Los Angeles -- La Casa de las Campanas

A 37-room mansion in Spanish Colonial Revival style was designed by architect Lester G. Scherer in 1927, adapting the concept of the daughter of the family that purchased the slightly more than one acre lot in the undeveloped Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Indigenous materials such as native stone were used in the original house and garden and for the renovations carried out by the current owner in 1987. The garden has mature trees and shrubs that were planted in the 1920s and includes both drought tolerant varieties and sub-tropical palms that are appropriate for the climate. The house encloses a courtyard garden with one of the property's fountains in the center with loggias one three sides where there is a tile mural in one of the walls. There is a swimming pool and another outdoor entertaining room with a fireplace nearly hidden by bougainvillea. Next to the garage there is a lath house that was originally used for growing orchids. There is a secret garden with another fountain tucked in one corner, with beds of roses, a stone bench, and a view of the neighboring golf course. Ornate ironwork gates and grilles, architectural arches and tiles add decorative elements to the outdoor rooms. Enormous terra cotta and glazed pots are used as containers for flowers and small trees while shrubs and deciduous trees have been trimmed to globe shapes or espaliered on walls.

Persons associated with the garden include: Mr. and Mrs. Willis H. Meade (former owners, 1927--); Mrs. Lucile Meade Lamb (former owner, 1986); Lester G. Scherer (architect, 1927-1929); Barry Milofsky (architect, 1987); Thomas Cox.