On Saturday, November 7, the firefighters of LAFD Station 97 are opening their station at 8021 Mulholland Drive for a free pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon. The Studio City Neighborhood Council calendar listing lists pancakes, sausage, coffee, exotic supercars, fire engines, raffles and a chance to meet the crew. Donations go toward a new carport and garage for the station.
That last detail fits the building. Station 97, completed in 1962, was built to look like a house. It is a single-story post-and-beam ranch with a low-sloped roof and a frontal gable, and it sits on Mulholland at the top of the canyon, above streets lined with homes of the same era and spirit. Raising money for a carport there is a little like a neighbor saving up for one.
The firehouse that was drawn as a ranch house
In 2017 the City of Los Angeles published a SurveyLA historic context statement on post-World War II fire stations, and Station 97 gets its own short passage. The City Planning report places the station "on the Studio City side of its boundary with Hollywood" and describes its design this way:
"This single-story station takes the form of the post-and-beam ranch house, with a low-sloped roof and frontal gable. It draws from Station 90, but adds the structural articulation typical of the Mid-Century Modernist home."
The architects were Prescott & Whalley, a firm based in Burbank that, according to the same report, designed several institutional buildings in that city. A Burbank firm gave a Mulholland firehouse the shape of a home, in a setting the report describes as single-family houses on large lots.
Anyone who lives in a Doña street midcentury will recognize the parts. Exposed structure, a roofline that stays low against the slope, and a gable facing the street are the same vocabulary that gives the neighborhood its look. The station fits in with the houses around it because it was built to.
One of two "mountain stations," and the other went another way
The report doesn't treat Station 97 as a one-off. It groups it with a second building and calls the pair the most exceptional of the city's second-wave stations, "in both their location and their design." Both sit along Mulholland Drive in what the report calls a rural residential setting of rugged land and single-family homes on large lots. Both were built for new fire companies created specifically to serve those districts, and both were finished in 1962 as "adaptations of residential Mid-Century Modernism to the functions of a firehouse."
Put the two side by side and it's clear how closely Station 97 sticks to the house idea.
| Station 97 | Station 99 | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 8021 Mulholland Drive | 14145 Mulholland Drive |
| Location noted in the report | Studio City side of the Hollywood boundary | Sherman Oaks side of the Brentwood boundary |
| Completed | 1962 | 1962 |
| Form | Single-story post-and-beam ranch house | Large two-story building, set back on a landscaped site |
| Material or feature called out | Low-sloped roof, frontal gable | Brick masonry; helicopter pad at completion |
Station 99 was built as a substantial civic building with room for a helicopter. Station 97 kept to one story and a gable roof, at a scale that would pass for a house on any hillside lot. Of the two new companies the city created for the Mulholland ridge, the one above Studio City got the more domestic building.
Today LAFD lists Station 97 in its Valley Bureau, still at the same address, 8021 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, CA 91604.
What the breakfast is raising money for
This is where the history meets the event. The listing asks for donations "to help fund a new carport and garage for the station." A carport is about as ranch-house as an addition gets. Six-plus decades after Prescott & Whalley drew the station as a home, the crew is fundraising for the same kind of improvement a neighbor down the hill might be pricing for their own post-and-beam.
The listing doesn't give a fundraising goal, a sponsor or a separate donation link, so plan to give in person on the day. It does lay out the morning clearly:
- When: Saturday, November 7, 9 a.m. to noon
- Where: Fire Station 97, 8021 Mulholland Drive, in the Laurel Canyon/Mulholland area above Studio City
- Cost: Free, with donations welcome
- On the menu: Pancakes, sausage and coffee
- Also there: Exotic supercars, fire engines, raffles and the firefighters themselves
The station sits right on Mulholland, and the listing doesn't mention a parking plan or shuttle. Parking will likely be tight, so if you live within walking distance on the Doña streets, walking up may be easier. Look at the neighborhood council's calendar entry the morning of the breakfast for any last-minute updates.
The rest of November, close to home
The breakfast falls on a busy stretch. Two days later comes a neighborhood talk that matters to anyone living along the canyon edges, and the Studio City Library on Moorpark has programs on either side of the breakfast.
- Wednesday, November 4, 4 to 5 p.m.: "Tongva: The First Peoples of Los Angeles," a program for children and teens led by teachers from the Autry Museum, at the Studio City Library.
- Saturday, November 7, 9 a.m. to noon: The Station 97 Pancake Breakfast on Mulholland.
- Saturday, November 7, 3 to 4 p.m.: "Ernie Pyle, War Correspondent" at the Studio City Library, if you want to make a day of it after breakfast.
- Sunday, November 8, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.: The Studio City Farmers Market on Ventura Place between Radford Avenue and Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which runs every Sunday.
- Monday, November 9, 6 to 8 p.m.: A "Living With Coyotes" presentation at the Studio City Library, which the neighborhood council describes as a discussion of coyote awareness, education, preservation and safety, with tips from experts on living safely alongside local wildlife.
- Saturday, November 14: A Public Star Party from 2 to 9:45 p.m. and a Sunset Walk & Talk from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at Griffith Observatory, a drive east along the hills.
- Friday, November 20, 7 p.m.: A TreePeople Moonlight Hike at Coldwater Canyon Park, with check-in around 6:30 p.m. TreePeople asks hikers to carpool because parking is limited.
The Studio City Branch Library is at 12511 Moorpark Street. From The Doñas, the coyote talk on the 9th is a quick trip down Laurel Canyon, and its subject is closer to home for the hillside streets than for most of the flats.
Seeing the building up close
You can drive past Station 97 on Mulholland for years without ever stopping. On November 7 the doors open, the engines are out front, and you can stand in front of a 1962 post-and-beam firehouse that the city's own historic survey singled out as exceptional. You'll see the low roof, the street-facing gable and the exposed structure the report calls "typical of the Mid-Century Modernist home," and you'll see them on a working station that is still in service. Any donation you make that morning goes toward the carport and garage.
If seeing Station 97 has you thinking about your own post-and-beam on a Doña street, and about how its original details and later changes affect what it's worth, Bryan Abrams has followed these hillside homes since moving to Studio City in 1994 and is glad to talk it through. Schedule a Studio City market consultation, and enjoy the pancakes on the 7th.
