In Part Nine in an ongoing series, The Beach Reporter explores the history of three houses, two located on walk streets and one on a very quiet part of a street that most people know as an alley.

Most likely built in 1910, Teresa and Joseph Hermosillo purchased 209 31st St. in the early 1980s, which is located on a walk street.

According to historian Patricia Gazin’s book, “Castles on the Sand,” the house’s design could pass for a Greene and Greene style, two architects who were brothers and constructed the famed Gamble house in Pasadena for Ohio residents David and Mary Gamble as a retirement residence.

David Gamble was the heir to the Procter and Gamble Company, and retired from work in 1895.

“Note the exposed beams, wide angles, openness,” writes Gazin. “The deeply recessed porch bears a miniature resemblance to the Gamble house of Pasadena.”

The Hermosillos both graduated from Notre Dame’s school of law and worked in Washington, D.C., for several years. They eventually migrated to Hermosa Beach after having their daughter. The Hermosillos rented for a short period and eventually bought the walk street house with an ocean view stretching from Catalina Island to Malibu.

Teresa, originally from Washington state, and Joe, a California native, returned to the West Coast to raise their family.

“I knew I wanted an older house, after living on the East Coast for a while, and we knew we eventually wanted to come back to the West Coast to raise a family,” said Teresa. “I really grew to appreciate the styles of the homes back east and I wanted something similar here in Hermosa Beach.”

They added the second story in 1985, shortly after their son was born, and built the top story consistent in style with the original architecture.

“We love the character of the house and so we wanted to match that with the second story,” said Teresa. “It’s nice when people walk down our street, see me working in the yard, ask about the house and are surprised that we added the second story. It makes me feel good that we remained true to the character of the house.”

The three-bedroom house includes a dining and living room, a study, a media room, kitchen and original fireplace. The Hermosillos also built additional parking spaces, which now accommodate three cars.

“I think my favorite characteristic is the porch. It’s so pleasant out there and one of the main features of the house is its beautiful broad beams. I just love that aspect of the house,” said Teresa. “My husband particularly loves the view. It’s a hard one to beat.”

Isabel Rodriguez purchased 218 28th St. 18 years ago shortly after her daughter was accepted into a French private school in Redondo Beach.

“The way I ended up in Hermosa Beach was that I decided I would move to a city close enough to the first private school that sent a letter of acceptance to my daughter,” said Rodriguez. “Prior to buying my house, I leased in Hermosa Beach and I was looking for something that would be spacious enough to fit my baby grand piano. I found this house. It has so much old charm.”

Rodriguez converted the front portion of the house into a library with bookcases that stretch from the ceiling to the floor. It’s also the place where her piano now sits. Rodriguez believes this area was once a front porch that was later enclosed. The house also comes with a living and dining room, an indoor Jacuzzi at the back of the house, an exercise room and a bathroom. The top floor consists of three bedrooms. The master bedroom comes with a fireplace and is believed to be an add-on. Depending on her mood and the day, Rodriguez’s favorite part of the house varies.

“I love my bedroom, my courtyard and my garden that becomes an English garden of sorts in the summer and spring,” she said. “But I also love curling up in the library to read a book or spending time in my kitchen cooking. On Sundays, I love reading the newspaper in bed with a fire going, watching the sail boats float by from my window that has a great ocean view.”

John and Corrine Heyning moved into 2010 Bayview Drive in 2000. They are the second owners of the house and bought it from the original owners, Sophia and Lawrence Jones. The Heynings’ neighbors, who have lived in the same house for more than 30 years, believe Sophia was somehow related to the Sepulveda family.

The house was most likely built around 1916 even though, according to Gazin, the city has no earlier records of the house.

“This house does not exist,” writes Gazin. “Despite the evidence of your senses, it officially has no claim to being. There are no records pertaining to it to be found in the City Hall.”

The two-bedroom, one-bathroom house comes with its own sun porch, which was enclosed in 1923. The house still maintains all of its original sconces and was sold to the Heynings as a tear-down. The living room comes with a hutch with a double glass mirror. The kitchen is equipped with what many have dubbed as a California cooler in its pantry. The cooler is a vertical tunnel running from the bottom of the house to the top, sucks out all of the hot air and keeps vegetables, bread and wine chilled.

The Heynings recently put a new roof on the house after removing three previous ones and restored all of its original glass windows.

“It’s not exactly a Craftsman house, it’s more of an English cottage with its wide crown molding and the living room has a pop-up ceiling,” said Corrine. “It seems like it could have been a summer home for a wealthy family. It’s a really spacious house for being only two bedrooms. I really love the living room with its curved bay window. It’s so nice to sit there.”

The Heynings have lived in Hermosa Beach since 1993 and John is a curator for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. He is the head for all research at the museum and oversees its research collections. He earned his Ph.D. in biology from UCLA in 1986.

The Heyning home’s fireplace is built out of old blue tiles that sit underneath its brick exterior. The bookcases in the living room are constructed out of fir wood and then painted to make it look like walnut. The house still maintains its original glass knobs on various bookcases and dining room cabinets, and there are two sets of French doors along with a swing door that separate the various rooms in the house.

“The glass is heavy and it feels like someone put a lot of work into building this home,” said Corrine.