Neighborhood Spotlight: Bell Gardens has modest home prices but is rich in California history

"Like the rest of the Gateway Cities, Bell Gardens was once part of the vast landholdings of Don Antonio Lugo, who in 1810 received a big swath of ranch land from the king of Spain in recognition of his military service. The Californio built a sprawling network of adobe buildings to house his extended family, including a main residence that also functioned as the headquarters of his ranching empire."

"That house was eventually passed along to Henry Gage, a lawyer from Michigan who had come to California, when he married Lugo's great-granddaughter in 1880. Gage would go on to become Los Angeles city attorney and, at the turn of the century, serve a term as California governor."

"The building boom that followed World War II led to the suburbanization of Bell Gardens, which incorporated as a city in 1961. New homes filled the fields. Surrounding the adobe mansion, which holds the title of the oldest residence in Los Angeles County, a mobile home park sprang up. In 1983, the residents of that mobile home park formed a co-op to buy the mansion, and they secured landmark status for the structure."

Bell Gardens originated as part of Don Antonio Lugo's vast rancho, granted by the Spanish king in 1810. Lugo constructed adobe buildings including a main residence serving as his ranching headquarters. The property passed to Henry Gage through marriage to Lugo's great-granddaughter in 1880. Gage became Los Angeles city attorney and California governor before returning to practice law after a failed reelection bid. Following his 1924 death, the adobe remained with the Lugo-Gage family on remaining rancho acres surrounded by orchards and vegetable fields managed by Japanese families. Bell incorporated as a city in 1927, while the farming settlement remained rural until post-WWII suburbanization. Bell Gardens incorporated in 1961 as development transformed agricultural land into residential neighborhoods. Mobile home park residents formed a co-op to purchase the historic adobe mansion in 1983, securing landmark status for Los Angeles County's oldest residence.

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