"It's important to hang on to that older architecture and when you preserve old architecture, it enhances the value of the neighborhood around it," Lawler said. "People like old architecture, that old charm. It makes it feel like a community."
Property owners Gevorg Voskanian and Razmik Tahmasian are proposing what would be the first multi-family structure on the block, Lawler said.
Plans call for a two-story complex with two structures — one with two units, the other with three — with an open-air terrace in the middle. Each unit is planned to have three-bedrooms and a semi-subterranean parking garage with two spaces each.
The lot is zoned R-2, which allows up to two units of multi-family use.
The property owner has applied for a conditional-use permit with the Los Angeles County Regional Planing Commission to allow five units on the project.
But some say the project is a bad fit in the neighborhood, where Craftsman-era homes are prevalent.
"My problem is the house he wants to knock down is one of the first houses in Montrose," area resident Elena Valencia said. "Once you knock down history, you can never look back on it and have the historical landmark."
But project architect Bruce Labins said the structures have been designed with the surrounding neighborhood in mind.
"When I first arrived on the site, I was very impressed with that existing house and I was impressed by how the neighbors had preserved and maintained other Craftsmans in the area," Labins said. "We're multi-family, but we're decidedly a Craftsman design and we're utilizing authentic stylings. Everything about the project is a real strong attempt to be sensitive to the area."
But the developer's plan to model the complex keeping the Craftsman style in mind does not appease some residents, who fear the impact of a multi-family structure.
