WELCOME TO JEFFERSON PARK!

We are pleased that you have chosen to make this neighborhood your home. Jefferson Park has a distinctive architectural and cultural history and it is one of the few City of Los Angeles neighborhoods with Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ) status.

Jefferson Park is one of the nation’s largest collections of early 1900s “Craftsman” bungalows. It is among the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, and has been the setting for more than a century of social and economic change in Los Angeles. After a nine-year grassroots community effort to gain protection and recognition for the distinct history and identity of our neighborhood, the City of Los Angeles designated Jefferson Park an HPOZ in 2011. This means that all changes to the exterior of our properties need to comply with the Jefferson Park Preservation Plan. It also means that any exterior work needs to be reviewed by the City’s Office of Historic Resources, and that many bigger projects must be reviewed by our local HPOZ Board.

We expect that you are eager to make your new home yours, and we are familiar with the many maintenance and restoration needs that come with old houses. The guidelines of the Preservation Plan are user friendly and designed to allow you flexibility in adapting your home to your present-day needs, while preserving its valuable architectural character. Our HPOZ Board is comprised of experts in real estate, architecture, construction and rehabilitation, and our broader community has a support network of skilled craftspeople, and sources for materials to draw from.

We encourage all homeowners to read the Jefferson Park Preservation Plan, and to reach out to the helpful staff at the City’s Office of Historic Resources before beginning any project outside of the house. You may also be interested to know that homeowners may be able to benefit from the City’s Mills Act, a property tax savings program for historic homes that are appropriately rehabilitated.

To learn more about the Jefferson Park HPOZ, and to find a copy of the Jefferson Park Preservation Plan, please visit http://preservation.lacity.org . Feel free to contact the Office of Historic Resources, Department of City Planning, 221 N. Figueroa St., Suite 1350 Los Angeles, CA 90012, Phone (213) 847-3676. You can also find additional information about Jefferson Park at our community based web-site http://historicjeffersonpark.org. You can also join the Facebook page “Historic Jefferson Park” and check the “Files” section for valuable resources and ideas. Welcome to Jefferson Park.