The Threat
Currently, there are two types of threats to the landscape:
Threats related to design, plant management or growth.
The Baldwin Hills Village/Village Green landscape design is fairly well documented. The Village Green Owners Association holds Barlow's original landscape architectural drawings in its archive, including a set dated 1942 and marked "as planted". However, the specifications binder in which all the trees and shrubs were numbered and keyed to plant lists has been lost. The Association has done its best to recreate the tree and plant lists from existing plantings and old photographs. In addition, as the site matured, many original trees have grown to the extent that their canopies (as well as the sun and shade conditions they produce) are very different from the original design intent. Some trees are suffering from old age, and some of the original plant choices were not appropriate to Southern California . The Association does not yet have a systematic vegetation management plan to deal with the long-term evolution and management of the landscape including a new interest in environmentally appropriate plantings. The 1966 Winans landscape plan made significant changes to the Barlow plan. This, coupled with random planting, has resulted in many additional species and plantings.
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Threats related to decision-making in the context of a condominium association. Village Green is a 629-member condominium association, which makes a Cultural Landscape Report particularly important. Decision-making is a challenging process, and consensus is elusive. Trees and plants develop constituencies of people who are simply fond of them. For a time, a memorial tree program was carried out resulting in very personal choices for new tree species and locations. Homeowners with a love of trees may support these plantings even though these plants do not contribute to the original design. An additional problem is that Village Green is a privately owned National Historic Landmark. Thus it is necessary to navigate a fine line between projects that provide a public benefit in preserving a Landmark and a private benefit in increasing value for owners. Ultimately, however, it is the designed landscape that is both the most significant element of the site and the element that contributes the most to the value of individual units.
In sum, Baldwin Hills Village is a great American designed landscape. Without a CLR – and the management plan that would derive from this – the conditions and problems if faces cannot be addressed in a systematic and consistent manner.
