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Doumakes House owner, Benjamin Kahle (middle) at the LA County Historical Landmarks and Records Commission hearing to declare the Doumakes House LA County Landmark #1. Also pictured, Chairman Stephen J. Sass (left), Principal Planner Phillip Estes, and Doumakes family descendants, Julie Price and Marie Kontos. 

 

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Only the third owner, The Doumakes House was purchased in 2012 by Benjamin Kahle, a Los Angeles realtor specializing in Historic and Architectural Los Angeles properties. At the time of purchase, the home had no working plumbing, no heat, most of the electrical was not functional, the home suffered from major roof leaks and the entire top floor hadn't been used in fifteen (15) years.

But beyond it's imperfections, the home featured amazing original 1920s details such as iron light sconces, door brass, bathroom tiles, wooden windows, wooden floors (that had been covered up by carpet for over 50 years) and several very unique hand-carved wooden doors. 

After a full year of tedious research, Benjamin was able to uncover who originally owned the home. On September 1, 2015, The Board of Supervisors adopted the historic preservation ordinance for all of Unincorporated Los Angeles County. Benjamin then nominated the home to be an individual historic landmark. As luck would have it, it was the first home submitted, making the Doumakes House the first historic home (#1) in all of Unincorporated LA County, which was passed on April 8th, 2016. 

In 2013, Benjamin co-founded View Park Conservancy, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization who led a more than two-year neighborhood wide initiative to have View Park listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which was passed on July 12th, 2016.  

Today, Benjamin lives in the Doumakes House with his wife, MiShawn and son, Lincoln. They are slowly restoring the home one project at a time. 

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