49499 Eisenhower Drive - Cyrus Pierce House
DPR 523L (09/2013)
Identifier: 49499 Eisenhower Drive Date Constructed: 1927
UTM Zone: 11S, 563828 mE; 3727728 mN
Neighborhood: La Quinta Resort and Club
Tract: TR 28545-1; Recorded February 28, 1998, MB 269/6
Owner and Address: HP LQ Investment; 5310 Cypress Center Drive, Suite 110, Tampa FL 33609
Updated Description: The Cyrus Pierce House was constructed in 1927 as a single family residence that was once a private home
built on the western edge of the historic core of the La Quinta Hotel, on the east side of Avenida Obregon. The house was designed
by architect Gordon Kaufmann in 1927. The previously private residence is now a part of La Quinta Resort & Club and houses the
"San Vicente" suites. The one-story Spanish Colonial Revival style building is organized around a central courtyard paved in quarry
tile and centered on a fountain with a tiered fountainhead and original rectilinear basin that was later clad in tile. The fountain was
added after initial construction of the home. The roof is composed of low-pitched gable and shed roofs clad in clay barrel tile (mostly
replaced). The construction of the building is very similar to that of the hotel casitas that lie nearby to the east.
The primary elevation is on the east side, facing toward the historic core of the resort, an area now infilled with newer buildings. A
four-columned porch set into this façade marks the entrance. The living room is accessed through this porch; a corresponding porch
on its west side faces the courtyard. This living room has windows and doors along its east and west walls. A fireplace marks the
center of the south wall of the room. It is open to the courtyard with a central glass door and very large windows with low, quarry
tiled sills and knee walls decorated with tile of an unknown date. The wing on the west side, adjacent to the street, is the service
wing, with a now-converted garage at its north end facing the street. The rooms in the north wing that open to the courtyard,
originally bedrooms and bathrooms, were converted to hotel guest rooms. The south side of the courtyard is enclosed by a wall with
openings into the center of the court and into the loggia along the east side of the courtyard. The loggia is supported by six-by-six
inch wood posts. Fenestration is multilight steel casement windows flanked by wood shutters with a multipanel design. Since the
last survey in 2009, there do not appear to have been any substantial alterations to the dwelling.
Updated Significance: The Cyrus Pierce House was first recorded in 1997 and re-recorded in 2009 (amended 2012). The 1997
survey by Mellon and Associates assigned a status code 3S: appears eligible for NR individually through survey evaluation. Another
survey in 2009 by Architectural Resources Group assigned a status code 5S3: appears to be individually eligible for local listing or
designation through survey evaluation. The 2009 survey recommended that the 3S status code be removed because the the scale
and simplicity of the design meant that the property was not a significant work of Gordon Kaufmann did not rise to the level of
significance necessary for listing in the NRHP or CRHR.
In 1997, the Cyrus Pierce House was deemed to be potentially eligible for the NRHP and Local Register under Criterion C as an intact
example of Gordon Kaufmann's work with a high degree of historic integrity.
In 2009, Architectural Resources Group re-recorded the Cyrus Pierce House and found the site to be potentially individually eligible
for listing in the Local Register under Criteria A and C. The property was found to be significant under Criteria A because the house
was deemed to be a locally significant as a marker in the development of the community and part of one first significant non-
agricultural settlements of the immediate area. The property was found significant under Criteria C as an intact example of a Spanish
Colonial Revival style home designed by Gordon Kaufmann with a high degree of historic integrity.
The property should be assigned a 3S status code and also given a 3CS status code: appears eligible for CR individually through
survey evaluation. The 5S3 status code should also be updated to 5S2. The current survey recommends that the applicable national,
state, and local criteria also be refined, as follows: Urbana staff agree that the Cyrus Pierce House is not a representative example of
Gordon Kaufmann's work, but it is a Spanish Colonial Revival style home that rises to the significance of listing in the NRHP and
CRHR due to its high degree of historic integrity. Additionally, the 2009 re-recording appears to have misidentified Local Register
Criterion A as being associated with important events. Local Register Criterion A is reserved for properties that exemplify or reflect a
special element of the city's cultural, social, economic, political, aesthetic, engineering or architectural history. Local Register
State of California — The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
State of California — The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Primary#:
HRI #: None
Trinomial: N/A
CRHR Status Code: 3S / 3CS / 5S2
Other Listings: Urbana Survey No. 022
ý Update
Resource Name: Cyrus Pierce House
"San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224
Page 1 of 4
DPR 523L (09/2013)
Criterion B (events) more closely matches the 2009 description of significance. Therefore, the Cyrus Pierce House should be listed as
eligible for listing under NRHP/CRHR/Local Criterion A/1/B (events) and NRHP/CRHR/Local Criterion C/3/C.
The dwelling has not been found individually eligible under Criterion B/2/B (persons), even though the property is associated with
Cyrus Pierce. Cyrus Peirce, a prominent banker and stockbroker who arrived to California in 1905, was the head of the Cyrus Peirce
and Company. Peirce moved to the Los Angeles area in 1915 and helped organize several companies there, including Pacific Gas and
Electric. He utilized the La Quinta home as a seasonal residence before he died in Monrovia, California in 1945. While the property is
associated with him, it was not a permanent residence and there are other properties with stronger connections to his life and
accomplishments. Additionally, the home is not individually eligible under Criterion D/4/D, as further study of the dwelling would not
appear to yield information which could be considered important in local, regional, state, or national history. Finally, the property
was not found to be individually eligible under Local Register Criterion A, as it was not found to exemplify a special element of the
City of La Quinta.
State of California — The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Resource Name: Cyrus Pierce House
"San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224
Page 2 of 4
Primary#:
HRI #: None
Trinomial: N/A
CRHR Status Code: 3S / 3CS / 5S2
Other Listings: Urbana Survey No. 022
ý Update
DPR 523L (09/2013)
Cyrus Pierce San Vicente 1: View facing northeast of the inner courtyard.
San Vicente 2: View facing east of the west elevation in the inner courtyard.
State of California — The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
CONTINUATION SHEET
Primary#:
HRI #: None
Trinomial: N/A
CRHR Status Code: 3S / 3CS / 5S2
Urbana Survey No: 022 Resource Name: Cyrus Pierce House
"San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224 Page 2 of 4
DPR 523J (09/2013) *Required Information
*Map Name: La Quinta *Scale: 1:24,000 *Map Date: 2021
State of California — The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
LOCATION MAP
Primary#:
HRI #: None
Trinomial: N/A
CRHR Status Code: 3S / 3CS / 5S2
Other Listings: Urbana Survey No. 022 Resource Name: Cyrus Pierce House
"San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224
Page 4 of 4
Cyrus Pierce
House
"San Vicente"
Suite, Rooms
220-224
"San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224
One Post Office Square, Ste. 3100, Boston,
MA 02109
View west of main (east) façade
1927
Pyramid Hotel Group, LLC
La Quinta49499 Eisenhower Dr.
2. Single family property
14
(List attributes and codes)
Not for Publication Unrestricted
Riverside
(Assigned by Recorder)
P1. Other Identifier:
*P2. Location:
*a.and (P2c, P2e, and P2b or P2d. Attach a Location Map as necessary.)
*b.
c.
d.
e.
USGS 7.5' Quad Date T R 1/4 of 1/4 of Sec B.M.;;;
UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear resources) Zone , mE/ mN
(Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries)
Historic Prehistoric Both
Jennifer Trotoux
4/6/2009; corr. 8/30/12
Intensive
*Attachments:NONE Location Map Continuation Sheet Building, Structure, and Object Record Archaeological Record
District Record Linear Feature Record Milling Station Record Rock Art Record Artifact Record Photograph Record Other (List):
Building Structure Object Site District Element of District Other (Isolates, etc.)
*P3a.
State of California -- The Resources Agency
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
PRIMARY RECORD
Primary #
HRI #
Trinomial
Other Listings
Review Code Reviewer Date
DPR 523A (1/95)*Required Information
NRHP Status Code 5S3
ofPage *Resource Name or #:
County
Address City Zip
Other Locational Data: (e.g., parcel #, directions to resource, elevation, etc., as appropriate)
Description:
*P3b. Resource Attributes:
*P4. Resources Present:
P5a. Photograph
P5b. Description of Photo:
*P6. Date Constructed/Age and Source:
*P7. Owner and Address:
*P8. Recorded by:
*P9. Date Recorded:
*P10. Survey Type:
*P11. Report Citation:
Architectural Resources Group, Inc.
65 N. Raymond Avenue, No. 220
Pasadena, California 91103
La Quinta EIR
The Cyrus Pierce House is a single family residence that was once a private home built on the western edge of the historic core, on the
east side of Avenida Obregon. The one-story building is Spanish Colonial Revival in style and organized around a central courtyard
paved in quarry tile and centered on a fountain with a nonoriginal tiered fountainhead and the original rectilinear basin clad in later
tile. The roof is composed of low-pitched gable and shed roofs clad in clay barrel tile (mostly replaced). The construction of the
building is very similar to that of the hotel casitas that lie nearby to the east.
The primary façade is on the east side, facing toward the historic core of the resort, an aspect now infilled with newer buildings. A
four-columned porch set into this façade marks the entrance. The living room is accessed through this porch; a corresponding porch on
its west side faces the courtyard. This living room has windows and doors along its east and west walls. A fireplace marks the center
of the south wall of the room. It is open to the courtyard with a central glass door and very large windows with low, quarry tiled sills
and knee walls decorated with tile of an unknown date. The wing on the west side, adjacent to the street, is the service wing, with a
now-converted garage at its north end facing the street. The rooms in the north wing that open to the courtyard, originally bedrooms
and bathrooms, were converted to hotel guest rooms. The south side of the courtyard is enclosed by a wall with openings into the
center of the court and into the loggia along the east side of the courtyard. The loggia is supported by six-by-six inch wood posts.
Fenestration is multilight steel casement windows flanked by wood shutters with a multipanel design.
92253
Cyrus Pierce House
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#
BUILDING, STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
Page 2 of 4 NRHP Status Code 5S3
Resource Name or # Cyrus Pierce House
B1. Historic Name: Cyrus Pierce House
B2. Common Name: “San Vicente” Suite, Rooms 220-224
B3. Original Use: Single Family Residence B4. Present Use: part of La Quinta Hotel
B5. Architectural Style: Spanish Colonial Revival
B6. Construction History: Built in 1927; converted for hotel use at unknown date, c. 1980.
B7. Moved? No Yes Unknown Date: Original Location:
B8. Related Features: none
B9a. Architect: Gordon B. Kaufmann b. Builder: unknown
B10. Significance: Theme: Spanish Colonial Revival architecture Area: City of La Quinta, CA
Period of Significance: 1927 Property Type: Single Family Residence
Applicable Criteria: City of La Quinta criteria A and C
The Cyrus Pierce house was designed by architect Gordon Kaufmann, as were the buildings of the adjacent La Quinta
Hotel, of which the house is now a part. It was built privately abuting the hotel, on the street west of the original
precinct of the hotel, Avenida Obregon. The house was featured in The Architectural Record in August, 1930 as “A
Country House in California.” Described in a 1938 article as a “hacienda on the hotel grounds,” it was then owned by
“the socially prominent Mr. and Mrs. Clarkson Runyon Jr., of Park Avenue, New York, who have spent six
consecutive seasons at La Quinta.” Cyrus Pierce appears to have sold the “private hacienda” by that point (“La
Quinta Personalities,” El Heraldo de La Quinta, December 1938, p. 8). The La Quinta Historical Society has no
biographical information to identify Cyrus Pierce himself.
The Cyrus Pierce house is significant in the local context of the City of La Quinta, but it does not rise to the level of
significance required for the National Register or the California Register. Although it has reasonably high integrity,
in its scale and simplicity it is not a significant work of Gordon Kaufmann, whose best-known buildings and
complexes are among the notable buildings of Southern California in the 1920s. However, due to its age, its
association with the original development of La Quinta, and its architectural characteristics, it meets local criteria A
and C for listing as a historic landmark in the City of La Quinta.
(see Continuation Sheet p. 3)
B11. Additional Resource Attributes (List attributes and codes):
B12. References: “A Country House in California: House for Cyrus Pierce, La Quinta, California,” The
Architectural Record, August 1930, pp. 125-130.
B13. Remarks:
B14. Evaluator: Jennifer Trotoux, Architectural Resources
Group, 65 N. Raymond Ave., Suite 220, Pasadena, CA 91103
Date of Evaluation: March 23, 2009
(This space reserved for official comments.)
Sketch map
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
Page 3 of 4 Resource Name or # Cyrus Pierce House
Recorded by: Architectural Resources Group Date: March 23, 2009 Continuation Update
DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
P3a. Description, continued
The house is locally significant as a marker in the development of the community. It is one of a significant, original
cluster of private residences that surrounded La Quinta Hotel, which included the Casa Magnolia built for heiress Lee
Eleanor Graham and the house of resort founder Walter Morgan, both also extant. The construction of the hotel and
these houses, along Avenida Obregon, was the first significant non-agricultural settlement of the immediate area, and
set the stage for the further development of La Quinta, which still continues.
The house is locally significant for its architecture as well. The Spanish Colonial Revival was the defining
architectural style in the early years of La Quinta’s development as a town. The hotel that first defined the settlement
was designed in the style, and the significant residences surrounding it, including the Cyrus Pierce house, were as
well. As La Quinta Cove was subdivided and sparsely infilled throughout the 1930s, most of the houses conformed to
the same style. Larger remaining examples of the style from the historic period are significant landmarks in the City,
and merit local listing for their architectural qualities. The Cyrus Pierce house has many of the character-defining
features of the style, including tile-covered shed and gable roofs with very little overhang, planar stucco wall surfaces,
adobe construction, multilight casement windows with wood shutters, orientation around a courtyard with a fountain,
entrance and circulation under exterior colonnades, and exposed-beam ceilings.
View northwest of south façade and view into courtyard; street is to the west, at left (the primary façade faces east).
State of California The Resources Agency Primary #
DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION HRI#
CONTINUATION SHEET Trinomial
Page 4 of 4 Resource Name or # Cyrus Pierce House
Recorded by: Architectural Resources Group Date: March 23, 2009 Continuation Update
DPR 523L (1/95) *Required information
View west of courtyard.
View east of courtyard.
StAte n€ GaIlf hila. The: Resources Agency
DIPRARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION
PRIMARY RECORD
Other Listiks:
Review Code
Reviewer
Primary #
Trinomial: .
NRFFP Status Cdd.o.3&
Date
Page 1 of 2
*Resource Name or #: Cyrus Pierce House
P1. Other Identifier: La Quinta Resort "San Vicente" Suite, Rooms 220-224
*P2. Location: ❑ Not for Publication ❑ Unrestricted a. County. Riverside
b. USGS 7.5' Quad La Quinta _Date 1980 T 05S ; R 06E; SW 1/4 of SE1 /4 of Sec L6_., B.M.
c. Address 49-499 Eisenhower Drive city La Quinta zip 92253
d. UTM: (Give more than one for large and/or linear feature) Zone mE/ mN
e. Other Locational Data: (e.g. parcel #, legal description, directions to resource, elevation, additional UTMs, etc. as appropriate)
*P3a. Description: (Describe resource and its major elements. Include design, materials, condition, alterations, size, setting, and boundaries.)
The Cyrus Pierce House, now Rooms 220-224, the "San Vicente" suite of the La Quinta Resort and Hotel,
comprises three one-story adobe buildings forming three sides of a red square -tiled courtyard with an adobe
garden wall forming the fourth side. All are in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, with predominantly
side -gabled roofs clad in red Mission tile, stuccoed walls, casement windows with wood sash, covered
porches, arched door and window openings, and vents on the gable walls. All are painted white with blue trim.
The north wing is rectangular, oriented on an east -west axis, while the west wing has two rectangular sections,
one oriented north -south and the adjoining portion, originally containing a garage and now used for offices,
running east -west. The central courtyard fountain has been replaced with a similar fountain. The west elevation
of the east wing has a covered porch and loggia roof fronting the courtyard, supported by wood posts. The
exterior extrance to the complex, at the east elevation of the east wing, has a porch covered by a dropped roof
supported by heavy stone columns. Entry, originally via a central door, now is via two doors leading to the
rooms bordering the porch. Windows on the exteriors of the east wing have wood shutters.
* P3b. Resources Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP5. Hotel/Motel
*134. Resources Present: ® Building_ ❑ Structure ❑ Object ❑ Site ❑ District ❑ Element of District ❑ Other (Isolates, etc.)
5b. Description of Photo: (View, date, etc.)
P6. Date Constructed/Age and Sources:
❑ Prehistoric ® Historic ❑ Both
c. 1929: Architectural Record.
. Owner and Address:
P --Private
*P8. Recorded by:(Name, affiliation, address)
Vicki SteigemeverlPam O'Connor/
Date Recorded: /19/1997
`. P10. Survey Type: (Describe)
Fp�l . C --Comprehensive Survey
*P11. Report Citation: (Cite survey report/other sources or "none") City of La Quinta Historic Context Statement, 1996
*Attachments: ❑ NONE ❑ Location Map
❑ Archaeological Record ❑ District Record
❑ Photograph Record ❑ Other: (List)
DPR 523A (1/95)
❑ Sketch Map ❑ Continuation Sheet M Building, Structure and Object Record
❑ Linear Feature Record ❑ Milling Station Record ❑ Rock Art Record ❑ Artifact Record
*Required information
State of :California The. Resources Agency Primary 0
DEpAR1 11lIENT O PARKSANCA RECREATION' HRI �
BUILDING, <STRUCTURE, AND OBJECT RECORD
Page 2 of 2 *NRHP Status Code
*Resource Name or #: Crus Pierce House
B1. Historic Name:
B2. Common Name:
B3. Original Use: Residence B4. Present Use: C --Commercial
*135. Architectural Style: Spanish Colonial Revival
*B6. Construction History: (Construction date, alterations, and date of alterations.)
Designed by Gordon Kaufmann in 1929, house was built in Spanish Colonial Revival style with local materials
and by local craftsmen.
*B7. Moved? M No C3 Yes ❑ Unknown Date: Original Location:
*138. Related Features:
B9a. Architect: Gordon Kaufmann b. Builder: Unknown
*B10. Significance: Theme Residential Architecture Area La Quinta
Period of Significance 1929 Property Type Residence Applicable Criteria C
(Discuss importance in terms of historical or architectural context as defined by theme, period, and geographic scope. Also address integrity.)
The Cyrus Pierce House appears eligible for designation as a City of La Quinta Landmark under Criterion C,
i.e., it embodies distinctive characteristics of a style, type, period or method of construction, is a valuable
example of the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship or is representative of a notable work of an
acclaimed builder, designer, or architect. The Cyrus Pierce House also appears eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places under Criterion C, i.e., it embodies "the distinctive characteristics of a type,
period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values,
or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction. "
Located on the outskirts of the La Quinta Hotel property, the house was designed in the Spanish Colonial
Revival style and sited to complement the desert landscape and the region's climate, factors which led to the
evolution of a "California Style" desert lifestyle. The structure possesses a high degree of architectural
integrity as an intact example of architect Gordon Kaufmann's work.
B11 . Additional Resource Attributes: (List attributes and codes) HP5. Hotel/Motel
*B12. References:
Architectural Record.
August, 1930.
B13. Remarks:
"A Country House in California,"
*B14. Evaluator: Pam O'Connor/Marcy Roth
Date of Evaluation: 05/01/1997
(This space reserved for official comments.)
DPR 523B (1/95)
(Sketch Map with north arrow required)
*Required information
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