The address of this property is 1977 Carmen Avenue, between Vista Del Mar Avenue and Gower Street, north of Franklin.
The land was purchased in early 1910 by Joseph L. Giroux, whose career was in mining, especially copper:
February 24, 1910,
LA Herald @ CDNC via
UC Riverside
Giroux had architect Frederick Roehrig design his home, which was completed in early 1912:
January 14, 1912,
LA Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
From the same article, here is a drawing of the house and grounds:
The Giroux Estate (undated):
00043054 @
LAPL
Here is a clearer shot, also undated:
00043052 @
LAPL
"Everything in the place was copper, right down to the doorknobs and bathtub," recalled a later resident:
June 1912
The Architect and Engineer of California @
HathiTrust
Here is the pergola visible at the left side of the above photo:
00043051 @
LAPL
The loggia:
00043053 @
LAPL
Some of the gardens on the west side of the house:
00043055 @
LAPL
The landscaping had matured by the time of this c. 1925 photo:
00043049 @
LAPL
The 1913 LA City Directory was the first to show Giroux at 1977 Carmen:
fold3.com
In the home's first few years, Giroux made some minor additions and changes, such as the addition in 1913 of a one-room
"summer house" with a dirt floor on the west side of the property, described on the building permit as "bamboo house covered
with shingle + grass over same / 4 bamboo post + bracing for support"
Giroux had some trouble with a maid in 1914:
October 5, 1914,
LA Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
Tragically, Giroux had more serious trouble with his eldest son, George. It is even more sad considering Giroux had to take
his ex-wife to
court to get physical custody of his son when he was a child:
January 29, 1920,
LA Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
Giroux was exonerated in the shooting of his son. George had come at his father with a loaded revolver. As the two
struggled over a second revolver, George was shot.
His son's widow sued Giroux for $1,000,000, but she lost:
May 27, 1921,
LA Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
Giroux experienced another heartbreak in 1929 when Joseph, one of his three sons from his second marriage,
died at age 34. Giroux died at age 78 on June 25, 1933. The following year, his Hollywood estate was sold:
September 23, 1934,
LA Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
The Giroux Mansion is visible in this 1972 aerial photo, below the undeveloped area in the upper right corner and
the directly below the word
MATERIAL:
Historic Aerials
The Giroux Mansion was torn down in 1973; the demo permit is dated August 2. The convent almost closed in
2009,
but the nuns are famous for their pumpkin bread, the sale of which helps keep the place
open. It's really good bread!
This is what the property looks like now. The pink star marks the site of the former Giroux Mansion. Some of the original
stairs and retaining walls appear to still be in place:
Google Earth 2016
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Handsome grandfather.
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