By Cory Buckner
Special to Brentwood News
On a hillside in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, the Mutual Housing Association (MHA) broke ground for its residential dream on October 5, 1947. Crestwood Hills, formerly MHA, was to become the only successful large-scale modern housing cooperative in the West. Architects A. Quincy Jones and Whitney R. Smith, and structural engineer Edgardo Contini – all steeped in the ethos of Southern California modernist architecture – were selected as the design team. They provided a selection of more than 20 innovative designs for 350 small lots. A large flat area was designated for the cooperative services, which included a park, clubhouse, nursery school, gas station, a variety store, swimming pool, amphitheater, and an administration building to house medical services and credit union activities.
But idealism met harsh reality when two contractors went bankrupt building the structures. Eventually only 85 of the MHA houses and the preschool were completed. The ambitious plans for a cooperative utopia began to fade and several day camps began using the acreage that was designated for the park.
Founding members Sharon Leonard and Marge Bonderman decided they had better establish a park facility before it was taken over by other users. Organizing their own day camp, a group of Crestwood Hills mothers reclaimed the park for the community. Addressing a need for more equipment and expert supervision, they collected $10 from each Crestwood Hills family. The Los Angeles City officials were approached and agreed to supply a park director in exchange for the funds collected and included a swing set and slide, as well as other equipment.
A deserted contractor’s shack was moved to the park area and it became the first clubhouse. Close to 30 children, including Leonard’s four boys, used the little clubhouse. With more people moving into the area, the group approached the City to take responsibility for the park since it had become more than the community members could manage. The land was given to the City in 1961 to maintain as a park. Residents Marvin Braude, the future County supervisor; Ray Siegal, one of the four original founders of MHA; and Leonard pitched to the City the idea of building a clubhouse, which resulted in $30,000 granted towards construction of the structure.
A. Quincy Jones and his partner Frederick E. Emmons designed the clubhouse with community input. The facility included a small amphitheater facing a moveable wall. With the wall opened, the space provided ample room for concerts, plays, and performances. A grand piano was donated for the space and Fritz Feld, the character actor and Crestwood resident, lured musicians, dancers, and other artists to perform for the community. The amphitheater was later named the Fritz Feld Theater in his honor.
Carnivals were held every year with the City supplying the booths and a spook house at Halloween. Neighborhood potluck picnics were a common event for all of the holidays, including the 4th of July, but eventually many of the founding members aged out of the community and the clubhouse and park were seldom used.
It wasn’t until the early 1990s, when a new generation of families began moving into the community, that the need to revitalize the park became apparent. The park activities kept the community cohesive until several years ago when cuts in the City budget eliminated the park director and closed the clubhouse for all but two days a week.
Today, the increased use created by the new preschool director, Joanna Port, combined with the needs of the community have resulted in a new energy at the park and a fulltime park director, Mark Wilson. Once again, the park has become a magnet to unite the community within a beautiful natural setting.
