Whitley Heights 101

6740 Whitley Terrace

6740 Whitley Terraces was one of the first homes that was built on top of the hill in Whitley Terrace in 1920. Thomas A. Burk, a 44 year old accountant who ran the financial department for a big plumbing company, and his wife, a 39 year old elementary school teacher, Elise Copeland Burk, moved into their newly built home with their two children: Ruth Wilhelmenia Burk, age 11, and Thomas Burk, Jr. age 10.

On  July 3, 1907, 33 year old Thomas A. Burk, a native of Illinois, married 28 year old Elsie Copeland, a resident of Chicago. The Burks rented a newly built bungalow home located at 1929 Montrose Street in Echo Park (pictured above). The 1,064 square foot home had three bedrooms and two bathrooms and still stands today. Both children were born and lived in this house until 1917 when they moved to an apartment located at 4773 Hollywood Blvd. and by 1919, had saved enough money to buy a lot on the very top of Whitley Heights. During that time, lots in Whitley Heights were selling between $1,100 and $4,500 and is probable that the Burks paid towards the higher amount based on the location of the lot. When they pulled the permit on 11/5/20, they did not yet have an address to use on the permit for the 6 room house and the detached garage (see below). At the time the cost of building a 6 room one story house was estimated at $6,500.

The Burks hired builder Major L. Schulz to build the home. After the house was nearly finished, the total cost was closer to $7,000 with the breakdown for the frame ($1,750), plastered ($1,750), completed ($1,750) and then a final payment of $1,750) 35 days after the notice of completion was filed on November 3, 1920. Architect Wesley W. Eager designed the plans for the house. Eager had been the general manager to William Mollett during the construction of Grauman’s Metropolitan Theater that used to be located on 6th and Hill Streets. Mollett and Eager also worked together to build one of the girl’s dormitories at USC.

The Burks were one of the first residents to live on the top of the hill. Below them, some of the homes on Fairfield Avenue and Odin Street had been built prior to 1920, but Whitley Terrace was just being built. First the first few years of living at 6740 Whitley Terrace, the Burks witnessed the growth of the neighborhood. Around the corner, 6691 Whitley Terrace was completed by architect Arthur Barnes by 1921, where actor Eugene O’Neil purchased in 1925. Next door to O’Neil’s home, 6697 Whitley Terrace, was built by architect Nathan L. Coleman and completed by 1922. Below, 6697 Whitley Terrace is the home on the left that is under construction. O’Neil’s house is to the immediate right and the house in front of his, 6687 Whitley Terrace, was also built by Arthur Barnes for hotelier Jack Vanier and would later be rented by 20 year old actress Marsha Hunt and her parents in 1937.

Below is the view of those homes that could be seen from 6740 Whitley Terrace. From left to right: 6717 Whitley Terrace (1923), 6711 Whitley Terrace (1921), 6691 Whitley Terrace (1921), and 6697 Whitley Terrace (1922).

Directly across the street from their house, 6776 Wedgewood Place, was being built by architect Arthur Barnes for Rudolph Valentino and completed in 1922. Below, 6740 Whitley Terrace is the house on the left while Valentino’s house is on the right with the car parked in front of the residence on Wedgewood Place. The street on the left is Whitley Terrace where the one car garage is located for 6740 Whitley Terrace. There is no access to the house on Wedgewood Place.

The Burk’s neighbor to the south of the residence was actor Francis X. Bushman, who lived at 2020 Grace Avenue in a 20 room house that used to be the Cahuenga Vista Inn. Below, 6740 Whitley Terrace is circled in green, Valentino’s house is indicated by the red arrow, Bushman’s residence is circled in blue, and finally the area in yellow is the rumored house that Randolph Hearst would meet his lover, actress Marion Davies, and director Robert Vignola would live. What an interesting group of neighbors they had in the 1920s.

6740 Whitley Terrace can been seen in the background of many photos of the Valentino house.

When the house was first built, there was an outside balcony with three arched openings that had a view of Cahuenga Pass. Since then there have been alterations on both the exterior and interior of the home, including removal of that outdoor balcony.

During the 1970s, the owner originally wanted to convert the location of the one-car garage into the kitchen and build a new 2-car basement garage under the house that would be accessed on Wedgewood Place (see below).

However, the plans changed after findings from a Geological and Soil report from 1975. First, the examination of the floor joists beneath the existing residence indicated a fire occurred sometime in the past, resulting in the charring of some of the wood support systems. In addition, on the south side of the existing residence was a concrete walkway which was tilted and cracked in a chaotic manner. Neighbors reported that the cracked sidewalk was a result of the 1971 earthquake. Major damage to the perimeter of the footing on the northern side of the existing residence were also a result of the earthquake which caused the perimeter footing to be tilted and the exterior of the stucco on the entire dwelling to be cracked. To remedy the damage, a new plan was devised where the garage would remain and then an outside patio slab with a 8 foot retaining wall be built to withstanding any future earthquakes and provide the house with extra support.

1971 Earthquake. On February 9, 1971 at 6:01 am, a devastating 6.6 earthquake struck the densely populated metropolitan area of Los Angeles, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The epicenter of the earthquake was in the vicinity of Magic Mountain, about six miles northeast of Sylmar, at a depth of about seven miles. The shock was felt for 300 miles along the southern California coastal region and as far inland as Las Vegas, Nevada. The greatest damage was in the San Fernando area northwest of Los Angeles. The earthquake resulted in 65 deaths and more than 2,000 people injured. Property damage losses totaled more than half a billion dollars.

Above, notice there is no longer the outside patio on the upper floor. During the 1990s, the then owners remodeled 6740 Whitley Terrace. They first took out the balcony and extended the room and replaced the roof. They then built a new kitchen adding skylights.

As for the Burks, Thomas was able to retire and died on November 2, 1952 at the Whitley Heights home, at the age of 78. Elise remained at the house and when she retired from teaching, became active in community as vice president of the Hollywood Citizen’s Committee and director of the Whitley Heights Civic Association just in time to oppose the Hollywood Freeway construction dividing Whitley Heights. Burk was active in getting over 300 residence to sign a petition to oppose the freeway construction though Whitley Heights and worked with officials in offering an alternative solution. However, she ran into many roadblocks from city officials and the media. Below, she appeared in the Valley Times and thanked them for the publicity because other Los Angeles newspapers refused to report her efforts to find an alternate route for the freeway.

On February 6, 1948 Elsie Burk testified in front of the California Legislature Assembly in regards to the 101 Freeway. At that time, Burk indicated that she had been a resident of Whitley Heights for over a quarter of a century and her house was one of the first on the hill. Their house faced the Cahuenga Pass, the Hollywood Bowl and Griffith Park. Burk went to city hall to see the city plan for the freeway and found the proposed plan was in sections of four scattered in a room collecting dust. The section she was most interested in had debris on it and therefore was difficult to read. She indicated she heard rumors about the freeway back in 1939 and there would be a tunnel under the heights. Then the rumors were that the freeway would go down Highland Avenue. Ultimately, Burk’s efforts failed and now she had to witness the neighborhood be divided directly in front of her house. Below, 6740 Whitley Terrace can be seen in the upper right corner while what is left of Valentino’s foundation in front of the home.

Soon the demolition crews came and tore down Valentino’s house (see above) while staring to clear out a road for the freeway. Now her once beautiful view of the Cahuenga Pass was blocked by a freeway wall. In 1963, Elise Burk died at her Whitley Heights home at the age of 84. One of the first homes on the hill was owned by the Burks family for nearly 43 years!