 55th year at the corner of Griffith Park Boulevard and West Landa Street. A design of Allyn E. Morris, the building houses nine units, each adhering to an open floor plan, with most featuring gas fireplaces constructed from concrete, floor-to-ceiling doors, exposed wood beams, and balcony access. Morris, deemed “king of cantilever,” opted for a rectangular plan for the building, which has one façade that gradually steps over three stories and includes both single-lite fixed and jalousie windows.

The side of the apartment building.

Photo: Courtesy of Noah Baylin

A Stanford-educated mechanical engineer turned architect, Morris worked for Calvin Straub, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Risley and Gould before receiving his architecture license in 1957 and branching off on his own. Noted for their cubic aesthetic and cost-conscious construction, Morris’s numerous residential works pepper L.A.’s eastern neighborhoods, which include Bubeck House in Glassell Park, the Murakami Residence in Silver Lake, the Lago Vista condos in Echo Park, and the Aldama apartments in Highland Park. His own former studio is still nearby in Silver Lake along Silver Ridge Avenue, only a few miles from the Roberts Apartments.

For the next step in the process, the heritage foundation board will schedule and perform a tour of the building, followed by a review for approval.

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