A rare example of authentic adobe construction from the early 20th century is on the market in Los Angeles's West Adams Terrace neighborhood. The Alice Lynch House, built in 1922, is listed for $1,849,500 and represents one of only about 40 true adobe homes left in the Los Angeles area.
The house, located at 2414 4th Avenue, was designed by architect Henry Harwood Hewitt in collaboration with John Byers, an adobe specialist known for reviving traditional building techniques across Southern California. Byers produced many of the materials himself, including the adobe bricks and tiles, using local soil and skilled Mexican craftsmen, a method he described as essential for authentic construction.
"This type of house can only be arrived at successfully if one builds them much in the same manner as the old days one hundred years or so ago," Byers wrote in 1946. "The adobes should be made by hand, and laid up preferably by Mexican labor… They can only be done economically if the adobe bricks are made right at the building site with the soil at hand."
The two-story, approximately 2,500-square-foot residence is organized in a U-shape around a central courtyard. Its thick adobe walls, original timber beams, arched glass doors, and a large brick fireplace are defining interior features.
Modern updates within the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home have been incorporated with restraint, including concrete sinks and updated kitchen cabinetry that are intended to complement, rather than overpower, the home's historic character.
Los Angeles was once home to hundreds of adobe dwellings dating back to the Spanish and Mexican periods. However, most were lost to natural disasters and urban development. By the early 20th century, true adobe construction had become a rarity, often employed for its romantic aesthetic rather than as standard practice.
The Alice Lynch House was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 621) in 1996. The designation recognized it as one of the few intact examples from the adobe revival period. The property offers a sense of seclusion rare in the city, with its courtyard serving as a central gathering space framed by adobe walls.
For those who appreciate authenticity, the Alice Lynch House stands as a reminder of Southern California's architectural past, retaining its original materials and character, including thick walls that help regulate indoor temperature and a courtyard that captures afternoon warmth. Its enduring presence offers a permanence that many newer constructions in Los Angeles do not possess.