Whitley Heights 101

History of Whitley Heights

2040 Whitley Avenue

2040 Whitley Avenue was built under the address of 6546 Bella Vista Way in 1918 by lumber magnate Edward Upton Wheelock and his wife, Blanche. The residence was originally built as a 5 room, 2 story home with a detached garage on the end of a cul-de-sac on Bella Vista Way (see lot 10 below) and sat next to a stairway that went from Whitley Avenue to Bella Vista Way (built at Sun Alley).

Bella Vista Way used to be a foothill street with a cul-de-sac, lined with one- and two-story bungalow houses that backed up to Whitley Avenue (formerly Curlew Street) and was accessed off of Cahuenga Avenue (now Boulevard). Several of the homes survived the Hollywood Freeway construction during the 1950s- four homes remain on Bella Vista Way, including this property, while some were relocated to other neighborhoods in Los Angeles.

In 1923, the Wheelocks added a store room, sun porch, and widened the existing screen porch. In 1939, they built a new garage (relocated the original garage from the adjacent lot) and another bedroom and bathroom improving the single family residence to a three bedroom, three and a half bathroom home. The Los Angeles Assessor’s office recognizes the property as 6544 Bella Vista Way. However, after the house was auctioned off in 1945, the owner began using the address of 2040 Whitley Avenue.

In 1982, the owner added an outdoor jacuzzi on the deck behind the garage. There were no permits found that indicate when this property was converted into a duplex. In 2004, the owner received a code enforcement violation for converting the garage into living quarters which was not allowed in the residential zone and had to change it back. In 2010, another violation occured for “Building or structure is being used, occupied, or it’s existing occupancy classification has changed without the issuance of a valid Certificate of Occupancy” which is when the property was being used as a duplex. As a result, the property is not a contributor to the Whitley Heights Historic District.

This house was designed by architect Clarence L. Jay. Jay also built the Washington Theater in Pasadena (below), the Sunnyside Mausoleum in Long Beach, and the Glendale YMCA.

After the Wheelock’s sold this house in 1945, they moved back to a cottage they owned near their lumber business on Grand Avenue. Edward died in 1949 at the age of 73. Blanche, also 73, took over the lumber company. A year later, she sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on a trip to France. She sold the company in 1955 and died in 1961 at the age of 85. The Wheelocks never had children and a buried next to one another at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.