HCM #1026. A 1929 English Tudor Revival in The Oaks by architect Charles M. Hutchison, named for its first owner, Lucile Sherwood.
What is the Sherwood House?
The Sherwood House at 3435 North Amesbury Road is a 1929 English Tudor Revival residence in The Oaks neighborhood of Los Feliz, designed by architect Charles M. Hutchison and named for its first owner, Lucile Sherwood. It was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #1026 on February 5, 2013, and it is recognized for its steeply gabled roofline, half-timbered stucco, and storybook detail. It is a private home, not a museum, and it was one of the first houses built in the Los Feliz Hills subdivision.
A good Tudor does not try to look new. It tries to look like it has always been there, as if the hillside grew a house with a steep slate-colored roof and a chimney that leans into the sky. The Sherwood House does this so well that people invent a history for it, and much of what gets repeated online about the home is wrong. It is worth setting the record straight, because the true story is better than the myth.
You will see the Sherwood House described as a 1953 mid-century modern by Calvin Straub. It is not. It is a 1929 English Tudor Revival by Charles M. Hutchison, and the confusion is easy to trace: Calvin Straub was a real and important Southern California architect, but he had nothing to do with this house. What sits on Amesbury Road is a storybook period home from the tail end of the 1920s, and it is one of the landmarks a Los Feliz realtor points out to buyers who love a house with a real paper trail.
Charles Hutchison and the storybook silhouette
The Sherwood House was designed by architect Charles M. Hutchison and built in 1929, at the close of the decade when Los Angeles fell hard for the romantic revival styles. Hutchison gave the house the full English Tudor vocabulary: a steeply pitched, multi-gabled roof, hand-troweled stucco laced with half-timbering, tall mullioned windows, and a jettied second floor that overhangs the first the way a medieval town house would.
The details are where the house earns its landmark status. A tall brick chimney climbs in three twisting tiers. A weather vane shaped like a harness racer turns above the roof. Inside, the dining room carries carved beams, and the basement holds a period bar built for the years when a drink was a private matter. Even the garage plays along, half-timbered to match, a former chauffeur's quarters from an era when a hillside house came with staff. It is a vivid entry in the wider story of the Los Angeles house styles buyers fall for, and it rewards the slow walk more than the quick drive-by, the way the best of Los Feliz architecture tends to.
Who was the Sherwood House named for?
The house takes its name from Lucile Sherwood, its first owner, not from an architect. That single fact clears up most of the confusion online, where the "Sherwood" name gets misread as a designer's surname. There was no architect named Sherwood on this project. The designer was Charles M. Hutchison, and Lucile Sherwood was the woman who first lived here.
The Sherwood House rose as one of the first residences in the Los Feliz Hills subdivision, a planned hillside community laid out by the F. P. Fay Company, the same developer whose name sits behind the nearby Durex Model Home. After Sherwood, the house passed to a UC Berkeley football player named James Cline around 1930, and then to the clothing manufacturer Tobias Kotzin, whose family held it from the mid-1940s into the 1970s. Hutchison himself was no small figure. He worked in association with the prominent firm Walker and Eisen, and among his commercial commissions was the Don Lee Cadillac building, long since demolished. The house he built on Amesbury Road has outlasted much of his commercial work.
What does HCM #1026 mean for the home today?
Historic-Cultural Monument status is the oldest form of landmark protection in Los Angeles. For the Sherwood House, the 2013 designation recognizes both its intact 1929 Tudor Revival architecture and its place as an early anchor of the Los Feliz Hills subdivision. That status carries real, practical weight for anyone who owns the house or hopes to.
The most tangible benefit is the Mills Act, California's leading incentive for historic preservation, which can lower a landmark owner's property taxes in exchange for a commitment to maintain the home. It is one of the first things a serious buyer asks Debbie Pisaro to model on a designated home, and a central issue when selling a Mills Act or HCM home in Los Feliz. Designation also raises the question buyers always ask, which is whether it helps or hurts value, a topic covered in our look at how historic designation affects a Los Feliz home's worth.
An intact Tudor like this one is prized for exactly the detail that makes it fragile: the chimney, the timbering, the mullioned glass. HCM status reviews exterior changes and rewards careful stewardship, which on a house this original protects value more than it limits it.
The Oaks is one of the most sought-after pockets in Los Feliz, a quiet grid of winding streets above the flats where period homes sit under mature trees. The Sherwood House belongs to that setting completely, which is part of why it reads as though it has stood there forever. For a buyer weighing The Oaks against the rest of the neighborhood, a landmark like this offers something a newer home cannot: a place already written into the visual memory of the street, with a name and a designation attached to it.
This is the kind of house Debbie Pisaro is built to represent. She works these homes as an architectural homes specialist across the east side. Her brokerage, Coastline 840, is an independent boutique built on the belief that small teams outperform the big-box brokerages. She tells the story of why she built it on the Coastline 840 blog.
If you own an architectural home in Los Feliz and are weighing a sale, the first step is a real number grounded in current comps, which you can request through a private Los Feliz home valuation. If you would rather buy one, a Los Feliz realtor who works these blocks keeps a quiet list of off-market Los Feliz homes that never reach the open market. Either way, the best real estate agent in Los Feliz for architectural property is where the search should start. For the full neighborhood, our Los Feliz HCM guide maps every designated home.
Sherwood House questions, answered
Where is the Sherwood House in Los Feliz?
The Sherwood House stands at 3435 North Amesbury Road in The Oaks neighborhood of Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA 90027. It is a private residence rather than a museum, so it is best appreciated from the public street, in keeping with the quiet character of the hillside neighborhood.
Is the Sherwood House mid-century modern?
No. Despite what several online sources claim, the Sherwood House is not a mid-century modern home and was not designed by Calvin Straub. It is a 1929 English Tudor Revival residence by architect Charles M. Hutchison. The mid-century attribution appears to be a persistent error that mixes up this house with an unrelated architect.
Who designed the Sherwood House?
The Sherwood House was designed by architect Charles M. Hutchison, who worked in association with the prominent Los Angeles firm Walker and Eisen. Hutchison gave the home its full English Tudor Revival treatment, from the steep gabled roof to the half-timbered stucco and the three-tiered twisting brick chimney.
Who was the Sherwood House named for?
The house is named for Lucile Sherwood, its first owner, not for its architect. The name is often misread online as a designer's surname, but there was no architect named Sherwood involved. Later owners included a UC Berkeley football player and the clothing manufacturer Tobias Kotzin.
When was the Sherwood House built?
The Sherwood House was built in 1929, at the close of the decade when Los Angeles embraced romantic revival styles. It was one of the first residences completed in the Los Feliz Hills subdivision, a planned hillside community laid out by the F. P. Fay Company.
Why is the Sherwood House a Historic-Cultural Monument?
The City of Los Angeles designated it Historic-Cultural Monument #1026 on February 5, 2013, recognizing its intact 1929 English Tudor Revival architecture and its role as an early anchor of the Los Feliz Hills subdivision. The designation helps protect the home's distinctive exterior character.
What style is the Sherwood House?
It is English Tudor Revival, one of the romantic period styles that defined 1920s Los Angeles. Its signatures include a steeply pitched multi-gabled roof, half-timbered stucco walls, tall mullioned windows, a jettied second story, and a tall brick chimney that rises in three twisting tiers.
Can the Sherwood House qualify for the Mills Act?
As a designated Historic-Cultural Monument, the house is generally eligible to apply for a Mills Act contract, which can significantly lower property taxes in exchange for a preservation commitment. Eligibility and the exact savings depend on the property and current program terms, so any buyer should verify the specifics first.
Who is a good Los Feliz real estate agent for architectural homes?
Debbie Pisaro is a 24-year veteran, founder of Coastline 840, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader, representing buyers and sellers across Los Feliz and the surrounding neighborhoods. She specializes in architectural, historic, and Historic-Cultural Monument homes, and she works The Oaks and the wider Los Feliz market street by street rather than from a distance.
Talk to Debbie
Twenty-four years of Los Angeles luxury real estate, with a specialty in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes.
debbie@coastline840.com
DRE #01369110 · 160 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Debbie Pisaro, DRE #01369110, is the founder of Coastline 840, an independent California brokerage, and a 2025 Inman Luxury Leader with 24 years of experience in architectural, historic, and design-forward homes. She writes about California real estate at debbiepisaro.com, losfelizliving.com, and coastline840.com. Published July 2026.
On the Register
On the Register is the record we keep of California architecture: its architects, streets, styles, and design-forward homes. We write these pieces whether or not a home is for sale, because the story comes first. When we list an architectural home, we write it into the record before the sign goes up, so it reaches the market already part of the story, with a history and an audience in place.
© 2026 Debbie Pisaro, Coastline 840 · ontheregister.com