Physical Description: Bifolum with a combination of printed and handwritten text on 16" x 12.5" blue paper, folded in half, containing two official
seals, including a seal and signature for G. T. Burrill, notary public in the city of Los Angeles and the city's first sheriff.
Some creasing from prior folds and light wear.
Biographical / Historical
Ramon Alexander, whose purchase of the land is documented by this indenture, spent tens of thousands of dollars building a
cylindrical house similar to those he had seen during his travels in Africa. His house was constructed of adobe bricks with
a shingled roof that made a skirt about 10 feet wide around the house to protect the bricks from the elements. Soon after
its construction, Alexander sold the house and property to George Lehman, a German baker who reconfigured the adobe into "The
Garden of Paradise," a popular biergarten where he sold beer and pretzels and hosted Sunday evening concerts. He clad the
building with wood siding, planted an elaborate garden, and erected statues. The Garden flourished for 20 years before falling
on hard times. In the fall of 1877, Lehman rented the house to Caroline Severance, abolitionist, suffragist, and feminist,
who opened Los Angeles' first kindergarten and a teacher training school. The California Model Kindergarten and the Pacific
Model Training School for Kindergartners closed by 1880, graduating only three teachers. One was Kate Douglas Smith, better
known as Kate Douglas Wiggin, the author of
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. The round house was later used for lodging until it was torn down in 1889. The property is now the site of the California
courts, in what is known as the Ronald Reagan State Building.
Scope and Contents
A property indenture steeped in the early history of Los Angeles, dated August 16, 1854, concerning the sale of land in what
is now downtown Los Angeles where a historic round house was built, which turned into a popular German beer garden and later
the city's first kindergarten.
This real estate document includes a description of the property and is signed on the verso by Ramon Alexander, a French sailor
who married Maria Valdez, the daughter of Basilio Valdez, a well-connected Californio. Alexander paid $2,500 for the land,
bounded by what is now Main, Spring, Third, and Fourth streets. J. S. Mallard had owned the land prior to Alexander. The property
indenture is witnessed and signed by John G. Nichols. The Mallard and Nichols families were among the first three families
to permanently settle in Los Angeles after it was given official city status and incorporated.
Accompanying the property indenture is a newspaper clipping with an article titled "A Garden Spot in Dusty Old L.A." by Cecilia
Rasmussen, published in the
Los Angeles Times on May 12, 1997. The article features a photograph of the round house on the property -- taken before the house was torn
down in the 1880s.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Johnson Rare Books & Archives, May 8, 2024.
Processing Information
The descriptive notes for this material were adapted from the seller, Johnson Rare Books & Archives, along with the article
included with the indenture: "A Garden Spot in Dusty Old L.A." by Cecilia Rasmussen, published in the
Los Angeles Times on May 12, 1997.