Lortondale

[Double A]

Here's a myspace site I found about  
Lortondale.

[cannon_fodder]

I have a policy of not viewing any web page that plays music to me... unless its a website for a band.

[hoodlum]

sorry cannon fodder the music is topical for the site, I like the Tornadoes that is why I put the music on there. There is a pause button.

[Dana431]

Love the site!  I wanna live there.  People seem to be enjoying the living there.  There seems to be a quite a community.   Any chance I could strip down the detail on my gingerbread and make it a Lortondale modern?[]

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Dana431

Love the site!  I wanna live there.  People seem to be enjoying the living there.  There seems to be a quite a community.   Any chance I could strip down the detail on my gingerbread and make it a Lortondale modern?[]

We sure do enjoy Lortondale.  I am a 20 year owner/resident.  Sorry Dana431, but the modern aspect of our homes can not be replicated by stripping down an earlier style.  I bought my Lortondale house in 1987, before I truly appreciated the architecture and historic aspects of the neighborhood, I just knew I loved the glass walls and vaulted ceilings.  I have since obtained a much deeper knowledge and appreciation of Lortondale.  Visit www.lortondale.com and check out the history pages for more info about the history and architecture of Lortondale.  And by the way, the history pages on this website, www.lortondale.com were authored, conceived and written by yours truly Steve.  I have seen my copy reproduced on many other websites, but no credit is given to me as author of this.  Well, at least I am not bitter...

[Double A]

I hope I didn't step on your toes with that link. It really is a cool site! Thanks for providing the other links.

[Steve]

Some historic facts about the Lortondale subdivison in Tulsa:

1.  The Lortondale subdivision, 26th St. to 27th Pl., Yale to Darlington, was built on the original Creek Indian allotment of Frances Perryman.  The land in the mid 1920s-mid 1930s was the country estate of the Eugene Lorton family, the publisher of the Tulsa World, (hence the name Lortondale) and was later the original site of Meadowbrook Country Club.  Meadowbrook sold the land to Tulsa homebuilder Howard Grubb in 1952, and he subdivided and built the Lortondale addition in 1954-1956.

2.  Lortondale was the very first merchant builder (speculative) housing development in the United States where all homes were built with central air conditioning as a standard feature, built on slab foundations with in-slab forced air HVAC ducts.  Builder Howard Grubb and the Chrysler Air-Temp Corporation featured Lortondale homes in their national magazine ads at the time, and Lortondale made national homebuilding news for this "luxury" feature.  An historic homebuilding fact, right here in Tulsa.

3.  The Lortondale subdivision was the first subdivision in Tulsa to have a private, developer-built neighborhood swimming pool.  The Lortondale pool at 4941 E. 26th St. opened in the summer of 1956, and is still in continuous operation today, thanks to the hard work and dedicated labor of volunteers.  It is still a private pool, but is open to residents outside of Lortondale for the paid membership fees.  A real Tulsa gem.

4.  Lortondale received more than a dozen architectural and neighborhood planning awards from 1954-1962.  Lortondale was featured at least 3 times in "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine, 2 times in "Parents" magazine, 2 times in "House & Home" (a builder's trade publication) magazine, and other magazines of the period such as "Living for Young Homemakers."

5.  Lortondale modern homes are all professionally architect designed.  Builder Howard Grubb employed architect Donald Honn to design Lortondale homes.  Builders today rarely, if ever, employ professional architects to design "tract" homes, as Lortondale homes may be called.  Builder Grubb wanted to offer the middle-class home buyer the ultimate in luxury and contemporary home design at the time.

Lortondale was built by Tulsa homebuilder Howard Grubb in 1954-1956, and all Lortondale modern homes were designed by famed midwest architect Donald Honn.  Donald Honn is noted for Lortondale, many similar residential developments in Lubbock TX, Ft. Wayne IN, many custom private homes in Tulsa, Park Elementary School in Tulsa, Esplanade Condominiums in Tulsa, Tulsa Country Club, Meadowbrook Country Club on 81st St.  

The Lortondale subdivision at 26th & Yale has much to be proud of.      

[Double A]

You know, I really enjoy these threads about Tulsa neighborhoods. The TulsaNow Site needs a forum dedicated just to the all different neighborhoods in Tulsa.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Double A

You know, I really enjoy these threads about Tulsa neighborhoods. The TulsaNow Site needs a forum dedicated just to the all different neighborhoods in Tulsa.

Yes, as you can see from my above posts about Lortondale, I am quite passionate and love the history of my neighborhood, Lortondale.  Much of what I know I learned just by checking out and pouring over the property abstract of my house in Lortondale.  I learned all about the former Indian ownership of the land, the subsequent ownership of the Lorton family and Meadowbrook Country Club, etc. and about the former residents of my house.  I am glad Oklahoma is one of the few states left that requires abstract maintenance; without that I would not know the complete history of my property that I now know.

For those wanting to research their own property, here is what I did.  I called Guaranty Abstract, and told them the legal description of my house: Lot X, Block X, Lortondale Subdivision to the City of Tulsa.  They looked up on the computer system and told me instantly where my property abstract was housed, in my case at Tulsa Abstract & Title on Denver Ave.  I went down there and checked it out, free of charge, for after all, the property owner owns the abstract.  The abstract is a treasure trove of historical information about the ownership and development of the land.

[waterboy]

I am glad to see that Lortondale has prospered. My first home was on the South side of 27th place. The north side of the street are the contemporary Lortondale, while the north side is the more traditional Grandview Manor edition. Lortondale was not a popular buy in 1974. I loved the style and could have bought one for 20% less than the traditional but alas my wife was not as enthusiastic about the styling. We also worried, as everyone did then, about the cost of heating and cooling the glass walled, slab built homes with no attic space. We called them California style. Great neighborhood.

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

Some historic facts about the Lortondale subdivison in Tulsa:

1.  The Lortondale subdivision, 26th St. to 27th Pl., Yale to Darlington, was built on the original Creek Indian allotment of Frances Perryman.  The land in the mid 1920s-mid 1930s was the country estate of the Eugene Lorton family, the publisher of the Tulsa World, (hence the name Lortondale) and was later the original site of Meadowbrook Country Club.  Meadowbrook sold the land to Tulsa homebuilder Howard Grubb in 1952, and he subdivided and built the Lortondale addition in 1954-1956.

2.  Lortondale was the very first merchant builder (speculative) housing development in the United States where all homes were built with central air conditioning as a standard feature, built on slab foundations with in-slab forced air HVAC ducts.  Builder Howard Grubb and the Chrysler Air-Temp Corporation featured Lortondale homes in their national magazine ads at the time, and Lortondale made national homebuilding news for this "luxury" feature.  An historic homebuilding fact, right here in Tulsa.

3.  The Lortondale subdivision was the first subdivision in Tulsa to have a private, developer-built neighborhood swimming pool.  The Lortondale pool at 4941 E. 26th St. opened in the summer of 1956, and is still in continuous operation today, thanks to the hard work and dedicated labor of volunteers.  It is still a private pool, but is open to residents outside of Lortondale for the paid membership fees.  A real Tulsa gem.

4.  Lortondale received more than a dozen architectural and neighborhood planning awards from 1954-1962.  Lortondale was featured at least 3 times in "Better Homes and Gardens" magazine, 2 times in "Parents" magazine, 2 times in "House & Home" (a builder's trade publication) magazine, and other magazines of the period such as "Living for Young Homemakers."

5.  Lortondale modern homes are all professionally architect designed.  Builder Howard Grubb employed architect Donald Honn to design Lortondale homes.  Builders today rarely, if ever, employ professional architects to design "tract" homes, as Lortondale homes may be called.  Builder Grubb wanted to offer the middle-class home buyer the ultimate in luxury and contemporary home design at the time.

Lortondale was built by Tulsa homebuilder Howard Grubb in 1954-1956, and all Lortondale modern homes were designed by famed midwest architect Donald Honn.  Donald Honn is noted for Lortondale, many similar residential developments in Lubbock TX, Ft. Wayne IN, many custom private homes in Tulsa, Park Elementary School in Tulsa, Esplanade Condominiums in Tulsa, Tulsa Country Club, Meadowbrook Country Club on 81st St.  

The Lortondale subdivision at 26th & Yale has much to be proud of.      

It's funny how your tastes change over time.  My parents bought their first house around 1975 or so, right before I was born...it wasn't in Lortondale, not even in this state, but it was VERY similar styling.  I remember that the whole house had vaulted ceilings, walls between the family room, living room, dining, and kitchen didn't extend fully up, so you could see over into the next room (I always thought it was fun to try and throw things over these walls) and there were huge panes of glass.  In fact, the end of the galley kitchen was a solid sheet of floor to ceiling glass, but mom had it taken out because she was afraid that my little brother and i would run into it, causing a disaster.  Anyway, as a child, I HATED the house.  I thought it was so ugly.  Probably because all the other houses in our neighborhood were more traditional.  Anyway, when we moved to a more cookie-cutter situation in the 1980's, I was relieved, but in retrospect, I think that first house was pretty damn cool.

And kudos to you for doing all the research on your neighborhood.  I live in Florence Park, and while I have the complete history of my house, including photos going back to the late 1920's when it was new, I have had a hard time finding out anything else about the development.

[tulsa1603]

quote:Originally posted by Double A

You know, I really enjoy these threads about Tulsa neighborhoods. The TulsaNow Site needs a forum dedicated just to the all different neighborhoods in Tulsa.

I think that's a great idea.  I don't have the foggiest idea about my own neighborhood, except for that of my own house.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

I am glad to see that Lortondale has prospered. My first home was on the South side of 27th place. The north side of the street are the contemporary Lortondale, while the north side is the more traditional Grandview Manor edition. Lortondale was not a popular buy in 1974. I loved the style and could have bought one for 20% less than the traditional but alas my wife was not as enthusiastic about the styling. We also worried, as everyone did then, about the cost of heating and cooling the glass walled, slab built homes with no attic space. We called them California style. Great neighborhood.

Lortondale modern homes are still a bargain today.  For the lover of modern architecture, as I am, the trick is to wait it out and find one that has been reasonably well maintained with no drastic architectural alterations.  I was lucky enough in 1987 to find my house, pretty much unchanged from 1954 except for the conversion of the 2-car garage to living space and the addition of a carport.  I still have all the original glass window walls, wood tile flooring, original mahogany living room paneling, all original mahogany woodwork & door/window trim, original kitchen cabinets with sliding masonite doors, etc.  My house even had the original 1954 Chrysler Air Temp furnace when I bought it; that has since been replaced.  Paid $50,000 for my house in 1987.  The house next door to me which is very similar to mine but about 30% smaller in living area, sold for $97,000 2 months ago.

Lortondale modern homes certainly have their own unique maintenance issues, specifically the roofs, but overall they do not require any more maintenance than any other home of the era.  For me, utility costs have not been a big issue.  I have 1900 sq. feet (including the garage conversion).  So far this winter, my highest gas bill was $180 and that was the bill I received in January.  I am on average payment for electric, and I curently pay $60 AMP on electric.  Not bad I think; I have heard of much worse.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by tulsa1603

It's funny how your tastes change over time.  My parents bought their first house around 1975 or so, right before I was born...it wasn't in Lortondale, not even in this state, but it was VERY similar styling.  I remember that the whole house had vaulted ceilings, walls between the family room, living room, dining, and kitchen didn't extend fully up, so you could see over into the next room (I always thought it was fun to try and throw things over these walls) and there were huge panes of glass.  In fact, the end of the galley kitchen was a solid sheet of floor to ceiling glass, but mom had it taken out because she was afraid that my little brother and i would run into it, causing a disaster.  Anyway, as a child, I HATED the house.  I thought it was so ugly.  Probably because all the other houses in our neighborhood were more traditional.  Anyway, when we moved to a more cookie-cutter situation in the 1980's, I was relieved, but in retrospect, I think that first house was pretty damn cool.

And kudos to you for doing all the research on your neighborhood.  I live in Florence Park, and while I have the complete history of my house, including photos going back to the late 1920's when it was new, I have had a hard time finding out anything else about the development.

Check out your property abstract, it can be a wealth of historical information about your home and the neighborhood.  Lortondale was lucky to be featured in so many national magazines in the 1950s.  Myself and many of my like-minded neighbors have original copies of these magazines and the articles and period color and b/w photos are priceless to us.  Lortondale did suffer from lack of interest in the 1970s-1980s, but is slowly on the rebound from new owners in their 20s-30s that have a new appreciation for 20th century modern design, can recognize a housing bargain, and are interested in restoration/preservation.

Tastes certainly do change, my own included, but I loved the modern design of Lortondale ever since I was a kid in the 1960s.  I remember seing these houses back then and wishing I lived in one; today I do, for 20 years now!  I have slowly tried to furnish my house over the years with period modern design furnishings (Bertoia, Saarinen, Eames, Noguchi, etc.) buying one piece at a time as I could afford it.  I wouldn't live anywhere else.

[Hometown]

Lortondale is without a doubt Tulsa's best real estate value.  But don't mess up and go overboard remodeling.  If you have a mint condition Lortondale home you have something of real value.