This property has a long history of ownership which makes it difficult to say which person was the original landowner:  Mission San Gabriel? Andreas de Duarte? J.D. Bicknell or Thomas Wardall?  For information on Mission San Gabriel and Adreas de Duarte, see the entry for Rancho Azusa de Duarte in the Subdivision Category.  For information on John D. Bicknell, see Addition No 2 to the Monrovia Tract.  Because the last subdivision of the property was by Thomas Wardall, I am going to name him as the original landowner

The property  had eight owners before Robert Perry bought the property in 1910 and built the house.

The house is a one story, wood frame Craftsman bungalow with a front-facing gable. The roof-style is known as “jerkinhead”, a combination of a gable and hip roof. The main gable peak has slat vents The roof has the typical stylistic devices of a Craftsman house: exposed beam ends and rafter tails.

The painted redwood siding extends halfway up from the river rock foundation. Original wood-shingle siding is original as are the roof elements, including the exposed rafter tails, beam ends, and overhanging eaves.

There is a partial porch extending from the front door. The porch roof is supported by simple trusswork and a pair of triple square wood posts anchored in river rock supports with caps of rectangular cement.  There is a wooden deck running the width of the house from the concrete partial porch. On the deck are three rectangular river rock pedestals, capped with square concrete tops. The pedestals don’t support anything, and, at first, we thought that originally there might have been a full porch supported by these pedestals, but the footprints of the house on the 1913 and 1927 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps are the same. They show only a partial porch and no decking.

We contacted Monrovia resident and vintage structure restorer Jimi Hendrix about the porch. Coincidentally, he had actually worked on this house in the 1990s. It is his opinion that the deck is not original, and that Henry Hinkins, owner of the house during the 1980s and 1990s, installed the deck and the pedestals.

In 2013, there was extensive alterations done in the kitchen backporch aread, but fortunately, the exterior front and sides were not altered, so the house still retains its period look

The 1888 tax record shows J.C. Anderson as the first owner of Lot 17, which was valued at $300 at that time.  He held on to the property as its value dropped until 1901 when the property was sold to Mary Sergeant who owned it for two years.  She did not improve the property and its value stayed at $75 for the two years she owned it.  We were unable to find anything substantial about her.

By 1904, the value had increased to $150 and  Cora M. Graves purchased it and built a house on it (see 1907 Sanborn map) valued at $400.  In 1906, Mabel Menefee bought the property which had increased in value to $350.  The address of Lot 17 became 217 E. Lime Avenue.    The 1913 Sanborn map shows an additional small dwelling  with an address of 217 1/2.  This structure may have been torn down as  there is a building permit, dated 1949, issued to Miss Menefee for a  residence at the 217 1/2 address.

The 1927 Sanborn map shows a substantial dwelling at the back of Lot 17.  It also shows the neignborhood before the houses on most of the other lots were torn down to be replaced by a parking lot.  The rest of the  parking area is made up of Lots 18, 19, and 20.  The houses on these lots were  also town down.

As far as tenants who lived at 2117 E. Lime Avenue,  the 1908-1909 Monrovia Directory  lists C. Frank Jackson, a lineman for the Monrovia Telephone and  Telegraph Company, as renting 217 E. Lime.  The 1911 Monrovia  Directory lists Mabel C. Menefee as living at 217 E. Lime.  Later  directories list her as an office nurse, working for Dr. J.K. Sewell.   Ms. Menefee may have rented out a room of her house, a not uncommon  practice, as the 1916-1917 directory lists Anna J. Sewright living at  the address but only one for year.

In the 1926-27 directory, a Miss Estelle M. Nelson, a clerk McBratney's is listed as living at this address.  Mabel Menefee may have moved to the back house, but she lived on Lot 17 until the end of her life in 1950.

The residence zone for Lot 17 was  changed in 1960, as the first step in tearing down the house.   In 1962, a Planning Commission Architectural review states that  Lot 17 was 50 x 160 feet.  It did not conform to building code or zoning  ordinances,  and was at least 50 years old, as if age were some kind of  crime.  The house was razed and it and the most of the other lots became a parking lot.

Because there are no pictures of this dwelling, the exact  architectural style is not known.  But because a dwelling appears on the  1907 Sanborn map, it might be surmised that the house's architecture  was similar to those on the rest of block which appear at the same time  and are still standing. 

That would it an early Craftsman with Victorian  elements.

The first owners of this lot were Lewis Beer and Josiah H. Gray.  The value in 1888 was $300 and drops by half the next year.  From 1890 to 1895, the property was owned by Josiah Holcomb Gray, and, after his death in 1892, by his wife, Anna.  No owner is listed for 1896 and 1897, and Anna Grey had moved to Arizona where other Gray family members had settled.  None of the owners made any improvements on the lot.

By 1903, the property was in the ownership of Lizzie H. Anderson, widow of Charles S. Anderson, who also owned Lots 16, 17, & 18.  A dwelling is listed in the tax record of 1904 as being valued at $600.  Lizzie Anderson most likely built the dwelling as rental property as tax records show her as the owner until 1916, but city directories list other people as living there.

The structure first appears on the 1907 Sanborn map as a simple rectangle with a porch overhang running the width of the front of the house.  In the back are two lean-to type add ons, one with a door opening into it from the house.  This was most likely the bathroom.  The other was most likely a utility porch typical of houses at that time.  The 1927 Sanborn configuration is exactly the same except for a garage added at the back of the property next to the alley.  Other than the 1911 permit for the sewer hookup, there is only one other permit issued and that was in 1919 for an addition valued at $800.  This may refer to the garage as the Sanborn maps show no additions from 1907 to 1927.

Though no pictures exist of the house, it was most likely of wood frame construction.  It had medium width ship-lap siding. According to Steve Baker, Monrovia City Historian, the house was very simple with some Craftsman-type detail.  Elizabeth Anderson, a widow, who lived next door with her son, though comfortable, would not have built anything more elaborate for a rental that she didn’t plan on living in. 

The city directory for 1908-1909 lists Otis G. Smith, a salesman, his wife and daughter as living at 211 E. Lime Avenue.  In 1911, Wallace E. Hicks, a clerk for J.A. Fraulob & Co., rented the property.  The directory for 1913-1914 records George Conley, an employee for city waste, as living in the dwelling.

Sometime before 1919, Elizabeth Anderson sold the house to Thomas Quigley, a linotype operator for the Monrovia Daily News, and his wife Ada.   Quigley worked as a linotype operator for over 20 years, and as the Monrovia Daily News was only one block away at 115 E. Lime Avenue, it was obviously very convenient for him.  However, he still had a car;  the 1927 Sanborn map shows a garage at back of his property. 

The 1930 census records the value of the house at $5,000.

His wife gave piano lessons in the house. It is unclear when Ada Quigley died, but the last voter registration that she appears in is 1936.  Voter registration records show that Thomas Quigley continued living in the house until 1946.  After that, he returned to Michigan and died in 1949.

The city directory of 1953-1954 shows the Camp family living in the house.  Steve Baker’s family was acquainted with the Camps, so Steve was able to tell me that the they were renting the house until they moved into a house they had purchased on May Avenue.

No one is listed in the city directory for the address for 1955, so the house may have been demolished shortly thereafter.

There is a permit dated November 8, 1967, giving the owner of the property as the General Telephone Company.  The permit is for the demolition of a single family dwelling.  Another permit, dated 1968, is for a lawn sprinkler system and the owner still listed as General Telephone Company for a lawn sprinkler system. 

The property eventually came under the ownership of the church that owned Lots 13 & 14, and is now used as a parking lot for the church.