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  • Built in 1964 on Lot 5 in Tract 5640; this house was demolished in 2016 and replaced with the current 344 Rimpau Boulevard seen below
  • Original commissioner: Fourth Rimpau Ltd., which appears appears to have been the ownership arm of the Bell Construction Company of Los Angeles
  • Architect: While the word "Architect" is scored through on the original building permit, the name on that line is residential and apartment designer Sherwin L. Barton. The original 344 Rimpau was part of a three-house development built by Fourth Rimpau Ltd. on three Rimpau-facing lots that until 1962 were part of the Merritt Adamson property, on which that family had built 355 Muirfield Road in 1922. Although the three Rimpau houses were of completely different designs, Barton might have been the designer not just of 344 but of the others as well (356 and 368)
  • On March 24, 1964, the Department of Building and Safety issued a permit to Fourth Rimpau Ltd. for a one-story, 79-by-80-foot residence with attached garage at 344 Rimpau Boulevard
  • Of the three architectually disparate houses built in a row by Fourth Rimpau Ltd. in 1964, the original residence at 344 Rimpau Boulevard had not inconsiderable charm in that it resembled a suburban Havana villa; this was lost after it was demolished in 2016. While the 2014 alterations to its build-mate 368 Rimpau two doors south were no improvement to the streetscape, the new 344 Rimpau Boulevard is a not-unlovely contributor to the scheme to the neighborhood, very attractive, in fact, with its crisp classical design respectful of the prewar Hancock Park. The new house is a rare example of what an educated architect can contribute to a neighborhood's vernacular, though its development was a complicated process. The original developer, Robert L. Quigg, reportedly went bankrupt in the middle of construction and abandoned the project. Another developer took over and completed it


The very successful design of the second 344 Rimpau Boulevard is here further drawn into the history
of Hancock Park by one of the subdivision's original acorn-topped street lamps. While the loss
of the diminutively charming first 344 is lamentable, the new 344 is a design that
incorporates a subtle modern style that respects but doesn't kowtow
to the past. Presumably G. Allan Hancock approves.



Illustrations: Private Collection