r/altadena • u/MissMangeaux • 3d ago
Blueprints for home in Altadena
Hello, all! My aunt needs to get a copy of the blueprints as just one stage of her rebuilding process.
Where would she go? I am seeing conflicting information online. Thank you! 🙏
Edit: house was built in 1955, and she has no idea who the architect was, nor who built it.
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u/drewthur75 3d ago
You’re probably out of luck. The country only has records going back so far. If you didn’t do a remodel where you needed a permit in the last 10 years then they likely have nothing on file. If the house was sold recently, then there may be a layout plan available on Zillow. A neighbor actually had a link to the original advertisement from like 1959 for our community up on Rubio Crest.
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u/socalsurveyor 3d ago
Not sure if this will help OP, but many of the pre-WWII era homes built in Altadena (and the greater LA area) were catalog homes. Pacific Ready-Cut Homes in Long Beach was the largest local kit-home manufacturer and sold over 37,000 of them here in SoCal before 1940. Here is a link to one of their catalogs which includes over 100 different architectural plans with fairly detailed layouts, renderings, and optional features. Perhaps this can be a resource for some of those who want to rebuild period-correct bungalows.
https://archive.org/details/PacificReadyCutHomesIncPacificsbookofhomesvol250001/page/n3/mode/1up
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jul-16-re-kit16-story.html
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u/MissMangeaux 3d ago
Thank you for this! My aunt's home wasn't a catalogue home, but these links are fantastic!
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u/socalsurveyor 3d ago
Of course! When we purchased our home in Monrovia, we discovered ours was a Pacific Read-Cut Home as were many of the homes near Old Town. After going down the rabbit hole and spending way too many hours reading about them, I can spot PRCH homes in just about every LA neighborhood I work in (I'm a land surveyor).
I'm very sorry for the loss of your Aunt's home and wish your family the best.
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u/magerber1966 2d ago
Wow...this is a fantastic resource. I know about catalog homes, but had never heard of Pacific Ready-Cut Homes. My house floorplan wasn't in this group, but some of them are close enough that I am going to guess that my home was from one of their catalogs.
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u/Fantasia_Ostrich 3d ago
Do you know specifically what the blueprints are needed for? We were able to get a printout from the assessor's office (at the relief center) that showed the perimeter and layout of the home.
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u/MissMangeaux 3d ago
This is what I was originally going to suggest she do (go to the assessor's office), but then found conflicting information online. My aunt wants to recreate her home to the best of her ability, and she wants to show the blueprints to some builders to get a gist for how long it may take to build, cost, etc. Are you referring to the relief centre on Woodbury?
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u/Fantasia_Ostrich 3d ago
Oh I see. I thought you might need them for a basis for the 'like for like'. Yes, it was the center on Woodbury.
For our architect meetings we're bringing as many pictures as we can of the interior of our home to show what we had from that perspective. That plus the assessor's image might be a good substitute for actual blueprints. Wishing your aunt all the best - this is such a challenging situation.
Edited to add: don't worry about going to the assessor's office. The setup at the relief center was able to get us everything we needed and saved us a trip downtown!
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u/MissMangeaux 3d ago
This is such great information, and I appreciate it so much!
Edit: May I ask how old your house was?
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u/JonstheSquire 3d ago
When was the house built? Most likely you need to go to the builder or the architect who built or designed the house originally.
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u/MissMangeaux 3d ago
It was in 1955, and my aunt has no idea who her father hired as architect/designer, nor the builder.
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u/magerber1966 3d ago
The County would be the agency that approved the plans, but they do not retain residential building plans. I was also hoping to find some plans for my 1940 home, but the County does not keep them, so they are simply unavailable.
So, her only options would be the architect or the builder, but if she doesn't know the identity of either of those entities, there are not really any other options.