Louvenia Jenkins, one of the first Black female homeowners in Pacific Palisades, has spent a lifetime defying the odds.
At 96, she is facing yet another challenge—rebuilding her life after a fire destroyed her beloved home of 57 years.
Jenkins’ journey began in the mid-1960s when she sought to buy a home in the exclusive, predominantly white enclave of Pacific Palisades. As a single Black woman, obtaining a mortgage was a formidable challenge, as banks often refused to lend to women without a male co-signer.
Nevertheless, in 1967, she secured a three-bedroom house on Muskingum Avenue for $47,000, breaking barriers in a neighborhood shaped by racially restrictive covenants and high housing costs that kept it largely white.
On Jan. 7, 2024, her home was reduced to rubble by the Palisades fire, the same day the Eaton fire destroyed a historic Black enclave in Altadena. The fire took nearly everything—her white Mercedes, her tennis trophies, even the upright piano she bought after moving to California. The only things left standing were the brick chimney and a few ceramic cups.
Despite the devastating loss, Jenkins remains resilient.
“Life has been beautiful,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “And this is not the end of the line.”
Born in East St. Louis, Illinois, in 1928, Jenkins was raised by her mother, Ruby, a woman she deeply admired for her resilience and sacrifices.
Determined to further her education, Jenkins and her mother moved to California in the late 1940s, where she enrolled at Santa Monica College before earning degrees from Cal State L.A. and USC.
Jenkins went on to become a teacher and administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, teaching in Japan and earning a Fulbright grant to instruct students in Indonesia. She also founded a scholarship through the United Negro College Fund, supporting dozens of Black college students.
Her 1967 home purchase in Pacific Palisades was groundbreaking. The area had been shaped by Methodists who upheld restrictive racial housing policies well into the 20th century. Even after such policies were outlawed, Black homeowners remained rare. In 2023, census data showed that Pacific Palisades remained 81% white, with only 0.7% of residents identifying as Black.
Though Jenkins encountered discrimination—including a neighbor who refused to sell to her—she persevered with the support of the Fair Housing Council. A member of the council ultimately sold her the home that became her sanctuary for over five decades.
Her home, once filled with artifacts from her travels to Ghana, the Swiss Alps, and Paris, was also a community hub. She hosted Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings, took daily walks to the bluffs until a car accident curtailed her routine, and served as a “grandparent reader” at the local library. That library, too, was lost in the fire.
Now, Jenkins has relocated to a senior living complex in Culver City, where she is adjusting to a new chapter in life. With the help of her caregiver, she is furnishing her apartment and continuing to inspire those around her. She has even acquired a new piano keyboard to replace the one she lost.
“I can’t say that this is home,” she admitted. “This probably would have been the next step, but I wasn’t ready to make that step. I liked my home.”
Still, Jenkins refuses to see herself as a victim. Instead, she imparts wisdom drawn from her life’s experiences:
“You give to the world the best you have, and it will come back to you. It may not come back to you from the person to whom you give it. But it will come back to you.”
Her only regret? Not grabbing a cherished photograph of her mother before fleeing the flames.
