Foy House - Witmer Street

Witmer Street

In December 1919, the Foy family sold the property for a consideration reported to be approximately $600,000. At the time of the property's sale in 1919, the new owner announced its plan to start construction immediately of a six- or seven-story structure on the site at a cost of $450,000. Though there are varying accounts as to the date (either 1906, 1918, or 1920), the Foy House was moved to its second site on 631-633 South Witmer Street, just north of Wilshire Boulevard and across from Good Samaritan Hospital.

For more than 30 years from 1951 to at least 1981, the house served as the headquarters for Magma Power Co., one of the pioneering companies in the field of geothermal energy. In September 1962, the Foy House was designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM #8), only the eighth property to receive the designation. In 1974, Magma Power restored the house at a cost of $50,000, using the services of five-time Oscar-winning set designer, Keogh Gleason, for the interior renovation. In 1981, About 10 of Magma's employees worked at Foy House.

In the early 1980s, the house was donated to Good Samaritan Hospital by businessman Ben Weingart.