Will the home of Billy's Gangplank become Echo Park's next historic landmark?

The city's Cultural Heritage Commission voted today to consider declaring the home of art dealer Billy Shire a historic cultural landmark. Shire's hard to miss home -which he once described as having "a tiki-nautical thing going on" - is already an unofficial neighborhood landmark in the Elysian Heights section of Echo Park. The front of the attention getting home is entered through a front-porch structure, dubbed "Billy's Gangplank," that was created and built by his brother and neighbor, sculptor Peter Shire. The Shires consider Billy's Gangplank a work of art but city inspectors have expressed a different view on the matter.

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The city's Building & Safety Department has viewed the porch as an illegally permitted structure, according to a story The Eastsider published in March. In addition to Billy Shire's home on Vista Gordo, the Cultural Heritage Commission also agreed to consider a landmark nomination for the mid-century home designed by their father, Henry Shire, on nearby Princeton Street.

The commission also agreed to review an monument application for a third Echo Park area home (this one, however, was not connected by the Shires) on Mayberry Street.