Economic Miracles Part 1

Whereas most building styles moved East to West, mined from Europe and elsewhere, California was ground zero for the short lived Mission Style, and Los Angeles the mother lode.

Preservation is about many things, continuity, identity, tradition, and it should particularly apply to rare indigenous forms.

The Mission Style is marked by its parapets (and thick coping), towers, and full-length, arcaded porches, elements borrowed from California's real and imagined Spanish Colonial past.

In Alvarado Terrace, this example is still identifiable. That's the best that can be said, the distinctive massing has not been totally obliterated. Nearly anything can be restored, though restoration minded home buyers generally seek the most intact properties, not necessarily in avoidance of great challenges, but in rejoice of existing--sometimes irreplaceable--elements, and the opportunity for a high degree of "integrity". Correspondingly, the most heavily altered properties are those least likely to be restored.

Over time this gulf widens, the most intact and/or restored properties command the highest prices, and attract buyers with the most resources and the greatest sensitivities. Heavily altered properties suffer from additional neglect, or poor workmanship and the use of inappropriate and cheap materials. The value of these properties are retarded, registering less appreciation--or in a softer market as present, the greatest losses.