Los Angeles’ Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously voted Thursday for one of the San Fernando Valley’s oldest Black-owned barber shops to become a historic-cultural monument.
The Carter family has been doling out fresh cuts at StylesVille Barber Shop and Beauty Salon in Pacoima since 1957. Greg Faucett is the shop’s current lead barber and manager, working for his grandmother, Ollie Carter, who owns the shop.
Carter turned 93 years old recently, and it was Faucett’s dream to get historical protection for the shop as a gift before she dies.
Their location is part of an old corridor of Black-owned businesses along Van Nuys Boulevard, which grew as Black families flocked to Pacoima after World War II due to discriminatory housing practices elsewhere.
How StylesVille began
I visited the shop recently to meet Faucett and learn more about the family’s history. The Olympics was on in the background as he finished lining up customer Julian Leon’s beard. He looked impressed and complimented his skill as Faucett held up a mirror to show off the new look.
Faucett, who’s worked there since 1998, prides himself on being there for his community. He grew up in the shop and is even friends with his mail carrier, who came in and snagged a free soda out of an ice chest that Faucett keeps for customers and their kids. He says he’s always taken an interest in who sits in his chair, beyond the haircut.
“I'm more or less a therapist with a haircut,” Faucett said. “Just the thought of me helping a person, that I can help in a better perspective than what he was, or she was, I'm cool with that. That's my biggest tip.”
The location he works at is the second iteration of StylesVille. The shop started across the street in 1957. It was Faucett’s grandparents, Fred and Ollie Carter, who decided to take over a restaurant and bar space 20 years later. Fred was on good terms with the original owner, who was looking to sell the building.
Intrigued, Faucett’s grandparents went home and talked numbers. While they ate dinner, they took turns writing down dollar amounts with a pencil and paper.
“My grandmother slid it to my grandfather,” Faucett said. “He looked at it and went ‘Nah. Go.’”
They went back and forth a few times, but his grandparents eventually agreed on the amount to offer. The two went back to the bar before finishing dinner and pushed the paper across the counter to the owner. They met up again a few days later.
“He looked at my grandfather and said, ‘when you want your keys?’ And the deal was that,” Faucett recalled.
The shop opened there on Ollie’s birthday on June 28, 1977. It was back when men and women’s haircutting services had to be offered separately, so there are two sides to the shop, the salon and barber areas. There’s still a bar counter inside toward the back — a remnant of that older business.
“If you're the right customer at the right time,” Faucett said, “I will brandish you with a shot or two.”
Faucett has plans in place to keep the shop in the family after he retires.
The campaign for historic status
Faucett has been asking customers for a while how to get historic status on the building. He gives credit to them for helping get StylesVille this far in the nomination process.
It also comes as the city has been looking for more ways to recognize Black history.
The building was officially nominated as part of a batch of locations recommended by the African American Historic Places L.A. project. As of 2023, only about 4% of locally designated landmarks were related to African American history.
The project identified four sites that were selected by a 15-member advisory committee, including Tom and Ethel Bradley’s home in Leimert Park and Jewel’s Catch One in Arlington Heights, which was an old Black disco that welcomed gay men.
Most of the locations have already been approved.
What’s next
Now that StylesVille has passed the Cultural Heritage Commission, it will next go before the City Council for a vote. A date should be selected soon.
Once the process is done, Faucett hopes to host a block party to celebrate with the Pacoima community.
The last remaining site in the recommended group, Jewel's Catch One, is scheduled to go before the Cultural Heritage Commission on Sept. 19.
