Etan Does LA

#255: Pegfair Estates Historic District (Pasadena)

April 21, 2025

The Pegfair Estates Historic District is a collection of 22 single-family homes in Pasadena's high-end Linda Vista neighborhood, all built in the contemporary ranch style from 1961-1967.

#254: Vermont Square Branch Library (South LA)

April 10, 2025

Architecture

South LA's Vermont Square Branch was a pioneer within the LA public library system: the first purpose-built library building owned by the City of LA, and the first of six funded by a $210,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie.

#253: Edmund Blinn House (Pasadena)

April 2, 2025

Architecture

The Blinn House has had a hell of a life: once the mansion of lumber magnate Edmund Blinn, it was the clubhouse for the Women's City Club of Pasadena for 75 years, and is now a beacon of preservation as the headquarters of Pasadena Heritage. It's also the only residence west of the Mississippi River designed by Prairie School architect George W. Maher.

#252: 20th Street Historic District (West Adams)

March 24, 2025

Architecture

The 20th Street Historic District comprises an uncommonly unified group of 10 intact (mostly) craftsman homes from the early 1900s. As delightful as the architecture is in this district, it's the stories of the families that lived here early on that make the history of this block come alive.

#251: Parkhurst Building (Santa Monica)

March 13, 2025

Architecture

Here's an elegant Spanish colonial revival confection in Santa Monica's Ocean Park neighborhood, used for retail and office space since it was built in 1927. It was named after its commissioner, former Venice mayor Clinton Parkhurst, and once housed a location of the famous Van de Kamp's Bakery.

#250: Queen Anne Cottage & Coach Barn (Arcadia)

March 4, 2025

Architecture

While these two whimsical Victorian confections don't quite "fit in" with the organic beauty of the LA County Arboretum, they're vital to the history of the San Gabriel Valley. Built around 1885, they were once the center of a vast ranch owned by Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, a landowner whose influence is still felt today.

#249: Long Beach Professional Building (Long Beach)

February 12, 2025

Architecture

The Long Beach Professional Building is an art deco high-rise, designed by William Douglas Lee during Long Beach's 1920s boom years. Originally it housed the offices of dozens of doctors and dentists. Now it's an assisted living facility.

#248: Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Monrovia)

February 1, 2025

Architecture

The Episcopal Church of the Ascension is Sierra Madre's oldest religious building. Its bells have welcomed the locals to prayer since 1888.

#246-247: Blair House & Brossart House (Monrovia)

January 26, 2025

Architecture

These two homes were built in 1887, part of a huge building boom during Monrovia's explosive first year. Their stories are reminders that historic preservation stretches across generations – and sometimes, it even requires a change of scenery or two.

National Register Landmarks We Lost (and Didn’t Lose) in the LA Fires

January 12, 2025

Architecture

It's been a tough week, LA. Here are the landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places that we lost in the Eaton Fire & Palisades Fires – and those that are still with us.

#245: Alvarado Terrace Historic District (Pico-Union)

December 25, 2024

Architecture

The Alvarado Terrace Historic District includes 12 well-preserved mansions built in the early 1900s, designed by prominent architects for some of LA's most prominent citizens. Plus a small park, and the shortest street in LA.

#243-244: Point Fermin Lighthouse & Historic District (San Pedro)

December 15, 2024

Commerce

Point Fermin Lighthouse has stood sentry over the San Pedro harbor since 1874. It’s the oldest standing lighthouse between San Diego & San Francisco, and still a beloved tourist destination, 80+ years after it last shone its beam out to sea.

#242: King Edward Hotel (Skid Row)

December 8, 2024

Architecture

The King Edward Hotel was one of four hotels designed by John Parkinson along a three-block stretch of 5th Street in the early decades of the 1900s. It's home to the infamous dive bar the King Eddy Saloon, and housed a subterranean speakeasy during Prohibition – still intact, a century later.

#241: Washington Irving Branch Library (West Adams)

November 26, 2024

Architecture

Designed by the firm of Allison & Allison, the Washington Irving Branch was one of a wave of libraries built in the 1920s to meet the needs of a growing LA. It's been vacant since the late 1990s, when the branch moved a few blocks westwards.

#240: E.A.K. Hackett House (Pico-Union)

November 19, 2024

Architecture

The E.A.K. Hackett House is an intact example of a "transitional craftsman" home, bridging the Victorian and craftsman eras of LA architecture. It once housed a prominent figure in LA's religious life. AND: there's a mysterious research conundrum about its provenance...