Architecture

#251: Parkhurst Building (Santa Monica)

#251: Parkhurst Building (Santa Monica)

March 13, 2025

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)

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

March 4, 2025

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)

#249: Long Beach Professional Building (Long Beach)

February 12, 2025

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)

#248: Episcopal Church of the Ascension (Monrovia)

February 1, 2025

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)

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

January 26, 2025

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

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

January 12, 2025

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)

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

December 25, 2024

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.

#242: King Edward Hotel (Skid Row)

#242: King Edward Hotel (Skid Row)

December 8, 2024

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)

#241: Washington Irving Branch Library (West Adams)

November 26, 2024

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)

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

November 19, 2024

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...

#239: Judson Studios (Highland Park)

#239: Judson Studios (Highland Park)

November 9, 2024

In this quirky 1911 building, Judson Studios crafted the stained glass in most of your favorite old buildings in LA. And they're still at it.

#234-237: Whole Bunch o’ Bungalow Courts, pt. 5 (Pasadena)

#234-237: Whole Bunch o’ Bungalow Courts, pt. 5 (Pasadena)

October 7, 2024

These four bungalow courts officially complete my survey of the 30 Pasadena bungalow courts on the National Register of Historic Places. They’re great examples of how architects and developers played around with the bungalow court form, given the constraints of the lots that they were working with.

#233: Highland Park Masonic Temple

#233: Highland Park Masonic Temple

September 13, 2024

Built in 1923, this handsome brick and terracotta building witnessed 60 years of ritual and fraternity as the Highland Park Masonic Temple. Since 2017, it's housed the music venue the Lodge Room and an adjoining restaurant, Checker Hall. All the original Masonic symbols are still intact, and EVERYWHERE.

#231: Villa Carlotta (Altadena)

#231: Villa Carlotta (Altadena)

August 23, 2024

Villa Carlotta is a fine example of architect Myron Hunt's residential work, and one of Altadena's first homes designed for electricity from the get-go. It was built for Francis R. Welles, who oversaw European operations for Alexander Graham Bell's telephone company for over 30 years.

#224-229: Whole Bunch o’ Bungalow Courts, pt. 4 (Pasadena)

#224-229: Whole Bunch o’ Bungalow Courts, pt. 4 (Pasadena)

August 11, 2024

The bungalow court blossomed in Pasadena between 1910 & 1930. For part four of my tour of all 30 Pasadena courts on the National Register of Historic Places, we're focusing on six that are known only by their addresses. I call them: THE NAMELESS.