The house that Charles Lummis built will resound on Sunday, Dec. 11, with a “Noise”–as he called the festive soirees he regularly hosted at his home more than a century ago. The occasion this time is a fundraiser for organizations that are rallying to save the historic site from the limbo in which it has been stuck for the last several years since the state declined to renew a lease with the Southern 
California Historical Society, its occupant and caretaker since the 1960s. The stumbling block is the question of who should pay the steep costs of maintaining the stone structure, built by Lummis himself and teams of helpers over a period of time from the 1890s into the 1910s and named by him El Alisal.
One potential savior is nearby Occidental College’s Institute for the Study of Los Angeles, one of the sponsors of the “Holiday Noise.” The other sponsors include the Highland Park Heritage Trust, which rented the home for the occasion, and the Lummis Day Community Foundation.
As a Highland Park Heritage Trust notice about the event explained, “Themed in the manner in which Charles Lummis enjoyed the visits of people of all walks of life and talents, this ‘open house’ emphasizes our collective responsibility to this historic landmark gathering place in our community.”
The Holiday Noise, which is open to the public free of charge, will be held at the Lummis Home, 200 E. Avenue 43, Los Angeles, 90031, on Sunday, December 11, 2016, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
