WINDSOR HILLS : Interest Percolates for ‘50s Coffee Shop

An ongoing tug of war between preservationists seeking to save the historic Wichstand coffee shop and owners seeking to raze or redevelop it has raised a call from neighborhood residents to settle the fight.

The ‘50s-style coffee shop at Slauson Avenue and Overhill Drive drew the attention of developers when it closed four years ago after a court battle between the leaseholder and the owners resulted in the property being put up for sale.

The property owners, who initially sought to tear the shop down, met resistance from the Los Angeles Conservancy, a group that identifies and recommends preservation of historic buildings.

Residents who consider the deteriorating facade an eyesore are indecisive about what should replace it, if anything.

“We’re concerned about the condition of the structure,” said Walter Dubuclet, a member of the United Homeowners Assn., an umbrella group of block clubs in Windsor Hills and View Park. “There hasn’t been any cleanup there since it closed. We’re not against keeping it, but it looks a sight now.”

With its Sputnik design and 35-foot tilted concrete spear aimed skyward, the 1957 building epitomizes a postwar, futuristic architectural style known as Googie. Though surrounded by a chain-link fence and piles of trash, the building, set on the crest of a hill, is still eye-catching.

“It’s really a great example of the coffee-shop modern style,” said Barbara Hoff, the conservancy’s Director of Preservation Issues. “We’re recreating ‘50s-style coffee shops now, yet here’s one that needs to be bought and restored.”

Designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm Armet & Davis, the Wichstand is unusual because the coffee shop contains a cocktail lounge. After a letter-writing campaign by the conservancy to county and state government officials, it was declared a site of historical interest by the state in 1989, obliging owners to seek input from the Environmental Protection Agency and other groups before razing it.

The property owners--a four-member limited partnership--are still offering the one-acre corner lot for sale. Interested buyers include Queue-Up, a nonprofit affordable housing agency that wants to restore the restaurant as well as build a 35-unit housing facility, said Queue-Up director Shirley Quarmyne.

Members of the limited partnership could not be reached for comment.

However, at a hearing last year before the county’s Regional Planning Commission, the buyer’s proposal was rejected after homeowners argued that the development was not appropriate for the business-zoned area. Dubuclet said the homeowner group’s top priority this year is determining the fate of the Wichstand.

Hoff said she plans to invite residents to conservancy lectures on Googie architecture to give them an understanding of the Wichstand’s historical significance. “It represented a period that was filled with a lot of optimism,” Hoff said. “The architecture literally said, ‘The sky’s the limit.’ ”