phases

Our neighbor Greg has put together the map below of the Alexander/Palmer & Krisel tract showing the five different phases from his research at the Getty:



from Greg...

I - This is the original Corbin Palms (phase I) as shown in the green marketing brochure - 70 homes (tract map #18024). Krisel's notes say 8/18/53 to 9/10/53 but the assessor's recordings say they were all built in 1954, so I suspect those 1953 dates are when he designed it. Most likely, construction began mid-Sept 1953 and finished in early 1954. It only took 10-12 days to build one house (they built several at once). They were advertised in Nov 1953 as "Spacious Modern Bermuda Type Homes" for as low as $14,950 (as low as $2,500 down). Using the Bureau of Labor's Consumer Price Index (CPI), that's equivalent to about $130,000 ($22,000 down) in today's dollars. I've also highlighted (in darker red) Krisel's own house at 6440 Jumilla (the one I sent you photos of), where he lived for 2 years until he moved to his current house at 568 Tigertail Rd in Brentwood (which he designed in 1955 and was built in 1956).

II - This phase was actually called Corval Estates - 60 homes (tract map #19813). Krisel's notes say 2/16/54 to 4/1/54; all were built in 1954.

III - Also called Corval Estates - 55 homes (also tract map #19813). Krisel's notes give only one date: 4/29/54. All built in 1954. You can see the tract map on the Getty's blog from this Tuesday announcing the opening of the Krisel papers: http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/treasures-from-the-vault-william-krisel-southern-californias-architect/ (you can see in the bottom right corner it says Corval Estates).

IV - Again, it's phase IV overall, but called Corbin Palms, phase III. There is some discrepancy in the # of homes. Krisel's notes say 89, but there are actually 91 homes in the tract (tract map #13606). Krisel's notes simply say 1955. I checked the assessor records and all were built in 1955, with the exception of the one in the northwest corner of that tract map (6295 Lubao), which was 1956. Whether his notes are incorrect or whether a couple houses were not built at the same time is unclear. Depending on that detail, there were 287 or 289 houses in the overall development.

V - This phase was called Eastwood Estates (also called the "Contemporary Fieldstone Series") - just 13 homes on bigger lots along Corbin and set further back from the street (also tract #13606). The lots were typically 15,900 sf. Houses in phases I-III are typically 6,800 to 7,500 sf (like ours); phase IV houses are typically 8,700 sf (like yours), except for the irregular ones that are a bit bigger or smaller. All built 1955 (advertised in April, so probably finished in the late summer?). Originally priced between $21,000 and $24,750 (as low as $3,500 down!), equivalent to $180,000 to $212,000 ($30,000 down) in today's dollars.



(Thanks Greg!)