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  • Built in 1927 on Lot 266 in Tract 8320
  • Original commissioner: Patrick J. Watson
  • Architect: Hunt & Burns (Sumner P. Hunt and Silas R. Burns Jr.)
  • On January 28, 1927, the Department of Building and Safety issued P. J. Watson permits for a two-story, 11-room residence and a two-story, 37-by-22-foot garage at 303 North June Street
  • Born in Los Angeles County on St. Patrick's Day 1867, Patrick John Watson was a descendant through his mother of the Dominguez family, which had received the first Spanish land grant in California. Watson was living at Rancho Dominguez in 1920 and still identifying himself as a farmer in the Federal census of that year. After oil was discovered on ranch property in 1921, Watson and his San Francisco–born wife, née Mary Eulalia O'Farrell, began to spend more time in the city. Living early on at the Rampart Apartments (still) at Rampart Boulevard and Sixth Street, the Watsons, who had no children, appear to have been living at the Talmadge on Wilshire Boulevard while awaiting the completion of 303 North June Street
  • On September 21, 1929, the Department of Building and Safety issued P. J. Watson a permit to erect "an artificial stone entrance at front door, part reinf. concrete" at 303 North June Street. The design was by Hunt & Burns; perhaps the Watsons felt that the architects' original façade had been too plain
  • Patrick J. Watson was not able to enjoy 303 North June Street for very long. He died of a sudden heart attack at home on September 30, 1930. A solemn high requiem mass was held for him at St. Vibiana's following a cortège from 303. He was buried among many extended family members at Calvary Cemetery
  • Mary Watson was still living at 303 North June Street when she died on May 29, 1942. Per official records, she was 76, though she reported her age as a few various years younger in some instances such as to census enumerators, a not uncommon habit among women of her era
  • Succeeding Mary Watson at 303 North June were La Verne citrus rancher Clarence Edward Weber and his wife, née Aurelia Castruccio, both native Angelenos. Clarence Weber was born on January 28, 1886, Mrs. Weber on February 17, 1888; she was a daughter of James Castruccio, the first Italian consul in Los Angeles. Clarence was the son of John Weber, a real estate operator who had a hand in developing South Los Angeles. In the fall of 1887, John Weber bought an East Adams Street lot to build a family home, which became 222 East Adams Street—after Clarence and Aurelia were married on November 12, 1917, the couple moved into 222, which the extended Weber family would occupy until moving to 1942 South Hobart Boulevard in West Adams Heights in 1929. (222 East Adams was demolished in 1965.) The Webers' crosstown trajectory would reflect the demographic changes and economic decline during the 1920s of both the east and west Adams districts. It was from South Hobart that Clarence and Aurelia would be moving still farther west to Hancock Park
  • Clarence and Aurelia Weber had three children. Olga Maria, born in September 1920, became a nun. Carlo Anthony, born in January 1927, entered the Jesuit order in 1947, becoming a priest in 1959; he left the priesthood within a decade and became a clinical psychologist with the Los Angeles County Mental Health Department who lectured and hosted a local television show called "Where the Buck Stops." He married in 1970. Darius Joseph, born in November 1931, decided against celibacy early on and married at the age of 21. On July 14, 1949, Aurelia Weber died at 303 North June Street after a long illness. Although he continued to spend most of his time in La Verne, her widow was still in possession of 303 when he died in Pomona on April 2, 1961, then joining Aurelia at Calvary Cemetery. Elmer C. Weber, a longtime wholesale drug buyer who appears never to have married, moved to 303 North June Street to live with his younger brother in 1955 after selling their parents' West Adams Heights house, which, as that neighborhood declined even further with plans for the Santa Monica Freeway afoot, was then converted by a new owner into an old-age home. Still residing at 303, Elmer Weber died in La Verne on January 16, 1965
  • Ads offering 303 North June Street for sale appeared in the Times during the summer of 1965; no price was given
  • Philip King Verleger and his wife née Hester Ann Wilkinson bought 303 North June Street in 1965 and would be moving from La Cañada early the next year. Beginning his career in admiralty law in 1944, Verleger, born in San Jose on September 26, 1918, soon segued into an oil and gas practice focusing on air pollution and environmental issues. At the time of moving to Hancock Park, Verleger was a partner in McCutcheon, Black, Berleger & Shea and representing the Western Oil and Gas Association. The Verlegers had married in June 1942 while he was a senior at Cal's Boalt Hall School of Law; Philip Jr., born in San Francisco on July 18, 1944, would follow in his father's footsteps, becoming an energy economist who later consulted for the successor of the Western Oil and Gas Association
  • On January 14, 1966, the Department of Building and Safety issued P. K. Verleger a permit for interior alterations at 303 North June Street; on March 8, 1966, he was issued permit for a 10-by-20-foot swimming pool. Verleger's later improvements to the property included a retaining wall on the Beverly Boulevard side of the lot in 1972 and a solar heating system for the pool in 1980. The Verlegers appear to have left 303 by the mid 1990s; Philip Verleger Sr. died of a stroke in Los Angeles on May 11, 1997. Hester Ann Verleger died in Fullerton on May 19, 1999
  • 303 North June Street was being advertised for sale in early 2009 priced at $3,195,000; apparently going unsold, it was back on the market in the fall of 2011 asking $2,899,000
  • A later owner of 303 North June Street replaced the 1966 swimming pool with a larger one


Illustration: Private Collection