The residence is recognized as a distinguished example of the American Colonial Revival style and was constructed by Wince V. King, a prominent African American general contractor
The Santa Monica Landmarks Commission has officially designated the Tucker House as a city landmark, citing its architectural significance and the contributions of its former residents to the local African American community.
Located at 1958 20th Street, the home was designed in 1937 by renowned architect Paul Revere Williams, the first Black member of the American Institute of Architects. The residence is recognized as a distinguished example of the American Colonial Revival style and was constructed by Wince V. King, a prominent African American general contractor.
The home was owned by Dr. Marcus O. Tucker Sr., Santa Monica’s first Black physician. After completing his medical education at Meharry Medical College in Tennessee, Tucker moved to Santa Monica in 1931, opening a practice on Pico Boulevard before building his own medical office nearby in 1940. He was a staff physician at Santa Monica, Culver City, and St. John’s Hospitals until his death in 1944.
His wife, Essie McLendon Tucker, was an educator, businesswoman, and real estate developer. She taught in Los Angeles while managing the family’s property holdings, including two apartment buildings on 20th Street and Virginia Avenue. As president of the NAACP Santa Monica-Venice branch in the 1940s, she worked to secure housing for Black UCLA students and was later honored with an invitation to Nigeria’s independence celebrations in 1960.
Their son, Marcus O. Tucker Jr., pursued a legal career, becoming Santa Monica’s first Black deputy city attorney from 1963 to 1965 and later serving as the first Black judge on the Long Beach Municipal Court in 1976. His wife, Indira Hale Tucker, was a community activist and historian who co-founded the African-American Heritage Society in Long Beach and helped establish the Marcus O. Tucker Jr. Collection at Santa Monica’s Main Library.
