[QUOTE=Tetsu;6335409]
I know you guys have covered the Victorians of Angelino Heights before on NLA but I don't think anyone has ever mentioned the Stilson-Botsford House. It was probably one of the grandest in the neighborhood, with thirty rooms including a ballroom on the third floor. It was built for William Stilson, one of the original developers of Angelino Heights (along with Everett E. Hall, who jointly filed for ownership of the tract. It was then spelled "Angeleno Heights.") He built his own house on the northwest corner of Carroll Avenue and Edgeware Road in 1887, but died in the 1890's. The house was then purchased by California Bank president William Botsford. Here's a few photos of the place from the 1890's:
LAPL
Flickr
Tetsu - Thanks so much for posting these two great photos of the Stilson house. I have never seen closeup photos of it until now. I have often wondered how much of the original structure is left under that remodeling and whether the house could ever be restored.
I discovered Angeleno Heights in 1966 and at that time met Charles Pinney of 1355 Carroll Avenue. Pinney gladly showed me the ground floor of his home and also the garage where he had his early 1950s Cadillac stored. He told me he was 93 and had lived at the house since 1887. I'm thinking he may have moved away and moved back, but I'll never know. Pinney lived to be 106. His father, Henry, had bought their house at the northeast corner of Carroll and Douglas as well as the adjacent lot because he did not want a neighbor abutting his property. That lot now contains a huge tree.
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