A Victorian mansion tucked inside Heritage Square Museum in Montecito Heights is turning 150 years old, and for one night only, visitors will get to climb a secret staircase and wander through second-story rooms that are normally off-limits to the public. The Perry House Turns 150 fundraiser takes place Saturday, September 12, from 6 to 10 p.m., with general admission tickets priced at $75 and a VIP package running $125.
The mansion, built in 1876 in what was then Boyle Heights, was designed by architect E.F. Kysor, who also designed the Pico House, according to NBC Los Angeles. At the time of its completion, the home cost roughly $9,000 to build, making it one of the most expensive and elaborate private residences constructed in 1870s Los Angeles, according to the National Park Service. Kysor, who designed the property in partnership with W.H. Mathews, is recognized as Los Angeles's first professional architect and also designed 1876's St. Vibiana's Cathedral, per PBS SoCal.
Original owner William Hayes Perry arrived in Los Angeles as a carpenter in 1853 before co-founding the Los Angeles Gas Company in 1867 to install the city's first downtown gaslights, and he went on to serve 25 years as president of the Los Angeles City Water Company, according to background compiled by Water and Power Associates. The mansion later passed to Judge Stephen C. Hubbell in 1888, an early civic leader who served as USC's first treasurer and donated the land that became MacArthur Park, per the Los Angeles Explorers Guild.
From Boyle Heights to Montecito Heights
The mansion wasn't always at Heritage Square. It was moved to Montecito Heights Park in 1975, part of a broader effort in which Victorian homes now at Heritage Square Museum were relocated for preservation, the report notes. Following that move from Pleasant Avenue in Boyle Heights, the mansion underwent a 20-year restoration led by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, which stripped away 20th-century pink stucco before donating the restored home to the museum in 1995, according to Big Orange Landmarks.
Heritage Square Museum itself was established in 1969 by the Cultural Heritage Foundation of Southern California to rescue 19th-century Victorian structures from destruction following the demolition of historic neighborhoods on Bunker Hill, as Hoodline previously reported. The museum, which sits near the Arroyo Parkway, features a group of Victorian homes saved from demolition, and the entire 10-acre site was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1009 in December 2011, per the Los Angeles Explorers Guild. The Perry House itself earned its own protections earlier, designated Historic-Cultural Monument No. 98 in October 1972 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1976, according to the National Park Service.
What's Behind the Secret Staircase
Fundraiser guests will get to see the secret staircase inside the Perry House and explore furnished rooms on the second-story floors that are typically unavailable to the public, the report states. Three other Heritage Square homes will also open their off-limit areas for the event, giving ticket holders a rare, expanded look at the museum's collection in a single night.
The VIP package includes a swag bag, early entry, food and drink tickets, and other perks, while tickets for both admission levels are available through Eventbrite. Funds raised by the fundraiser will go toward the Perry House's ongoing renovations and preservation, underscoring the continuous, high-cost maintenance required to keep 19th-century wooden architecture standing amid modern urban development.
The event's expanded access also extends beyond the Perry House. Heritage Square's 1887 Hale House, a Queen Anne-Eastlake home frequently cited as the most photographed Victorian home in Los Angeles and painted in its historically verified multi-colored hues, is included in the anniversary programming, according to PBS SoCal. The museum's grounds also include the 1887 Palms Depot, a relocated railroad depot that once served passengers on the 15-mile Pacific Electric Red Car route connecting downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica.
