Vanessa Withers, Historic Property Specialist

11/30/2025

Your home is your sanctuary, not a circus.

11/22/2025

Have always loved this house. Was so fortunate to take a class from Koenig in grad school.

10/21/2025

Painful to watch this unfold…..

10/07/2025

Sometimes I have a bad day too when I think of today’s buildings. 😂

09/04/2025

We've got great news on this ! 🎉 The Marilyn Monroe Residence has been spared demolition and remains a protected Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM), thanks to a ruling made yesterday.

Following a hearing last week, a judge sided Tuesday with the city of Los Angeles on maintaining the HCM status of Marilyn Monroe's former home, declining the request of its new owners to halt its designation so they could level the property, Bloomberg reports.

Monroe's 1929 Spanish Colonial Revival home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive holds historical significance as the only home the Hollywood icon ever owned by herself, in a time when just 0.1% of single young women owned a home.

This designation is particularly meaningful as only about 2% of designated HCMs in Los Angeles currently represent women's history. Through the L.A. Women's Landmarks Project—a partnership with the Where Women Made History initiative of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the L.A. Conservancy—we're working to address the significant underrepresentation of women and their contributions to Los Angeles landmarks.

Read more on yesterday's decision at the Bloomberg article here: https://bit.ly/481wDab

📸: Marilyn Monroe House by Mercer Vine via Curbed; Monroe at Fifth Helena Drive by Allan Grant for LIFE Magazine, 1962.

07/23/2025

📣 The Historic Highlands neighborhood in Altadena has been approved as the first official Historic District in unincorporated L.A. County! 📣

Today, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Historic Highlands Historic District, a 77-home neighborhood in the southern extent of Altadena largely made up of stately single-family residences. Local advocates and homeowners have spent eight years trying to formally designate the neighborhood. Supervisor Kathryn Barger called it a "fitting first" that Altadena would have the first recognized district and was proud of the efforts of residents. 🎉

Remarkably, the neighborhood was untouched by the devastating Eaton Fire earlier this year, and preserving its rich architectural and cultural heritage has become even more meaningful. Recognition of this historic district is not only important for the County’s preservation goals—it stands as a powerful testament to the area's resilience.

Read more about the neighborhood's history and preservation efforts here: https://bit.ly/4173VAr

📸 Photo via the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

07/22/2025

In Altadena, salvage experts are rushing to save handmade tiles from fireplaces that survived the Eaton fire.

A group of neighbors, masons and other volunteers are racing to salvage the tiles — many of which are at least a century old, and can be worth thousands of dollars apiece — from burned-out homes before they are demolished or stolen.

The tiles, many of which were handmade locally in the early 1900s, tether Altadena to its history and are part of the rich cultural and architectural legacy of Los Angeles. For some residents, the effort to rescue them has also become symbolic of the battle to save the community from predatory investors who, in the aftermath of the Eaton fire, have pressured some homeowners in the bucolic enclave to sell their land.

Read more at The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/23/us/altadena-tiles-eaton-fire-la-history.html

Photo by Ryan Young for The New York Times

07/20/2025

Part of historic Altadena, once orange groves and now homes with architectural styles, is up for county landmark status.

06/14/2025

Yes! We’re one step closer to rebuilding hope in Altadena. 🏗️

This week, SGV Habitat reached a major milestone — the home designs have officially completed the pre-approval process! These designs will be used to rebuild safe, resilient homes for underinsured and uninsured low-income homeowners in Altadena.

A heartfelt thank you to the Wood family for opening their property to host a press conference with and The Foothill Catalog team. We’re hopeful this site will be among the first to see construction in the coming months — and just one of many homes to come.

Together, we’re building forward. 🏡💙

06/13/2025

06/06/2025

🔗 More details: https://ow.ly/Se6C50W54pL

Local conservation groups are getting a big boost to help document the cultural landmarks and stories that make Altadena a community like no other.

Today, the Getty Foundation is awarding a $420,000 grant to the Los Angeles Conservancy to head up a mapping project designed to inform rebuilding after the Eaton Fire.

✍️ Robert Garrova
📷 Google Earth

04/15/2025

Webinar: Heritage Under Threat from Disaster & Conflicts 🌍
In honor of International Day of Monuments and Sites (IDMS), we’re hosting a webinar on April 18, 2025, from 1:00 - 2:00 PM ET to explore how disasters like the recent wildfires in Lahaina and Los Angeles affect our cultural heritage, and the lessons we can learn to better prepare for future events.

Special Guests:
-Denise Antolini (Hawaii Governor’s Climate Advisory Team) will share insights on the recovery efforts following the Lahaina fire.

-Katie Horak & Morgan Quirk from Architectural Resources Group will discuss the critical role of preserving cultural heritage after crises.

This discussion is essential for anyone interested in the intersection of cultural preservation, disaster recovery, and climate change.

🔗 Register now: https://usicomos.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/usicomos/eventRegistration.jsp?event=172&