Jeremy Mansion, Los Angeles, 1907

This is a picture postcard of the Jeremy-Monnette Mansion that once stood at 951 South Western Avenue in Los Angeles.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the Jeremy property (above) covered a whole city block, 200 feet fronting on Western Avenue, between San Marion Place (260+ feet) and Manhattan Place (200 feet).

The house was sold by the Jeremy family in 1907 for $50,000 (about 1.5 million in 2010 greenbacks).  Mervin Monnette, a banker and miner, was the buyer and owned the house until 1918.  Monnette then sold it to Albert Bagnall, for $85,000.  A businessman who had spent a number of years living in Yokohama Japan,  Bagnall said in an LA Times story in 1918 that he was looking forward to living in the house during his retirement.    In the 1907 and 1918 transaction, the contents for the interior transferred both times.

The site of the "Handsome 14 room mission style house" comprised of eight city lots, and the land "provided a clear view of the Wilshire District and the mountains in the distance."  At somepoint after 1918 the house was razed and commercial buildings built on the site.  A street, Monnette Place runs through the property now.

Who were the Jeremy family, and why did they create this impressive pile.  What year was it razed?  And what would you put in that third floor tower room if it were your house?