A fire at the Santa Monica home long owned by the family of the late tennis player Gussy Moran was extinguished in about 15 minutes without affecting the structure, the Santa Monica Fire Department announced Wednesday.
Firefighters responded to the Victorian-style house at 1323 Ocean Ave. about 7 p.m. Tuesday, according to Battalion Chief Sean Van Sluis.
The fire spread from the exterior to the third floor of a newer office space on the property, and 27 firefighters extinguished the fire, Van Sluis and Battalion Chief Dan Caldwell said.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The structure was built in 1887, according to Van Sluis, while a 2013 obituary of Moran in the Los Angeles Times said it was built in 1870 by her grandfather.
Moran is best remembered for wearing a short skirt and lace panties in a first-round singles loss at Wimbledon in 1949. She won the women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles titles at the U.S. Indoor Championships earlier in 1949.
Moran’s best Grand Slam singles performance was advancing to the semifinals of the U.S. National Championships (now the U.S. Open) in 1948, losing to eventual champion Margaret Osborne duPont, 10-8, 6-4.
Moran was later a television sportscaster in Los Angeles and New York City.
Moran was evicted from her family home in 1986, after battling tax liens and turning down an offer of $1 million for it, The Times reported in her obituary.
Moran died in 2013 at age 89.
>> Want to read more stories like this? Get our Free Daily Newsletters Here!