HOMES WITH HEART HISTORIC VAN NUYS NEIGHBORHOOD ON L.A. CONSERVANCY TOUR.

Byline: Diana McKeon Charkalis Lifestyle Editor

Penny and Jeff Meyer's 1939 cottage sits quietly behind a white picket fence in Van Nuys. The modest home, about 1,400 square feet, has been through three owners, yet still retains much of its original charm. That includes the tile in the kitchen and bathroom, hardwood floors and the wood box beside the fireplace. Built to store kindling, it must be loaded from the outside through a tiny door.

`I'd like to see this house preserved in 100 years,'' says Penny, who moved in with her husband and two children in 1971. ``The integrity of all this is so great. We've got to keep the history alive.''

Thanks to conservation efforts on the part of the Meyers and others in the neighborhood, that should come to pass. About 250 area homes, including the Meyers', are all part of the first city-designated Historic Preservation Overlay Zone in the Valley. And they'll be featured on a self-driving neighborhood and house tour presented by the L.A. Conservancy April 30.

The HPOZ designation is given to neighborhoods or parts of neighborhoods that are related to each other historically, architecturally and/or culturally. The Van Nuys HPOZ, the 21st and most recent in the Los Angeles area, features homes built as early as the 1910s. It includes a variety of styles, such as craftsman, Spanish colonial revival, English revival and ranch.

``The interesting thing about the neighborhood is that it goes back to the earliest days of urbanization of the Valley,'' says Jay Platt, preservation advocate at the L.A. Conservancy, the largest membership-based local historic preservation organization in the country. ``It shows us what it was like when they first started mapping out the streets. It really represents a timeline of how the Valley developed architecturally.''

A short walk down Meyer's street reveals several well-kept gems, including a 1927 Spanish-style home and a Sears Roebuck kit house.

``These were all unique homes in their time,'' she notes. ``They weren't tract housing.''

Meyer's home, the only one in the neighborhood open for a guided tour on April 30, was originally a one-story cottage with a cellar. In the early 1940s, new owners who worked as animators at Walt Disney Studios added a second story by finishing the attic.

Most of the homes on the tour, though varied, are equally modest, Meyer says, adding that the HPOZ designation will help keep them that way, avoiding the tear-down philosophy so prevalent now.

``It keeps everything from getting McMansionized and preserves the sweetness of the neighborhood,'' she says.

Other benefits for HPOZ residents include tax savings and, often, an increase in property values.

In addition, working together to maintain the character of the neighbor-hood can often be a bonding experience. That's been the case on Meyer's block, an already close-knit community known for its Fourth of July block parties.

``Everybody knows everybody. It's the way a neighborhood should be.''

DOOR TO DOOR

The L.A. Conservancy tours include four other historic preservation overlay zones. They are:Lincoln Heights: One of L.A.'s first suburbs, it's perched on a bluff east of the L.A. River, and just north of the I-10 Freeway. Originally built for some of the city's wealthiest residents, it's filled with landmarks and diverse architectural styles, including houses constructed from 1875 to 1929.

Pico-Union: This neighborhood in Central L.A. has its center at the intersection of Pico Boulevard and Union Avenue. The area reflects L.A's architectural evolution from the 1880s to the 1930s.

Whitley Heights: This residential area near the Hollywood Bowl was built to resemble an Italian town in the hills. It's filled with Spanish colonial revival houses developed between 1918 and 1928 that were home to many of early Hollywood's elite.

Windsor Square: A period Revival home is the centerpiece of this neighborhood in the Mid-Wilshire area of L.A., just east of Hancock Park. It's filled withgrand homes in a parklike setting.

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Van Nuys revisited

L.A. Conservancy's tour of heritage homes reveals charm of an older Valley neighborhood

(2 -- 4 -- color) Penny Meyer, right, in her Katherine Avenue home, built in 1939, and seen in a period photo below. At far right is her breakfast nook.

(5 -- color) A couple of dolls have taken up residence in the Meyers' converted attic.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer

(6 -- 8 -- color) Above, a fireplace anchors the Meyers' historic Van Nuys home. Far left, a stairway leads to the attic, which has been converted to a full-fledged room near left.

Photos courtesy of the L.A. Conservancy

Box:

DOOR TO DOOR (see text)

Map:

At home with history

Warren Huskey/Staff Artist