§ 16.52.160. Leonie Pray House.

Pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 2.63 and with the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the City Council designates the following building as an historic landmark in the City: The Leonie Pray House.

A.

Location, Description and Reasons for Designation. Located at 4252 Country Club Drive, in the City of Long Beach, this English Tudor mansion is one of the most architecturally significant residential structures in Long Beach. Its scale, size, and detail is unmatched in the City.

The house was designed and constructed by William E. Babb in 1927. Mr. Babb was a prominent Long Beach businessman who came to Long Beach in 1907 as the Manager of the phone company. He later resigned that post to engage in building contracting. Shortly before oil was discovered on Signal Hill, Mr. Babb, with other local builders, had completed plans for an eleven (11) acre residential project at Signal Hill. The project was abandoned when oil was discovered and, consequently, Messrs. Babb and others received large oil royalties.

In 1929 the house was purchased by Russell Pray, Attorney at law. The following history was excerpted from the Long Beach Blue Book, by Walter H. Case:

RUSSELL H. PRAY

Russell H. Pray is a well known and successful lawyer of Long Beach, who has practiced here since 1922. His first association in Long Beach was with Swaffield and Swaffield and in 1923 he became a member of the firm of Swaffield, Swaffield & Pray. In 1924 he took up practice alone and has so continued ever since. His suite of offices is located in the Security Building and his staff consists of three (3) additional lawyers.

Mr. Pray was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on March 8, 1892, the son of Alvah J. Pray and Laura Elizabeth (Trowbridge) Pray. He was educated in the public schools of Columbus, Ohio, and entered Ohio State University in 1910. His law course was taken at the University of Michigan, which he completed in 1915. His degrees are A. B. and LL. B. After graduating he took a position with the American Telephone and Telegraph Company at Kansas City and for a time became a reporter on a Kansas City newspaper under Burris Jenkins. He went back to the law in 1917, in which year he was admitted to the bar in Missouri, taking up practice in the firm of Harding, Murphy, Deatherage and Harris. In 1918 he enlisted in the United State Army as a Private in the Infantry: later was promoted to Sergeant Major and then to First Lieutenant and assigned later as General Staff Officer commissioned in the Judge Advocate General's Department. He was later made Captain and served in France with the Army, remaining in the Regular Army until 1920. In October, 1920, he resigned his Army Commission and engaged in the practice of law with an American firm in Paris, where he remained until the fall of 1921. During this time he matriculated at the Sorbonne University in Paris and in November of 1921 married Mrs. Pray, formerly Leonie Petuya, a native of France who was attending school in Paris. In December of 1921 Mr. Pray came to California and in the following February was admitted to the bar in California and later came to Long Beach.

Mr. Pray is noted as an able trial lawyer and as a hard worker in his profession. During the last twenty years he has been engaged in many important cases, both in the Trial and Appellate Courts of this State. Mr. Pray was admitted to the United States Supreme Court and the bar of the District of Columbia in 1921. He has been particularly active and interested in the guidance and encouragement of younger lawyers entering his profession.

Well connected fraternally, Mr. Pray is a member of the Masonic Order, being a Knight Templar of the York Rite and a 32nd Degree member of the Scottish Rite, and a Shriner. He also belongs to the Sons of the Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Alliance Francaise, Paris Post No. 1 and Peterson Post No. 27 of the American Legion, Delta Tau Delta, Academic, and Phi Alpha Delta, legal, Fraternities. He is a member of the Virginia County Club, the Pacific Coast Club, Long Beach Bar Association, Los Angeles Bar Association, California State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Russell H. Pray died after a brief illness in 1971. He was 79, Mrs. Leonie Pray still owns the house.

B.

General Guidelines and Standards for Any Changes. The "Standards for Rehabilitation and Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings" prepared by the Secretary of the Interior (February, 1978), as amended, are incorporated by reference, and the following additional guidelines and standards as recommended by the Cultural Heritage Committee are adopted:

Any alterations, modifications or repair of the Leonie Pray House shall be done so in keeping with their historic character.

No environmental changes shall be allowed unless a certificate of appropriateness has been applied for and approved by the Cultural Heritage Committee or by the City Planning Commission upon appeal, authorizing such environmental changes.

(Ord. C-6020 § 1, 1983)