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Heritage Square
Museum
3800 Homer Street
Los Angeles, California 90031
Tel.
323-225-2700
Where History Comes Alive!
The Hale House
was built in 1887 by George W. Morgan, a land speculator and real estate
developer, at the
foot of Mount Washington just a few blocks from the museum in Highland Park.
From the time of its construction, the house was sold many times and was moved from 4501 to 4425 North Pasadena
Avenue (now Figueroa Street) before being purchased by James G. Hale in
1906.
James Hale, a motorman for the railroad, met Beret ‘Bessie’ Hovelsrud when she worked as a waitress in the Pio Pico House downtown. Dealing in real estate, Bessie mortgaged the Hale House several times in order to purchase other properties. Bessie and James Hale separated a few years after purchasing the house. However, Bessie retained title to the house, living in and using it as a boarding home until the mid 1960s. James Hale died on August 15, 1921 at about age 51. Bessie Hale died in a rest home in 1967 and left the house to her niece, Mrs. Odeana Johnson, who donated the structure to the Cultural Heritage Foundation of Southern California in 1970.
The
building is an outstanding example of Queen Anne and Eastlake styles. 
The exterior colors of Hale House
were reproduced from chips of the original colors found on the house during
restoration. The
interior has been restored to represent the rooms as they may have appeared in
1899. In the front parlor visitors may see an oriental door bracket
purchased by the Hales. Lighting fixtures throughout the house are equipped to
use both gas and electricity. The wainscoting downstairs, called Lincrusta,
is original to the house and made of a pressed paper mixture processed to look
like embossed leather. The
Eastlake-style dining table and chairs belonged to the Hale family. The modern
looking ceiling paper in the dining room is, in fact, a reproduction of the
original paper.