{"nrhp_refnum":"86000449","name":"Casa de Parley Johnson","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7749 Florence Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Downey","county":"Los Angeles County","state":"CA","lat":33.95654962700007,"lon":-118.13327154999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Spanish Colonial Revival (Monterey style) residence at 7749 Florence Avenue in Downey, Los Angeles County, California, built in 1926-27 on a walled, landscaped estate of about 1.54 acres, designed by architect Roland A. Coate.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as an excellent, unaltered example of the Monterey subtype of Spanish Colonial Revival by an architect noted for residential work. It represents the lifestyle of wealthy citrus growers in the 1920s and Downey's agricultural past. Its house and gardens also show the indoor/outdoor living tradition of Southern California.","narrative":"Casa de Parley Johnson is a two-story residence at 7749 Florence Avenue in Downey, California, built in 1926-27 for citrus rancher Parley Johnson. Architect Roland Coate designed it in the Monterey variety of Spanish Colonial Revival style, with white stucco walls, a long wooden balcony, red tile roofs, wrought iron details and French doors. The house, about 6,000 square feet, sits within whitewashed walls amid gardens, fountains, patios and a formal lawn, and its interior remains largely intact. It once stood among the Johnson orange groves, and the walled grounds are what remain of that larger ranch. The property is regarded as significant as a well-preserved example of Coate's work and of the way wealthy citrus growers lived in the 1920s. Coate was a leading advocate of the Monterey style, and the house was featured in a 1931 Architect and Engineer article on California country homes. In a city that later filled with postwar tract housing, it is one of the few surviving links to Downey's agricultural era.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates 1926-27)","architect_builder":"Roland A. Coate","architectural_style":"Spanish Colonial Revival, Monterey subtype","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, unaltered and on its original site; occupied as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:27.887081-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/86000449.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000449/cdc34e3508-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000449/cdc34e3508-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Floatjon","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ParleyJohnson.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Floatjon</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ParleyJohnson.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123859013","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casa_de_Parley_Johnson","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q26955289"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/los-angeles-county/casa-de-parley-johnson-86000449/"}