#258: Higgins Building (Downtown)

#258: Higgins Building (Downtown)

June 2, 2025
Architecture
The 1910 Higgins Building pioneered the use of reinforced concrete in LA. Its occupants over the years included famed attorney Clarence Darrow, the socialist leader Job Harriman, General Petroleum Co. and the LA County Bureau of Engineering.
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#257: San Dimas Hotel / Walker House (San Dimas) 

#257: San Dimas Hotel / Walker House (San Dimas) 

May 20, 2025
Architecture
In its original incarnation as a hotel, this exuberant 30-room Queen Anne mansion never had a paying guest. But it would house six generations of the Walker family, pioneers of the San Dimas citrus industry. Its upper floor is now occupied by the San Dimas Historical Society, which helps to preserve all the history that happened here.
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#253: Edmund Blinn House (Pasadena)

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

#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.
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#251: Parkhurst Building (Santa Monica)

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

#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.
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