A Historic Home

Since the organization of the Historic Janes Village community association this beautiful home has been prominently featured in Janes Village informational materials and as a characteristic Janes home in newspaper articles and on the home page of www.janesvillage.net. When the TV Show "House Hunters" did a special feature on Janes Village they used shots inside and out of the home to describe classic Janes cottage features.

Janes village is a Historic Neighborhood in Northwest Altadena, California. Developed in the between 1924 and 1926 it is an early example of residential development in the LA Basin. Janes Village was named after E.P. Janes, the man who designed and built most of the homes in the area and was designated an "Altadena Heritage Area" in 2002. This designation was bestowed upon the area because of the unique architectural and historical character of the homes in this area which were largely built by Janes. When EP Janes came to Altadena boasting that he would build 1000 he made a significant impact by building well over 270 classic English Cottages.

EP Janes
Altadena Builder

Elisha P. Janes (E. P. Janes as he was known professionally) built many small tracts of English and Spanish style "homes of distinction in scenic Altadena" between 1924 and 1926. Born in New York on July 26, 1877, Janes moved to Altadena in 1924, boasting that he would build 1,000 houses in the community. Although he fell far short of that mark, over 160 Altadena houses have been documented by Altadena Heritage as the work of Janes. In addition, there are probably several hundred more that have not been identified due to lack of building permits and other historical information. Altadena Heritage has verified Janes' involvement in the construction of at least 160 houses.

Janes' building program called for one-story stucco-finished, six-room houses in four different floor-plans. His properties were fully landscaped before being sold at prices ranging from $8,000 to $11,000. F. H. Lansdale, a representative of the Asbestic Stucco Company of Los Angeles, was put in charge of the building project. The designer is unknown.

In October 1925, Janes and several local businessmen hosted an "American Homes Beautiful Exposition" to show off over 300 Janes-built "small model homes" in Altadena. According to newspaper accounts of the day, at least 25,000 people were expected to attend its opening week; photographs published in the Los Angeles Examiner (click here to see article) show a street of English-style cottages clogged with Model T's and curious visitors. The home show, which featured 72 open homes, 8 of which were fully furnished, was billed as the "most elaborate" ever staged. It was advertised that these homes could be purchased, with furniture and landscaping, for $500 down and payments of $100 per month. Mr. Janes was quoted as saying that "economy features will be displayed in an effort to convince even those of moderate means that a home of their own is within their reach."

Janes advertised himself as a "builder of fine homes" and, indeed, many of his structures still survive and continue to be popular with newcomers to the community. . . More historical information available at www.janesvillage.org