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281 Pp. Olive Green Cloth Lettered In Gilt And Stamped In Black, Green, And Grey, Top Edge Gilt, Gilt Brilliant, Slight Wear With A Faint Ring Mark On The Front Cover, Crisp, Tight, Etc. . Gift Inscription From Arthur Letts Sr., Dated Christmas 1905 To Mrs. Luther, Secretary Of The Ymca, Of Which He Was President, And With His Visiting Card Laid In Loosely. Arthur Letts Sr. (1862 ? 1923) Was An Immigrant From England . When The Red River Rebellion Broke Out In The Northwest Of Canada, He Volunteered. He Was Awarded A Silver Medal And Clasp For Distinguished Service, And A Grant Of Land By The Canadian Government. In The Early 1890'S, He Emigrated To The United States In Seattle, Washington, And Began Retail Employment In Dry Goods. Letts Arrived In The Los Angeles, California, Area In 1896, And Purchased A Bankrupt Retail Business Which He Renamed The Broadway, Arthur Letts Was The 'Behind The Scenes' Financial Founder And Owner Of Bullock's Department Store, And Put John Bullock From His The Broadway To Direct This Store. After Letts' Death, Bullock And A Group Of Investors Purchased The Store From The Estate. The Development Of Westwood, Holmby Hills, And Ucla Began In 1919 When Arthur Letts Sr. Purchased About 400 Acres Of The Wolfskill Ranch, Originally The Mexican Land Grant Rancho San Jose De Buenos Ayres. His Master Plan For The Prime Land He Had Purchased In Western Los Angeles. Was To Create A Mixed Development Of Retail, Apartments, Residences, Estates, And Significant University. He Personally Christened The Developments Westwood And "Holmby Hills," The Latter Loosely Derived From The Name Of His Birthplace, A Small Village In England Called Holdenby. Arthur Letts Sr. Died Suddenly In 1923, Before He Could Realize His Vision. Letts Joined A Number Of Prestigious Organizations. Letts Was Vice-President Of The Boy Scouts Of America, And Leader Of His Local. Letts Was A Skilled Horticulturist And Avid Plant Collector. The Grounds Of His Los Feliz District, Hollywood Estate Holmby House[6] Were Formally Laid Out With Wide Variety Of Trees, Shrubs, And Flowers, And His Cactus Collection Was Known Across The Country. The Gardens Were Open To The Public For Tours, With The Pacific Electric Railway Stopping At It. It Was His Wish That The Gardens Be Continued Even After His Death. Upon His Death In May 1923, His Wife, At The Suggestion Of Son-In-Law Harold Janss Of Janss Investment Company (Who Lived At The Back Of The Property), Demolished The Gardens And Mansion In 1927 To Subdivide And Develop The Land, And Moved To A New Residence In Holmby Hills. Henry E. Huntington Purchased Many Of The Rare Specimen Cacti For His Huntington Desert Garden At His Estate And Huntington Library In San Marino. In 1927, Arthur Letts Jr. Built A Tudor-Style Home At Charing Cross Road On The Los Angeles Country Club. ] He And Harold Janss Took Over The Westwood Project After His Father's Death In 1923. His Estate Became Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion Before Sold In 2016 For $100 Million To The Son Of The Owner Of Hostess Brands. In 1911, Arthur Letts Sr.'S Daughter Gladys Married Harold Janss Connecting The Two Families. The Janss Investment Company Continued Developing Planned Communities Across Greater Los Angeles Into The 1960'S. Altogether, Letts Created Or Contributed To Much Of What Was Original, Beautiful, Lasting And Fondly Memorable In Los Angeles In The First Half Of The 1900S And Even More Beautiful Today. By Comparison, He Makes Modern Developers And Their Political Supporters Look Like Pigs At The Trough. Seller Inventory # 047423
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