Victor Rossetti's rapid rise through the ranks of the banking industry began as an office boy for Wells Fargo in San Francisco in his early 20’s. Within twenty years he was Vice President of Farmers and Merchants Bank in Los Angeles, the oldest financial institution in Southern California. Three years after he and his wife Irene moved into the Ponet Drive house, he became President of the bank, a position he held for the next twenty five years. Rossetti selected Paul R. Williams, one of the most important architects of the time to design his home in the Spanish Colonial Revival Style, embracing the California lifestyle and the region’s romantic past. Williams added coffered and stenciled ceilings, a dramatic two-story entryway with sweeping staircase, a library, intercom system and a wooden elevator connecting the garage to all levels of the house. Victor and Irene Rossetti lived at the house for the length of their marriage, until Irene died in 1947. After her death, Rossetti retired. , selling the house in 1950 and moved to San Marino., and the house was sold in 1950 when Rossetti retired and moved to San Marino, California. Except for earthquake retro-fitting, the addition of bathrooms, and updated heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems, the aesthetics of the house are little changed. Victor, Irene, and their two children would have little trouble feeling right at home again. The Victor Rossetti Residence is located at 2188 Ponet Drive in Los Feliz. Declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2008 (No. 915).
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