VALLEY'S 1ST TOWN LOOKS TO PRESERVE ITS HISTORY.

Byline: Mariel Garza Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - Pieces of this tiny city's history sit tucked among the post-World War II tract homes and modern apartment buildings.

An 1890s Victorian here, an early 1900s stone house over there. Some 300 buildings, scattered around the 2.4 square miles of the city of San Fernando, are all that's left of the birthplace of the modern San Fernando Valley.

But even those remaining structures are in danger of being lost.

So city leaders and residents have embarked on an ambitious plan to create the Valley's first historic district - a designation that promises to preserve and protect what time, neglect and the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake haven't yet claimed.

``If we don't do it now, it will be too late,'' said Steve Veres, chairman of the city's Historic Commission and the owner of a 1926 house built entirely of stone. ``There's a feeling that it's getting close to being too late. That's why we're doing all these things.''

Veres is referring to the various preservation efforts that include carving a historic district in downtown San Fernando, drafting an ordinance to protect architecturally significant homes from demolition and recording the oral histories of older residents.

The city has even reclaimed its first fire engine, which was returned from Travel Town in Griffith Park earlier this month.

The effort is necessary if the city wants to keep its physical connection to the past, said Wendel Eckford, a historical preservation consultant hired by the city to identify and list all the local historically significant buildings.

``The city is really in danger of losing a lot of the historic fabric,'' he said.

Many of the old houses have been lost, he said, razed by home buyers anxious to take advantage of the city's relatively low property values.

``It's sort of an easy target for people to come in, buy up property, destroy what's there and build something new,'' Eckford said. ``By establishing an ordinance of some sort at least there's a cooling-off period.''

In the past few months, Eckford and his team from Pomona-based Cultural Resources Management have combed through city and county records and walked the streets of the city, examining buildings that could qualify for state or federal historical designation.

They came up with a list of 233 buildings that have retained enough of their original material to qualify. The prized structures exemplify myriad styles from Victorian and California craftsman to Spanish-style, art deco and colonial. The buildings date from the late 1800s to the late 1900s. The oldest home on the list is a Dutch colonial that was built in 1885.

Next, the city leaders will consider enacting an ordinance to protect those buildings with a historical zone.

``It's really in the preliminary stages,'' said Councilwoman Maribel De La Torre, one of the founding members of the San Fernando Historic Homes and Preservation Group.

If approved by state or federal officials, the historic district in San Fernando would be the first of its kind in the Valley.

There's no other place in the Valley where there's such a large collection of old homes, said Jim Gulbranson, president of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society.

``Not a whole neighborhood,'' he said. ``There are small pockets of maybe two or three buildings in a row, that sort of thing, but no district.''

The city's treasure trove of significant homes serves as a source of pride for residents of all ages, including De La Torre, who bought and fixed up one of the older homes.

``We were the first city in entire San Fernando Valley,'' she said. ``We have the most beautiful homes. People don't realize this is the jewel of the Valley. And where founders of the Valley lived.''

San Fernando was a strong community even before it incorporated in 1911. It was the home of the pioneering Porter cousins of Porter Ranch fame and former state Sen. Charles Maclay, who bought the northern half of the Valley for $117,500 in 1874, and established the town of San Fernando.

The community also attracted many less affluent families, such as the Chacon family, which still calls the area home.

Arturo Chacon, owner of the Chacon Barbershop at Kalisher and Woodworth streets, was born just across the street from where he now works. His father, Jesus, built the barbershop in 1951, and he took over in 1978.

Earlier this month, hired historians from Eckford's firm conducted oral history interviews at the barbershop, which has served as an unofficial community center.

During a break in the interviews, Chacon pointed north up Kalisher, recalling how his neighborhood looked when he was a boy. That house used to be a bar, that strange old building used to be a market and that empty lot there - a house.

Chacon now lives in nearby Mission Hills but spends most of his time in San Fernando, cutting the hair of people he has known all his life.

``I live here,'' Chacon said. ``This is my house almost. I'm here every day even if I'm not working.''

Karen Nichols understands the draw of this small city. She has lived in San Fernando since when she was 4 years old, when her father bought a Dutch colonial on Griswold Avenue in 1957 - a house listed on the fledgling historic survey. In 1974, Nichols and her husband, Mark, bought the house from her parents and have lived there ever since.

When a city becomes interested in preserving its older houses, that often means strict limits on changes to the structures. Though potentially a hassle, Nichols said she welcomes the city's interest in her home and neighborhood.

``We love it,'' Nichols said. ``It has inspired us to put more more money into the property.''

In fact, Eckford said that when a city starts historic preservation efforts, residents usually complain about the potential limits on changes they can make to their properties.

While there has been some grumbling, he said, more residents have called asking what they can do to restore their older homes and whether their house might make the list.

The charm of the older houses is not only keeping people like Nichols in town, it has enticed people like Gretchen Guerrero to settle here.

Guererro was raised in Pacoima, but as a student at San Fernando Junior High School, there was an old Victorian house on the corner of Griswold Avenue and Fourth Street a few blocks away. It was run down and overgrown with ivy, and the neighborhood kids used to say it was haunted.

About five years ago, Guerrero, by then a San Fernando Realtor, was contacted to list the house for sale. Instead of hooking up a new buyer, she decided to make an offer herself.

Guererro's house, built in 1885, was owned by Maclay and is the second oldest in the city, she said. She's been renovating the house for the past five years. Though not quite done, the house now looks so good that actor and comedian George Lopez chose to use shots of the house's exterior for his new television show.

``I've always liked older things,'' said Guerrero, explaining why she bought a house that is more than a century old. ``It's just a feeling. I could afford to live somewhere else, but I fell in love with it.''

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Photo:

(1 -- 4) Photos from the early 20th century show festival scenes in the city of San Fernando, top and left, and the neighboring Mission San Fernando as they appeared at the time. Now the city is trying to preserve what older buildings built around that time and before remain the the area, pleasing longtime residents like barber Arturo Chacon, below, cutting German Esparza's hair.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer