"The Little House That Built Me"

House on Vanowen with 'For Sale' sign (c. 1981).

Miranda Lambert’s song “The House That Built Me” got me thinking about the little house I grew up in –  a cute little duplex about 20 ft x 25 ft @ 13515 Vanowen Street in Van Nuys, CA.  Could it have taught me anything?

Affordable Housing

The owners of ‘our’ little house were 'The Gooch’s'. Mr. Gooch visited every few years to paint and every year we received a Christmas card (my parents still do. The Gooch’s are in their late 90s now).  The Gooch’s kept the rent very low and pretty much the same rate through the 70s, 80s and part of the 90s.

Land Use 

My dad did most of the upkeep and we treated the house as if it were our own. Dad had a beautiful garden and spent hours nurturing front and side yards. There was a large Bosc tree and fruitful Myer lemon trees. Dad’s pride was a climbing ivy that wrapped around a wire fence he installed so we could play in the front yard. He swept the front sidewalk and took care of the ‘city’s’ little grass patch and crape myrtle. And when fence, city grass and crape myrtle were taken out by car accidents (several times in fact), Dad fixed it right up. Twice during my childhood, The Gooch’s tried to sell the land. I would secretly pray for a truck to move our home to another location – preferably one where I could have a pony.

Public Safety

Car accidents, sirens, helicopters and gunshots were not unusual sounds growing up. Friday nights seemed to be the worse  – at least that’s what I remember. Dukes of Hazards was on TV and my sister and I had to sit close to the set (on our tummies) to hear over the noise.

Public Transportation

The RTD bus ran regularly on Vanowen Street. To pass the time we would sometimes monitor the schedule – how was the driver doing? That bus also brought my beloved Nana – an avid bus rider who lived in San Diego until the mid 80s.

Eminent Domain

Never happened on our street. For years, the apartment owners dealt with regular police visits but yet continued to rent to drug dealers.

Local Small Businesses

When we ran out of milk we went to the corner liquor store. The Union 76 attendant helped fix our bike tires. The Winchell’s store changed hands several times. Adjacent to the 76 was a photography studio with a beautiful façade I always admired. I think it finally closed sometime in the late 80s.

Traffic engineering & Stop signs

The little house sat half way between Fulton Ave. and Woodman Ave. It was about half a mile stretch with no stop signs or lights. Our home was just west of Sunnyslope Ave. – the side street elementary kids took to get to school. There were no cross guards and for a long time no cross walks or signs – until there was a fatality.

Local Government

While you may read this and wonder why the heck my parents stayed there for so long – 34 years to be exact – I understand it better now with mixed emotions.

The neighborhood didn’t start that way. But the house became our home. We didn’t own it or the land but we loved it all the same. The affordable rent allowed my mom to stay home with us and my parents to invest in our education.  My three siblings and I attended preschool, private K-12 and went on to graduate from universities.

The neighborhood evolved. But within that gated yard and in that little house, my parents created a beautiful and loving environment. We had birthday parties and barbeques and adopted various pets. We had a swing set and in the summer a slip n slide. Yes, we watched a lot of TV but we also ate dinner as a family and discussed current events.

My parents are obviously amazing … they overcame and dealt with what the neighborhood offered.

We all have our story of that ‘thing’ that built us. For good or bad, it shapes us.

But of the things that little house did for me now is to help me understand - what I didn’t know then – how important and impactful local government policy and decisions are AND how it affects every aspect of neighborhood living. 

In 2004, the Gooch’s finally sold the land. The house was torn down. The new owner has yet to redevelop it.  -PC

Recent google map shot. Empty lot on Vanowen St.