[riichkay]

UCLA/Adelbert Bartlett papers

"Tree house of Amos Aspey, civil war veteran, near National Military Home, Pacific branch, Sawtelle, Cal. House contains, parlor, bedroom, kitchen, roof garden, and is piped with water and gas. Stairs lead up to house. House is built in a eucalyptus tree".

Photo is undated, given the children's attire I would guess '20's-'30's.





Even considering the laissez-faire tenor of the times, I would imagine Building & Safety had some concerns over this kind of structure.


Using the original image (https://dl.library.ucla.edu/islandor...bartlett%3A149) I zoomed in on the house to the right of the tree house property, it shows that house number as 1106....you can see a "2" as the last digit of the subject house (the rest of the number is obscured by the tree) but I would guess that house number is 1102....I assumed that these properties were across San Vicente Blvd. from the V.A. grounds, and the only street with an 1100 block opposite the V.A. is Barry Ave., which runs basically n/s until it intersects Kiowa Ave., just off the corner of San Vicente....so I pulled up 1102-06 Barry Ave..... 



I think the house may have been at this corner.


In my view the sidewalk somewhat matches, with an uphill grade coming off the corner.... 





I took the Googlemobile a little to the left and looked through the trees lining the V.A. grounds, and this building appears...





Possibly the same roofline?....




The 1900 census found the Aspey's in the gold mining boom town of Victor, CO., his occupation was shown as "brick maker"....both the 1920 and 1930 census show Mr. Aspey residing at the Veteran's home at the V.A., so I don't think he lived at the home with the tree house.....possibly he befriended whoever lived there, and walked over from the V.A. to build the thing, maybe spent his days in the tree.

More detail on Pvt. Aspey....from findagrave.com...

"Age 20 years enlisted October 1, 1861 mustered in November 20, 1861 as Private with Co. B. 65th Ohio Infantry mustered out March 23, 1862 at Nashville Tennessee. Re-enlisted October 7, 1864 as Private with Co. F. 71st Ohio Infantry mustered out on October 16, 1865.

Event Type: he was age 21 years married Martha L. Stacey (bn. abt. 1847) on October 25, 1866 at Stark County Ohio....https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/3686252/amos-aspey"


He died on 6/3/1930, age 89, and is buried at the L.A. National Cemetery...




His wife died 6 months later.....



The death certificate was signed by her son-in-law O.B. Wright, as per the '30 census she was living in the Wright home at 1444 Appleton St. when she took her life.  


The couple may have been out here as early as 1886/87, as an "Amos Aspey" purchased a lot in Coronado....it's also possible they bought the lot from back east, sight unseen....of course it could be a different Amos Aspey.... 







Mr. and Mrs. Aspey were predeceased by 4 children....they lost two sons, age 15 and 10, in Colorado, in the year 1898...the 10 year old, Harry, was killed when a team of horses bolted...

CRIPPLE CREEK MORNING TIMES
August 16, 1898

A Little Boy Killed. - A frightful accident occurred at 10:30 yesterday morning on Straub mountain, resulting in the death of the 10 year old son of Amos Aspey. Mr. Aspey, accompanied by the boy, Harry, went after a load of wood. While coming down the steep grade near Dutch town, Mr. Aspey got off the wagon to clear some obstructions out of the road. The team took fright and ran away. The boy was thrown from the wagon bed and the hind wheel passed over his head, crushing his skull in a horrible manner.