"[5] Alvarado Terrace has the distinction of having six houses on a single block (all on the north side) designated as Historic-Cultural Monuments by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission.

Perfect sewer system, water, gas, electric lights..."[4] With the park and well-preserved homes, the district provides a complete historic neighborhood that has been featured in motion picture and television productions.

While the surrounding area has been described as "low-income and multicultural," the Los Angeles Times in 1991 described Alvarado Terrace as "a slice of L.A.'s genteel and moneyed past preserved.

Built in 1905, the house was designed by architect Charles E. Shattuck in a Craftsman style with Tudor influences, including a three-gabled dormer.

Designed by Arthur L. Haley, the home is built in the Mission Revival style, and has been described as "exuberant" and the "flashiest on the block" for its fanciful stucco curlicue.

[5] In the 1990s, the house was used as a restaurant known as Salisbury Manor, with dining downstairs and the upstairs consisting of restored bedrooms available for viewing by patrons.

[7] "What with the good decent food, a dose of history tempered with nostalgia, a seat in a shaft of afternoon sun and a cup of chamomile tea in my hand, I couldn't help but think there are far worse things in life than a meal on Alvarado Terrace.

"[7] The Tudor-style Raphael House at 1353 Alvarado Terrace (HCM #87), built in 1903, was designed by architects Sumner P. Hunt and Wesley A.

Hunt was also responsible for the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena, the Casa de Rosas in North University Park, the Automobile Club building at Figueroa and West Adams, and Ebell of Los Angeles.

[2] Over the Labor Day weekend in 1995, the owner stripped Raphael House of some of its finer accessories, including stained glass windows, wooden fireplaces, and even the plaques identifying its historical status.

The city's Department of Building and Safety stepped in and ordered the owner to return the fixtures or face fines and possible jail time.

"[2] The district also includes the former First Church of Christ, Scientist built in 1912 on an odd-shaped lot at the corner of Alvarado and Hoover streets.

The church was designed by architect Elmer Grey, who was also responsible for the Beverly Hills Hotel (1911), the Huntington Gallery and Library (1910), and the Pasadena Playhouse (1924–25).

The building's most notable features include its semi-circular porch with fluted columns, brick tower, rounded arches, and tiled roof.

"[10] After the mass suicide in Jonestown, the Times noted that the Peoples Temple had moved out of the "huge Italian Renaissance-style church" in 1977.

In 1983, the Alvarado Terrace area was submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior to be considered for designation as the city's third officially recognized historic district.