First Baptist Church of Ventura

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First Baptist Church of Ventura
Ventura Center for Spiritual Living, fka First Baptist Church of Ventura.jpg
First Baptist Church of Ventura is located in California
First Baptist Church of Ventura
Location101 S. Laurel St., Ventura, California
Coordinates34°16′45″N 119°17′4″W / 34.27917°N 119.28444°W / 34.27917; -119.28444Coordinates: 34°16′45″N 119°17′4″W / 34.27917°N 119.28444°W / 34.27917; -119.28444
Area0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built1926; 1932
ArchitectStacy-Judd, Robert Benjamin
Architectural styleLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals
NRHP reference No.09000466[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 3, 2009

First Baptist Church of Ventura is a historic church at 101 S. Laurel Street in Ventura, California. It was built in 1926 and renovated extensively into the Mayan Revival style in 1932. Declared a landmark by the City of Ventura In 1975, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.[2][3] Since 1952, it has been home to the Ventura Center for Spiritual Living.[4]

According to its NRHP nomination, it was deemed nationally significant "as a fine and essentially unaltered example of a scarce property designed in the Mayan Revival style by its most prominent and widely-recognized proponent, architect Robert B. Stacy-Judd of Los Angeles. The First Baptist Church of Ventura exemplifies architectural exoticism by representing a moment in American architectural history when the public's desire for the new and different was at its peak. The property is the product of a rare convergence of national cultural events and a unique force of personality."[5]

Some of his other notable Southern California commissions include the Aztec Hotel, (Monrovia), the , the Philosophical Research Society, (Los Feliz) and the Atwater Bungalows, (Elysian Park). The other architect known for working in this style was Frank Lloyd Wright. In Los Angeles his Hollyhock House and Ennis House are relevant examples. The Imperial Hotel in Tokyo was a zenith of this style. His son, the landscape architect and architect Lloyd Wright, designed the John Sowden House in a similar style.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ Mcgrath, Rachel (March 25, 2010). "Mayan-inspired Ventura church added to National Register of Historic Places". Ventura County Star. Archived from the original on 2018-04-01. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  3. ^ "Historic Landmark #17" (PDF). Historic Preservation. City of Ventura. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  4. ^ Sorenson, Saundra (2007-03-08). "God is in the details: The Church of Religious Science meets Mayan design". Ventura County Reporter. Retrieved 2014-12-31.
  5. ^ Mitch Stone; Judy Triem; Jill Dolan (April 23, 2008). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: First Baptist Church of Ventura". National Park Service. and accompanying photos

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