Architecture

#187: Aloha Apartments (Hollywood)

#187: Aloha Apartments (Hollywood)

January 8, 2024
Architecture
The Aloha Apartments were built in 1928 as a hybrid apartment building/hotel. There were a few starlets that lived here, but most of the Aloha’s tenants were middle-class professionals. It's a great example of how the housing market was changing to meet the needs of all the different kinds of people flowing into Hollywood during the 1920s and ‘30s.
Read More
#186: Rose Bowl (Pasadena)

#186: Rose Bowl (Pasadena)

December 31, 2023
Architecture
For over a century, the Rose Bowl in Pasadenahas played host to some of college football's most-watched games (plus: the world's biggest flea market!). And while it's earned its place in sports lore many times over, the Rose Bowl also has a fascinating, evolving history as a work of architecture.
Read More
#185: Holmes-Shannon House (Victoria Park)

#185: Holmes-Shannon House (Victoria Park)

December 24, 2023
Architecture
Embodied in this opulent craftsman home are the history of the Victoria Park neighborhood, the legacy of the eminent architects Train & Williams, and the fascinating backgrounds of financier Nellie Shannon, her husband Michael (the first traffic cop in LA) and their son Michael Francis, who once served as Grand Exalted Ruler of the Elks.
Read More
#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

December 6, 2023
Architecture
The well-preserved Victorian house at 1360 Lida Street is one of the few 19th century remnants in Linda Vista, Pasadena's wealthiest neighborhood. It was built in 1888 at a critical juncture for the neighborhood, as it was transforming from sleepy rural farmland to an exclusive bedroom community of entrepreneurs and working professionals.
Read More
#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

November 15, 2023
Architecture
Bowen Court (1911), designed by Arthur & Alfred Heineman, is the oldest bungalow court in Pasadena still standing in its original location. It's also the quintessence of the style: 23 craftsman cottages, each one with its distinctive quirks, all centered around a wide walkway with nary a car in site.
Read More
#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

November 6, 2023
Architecture
Built in 1936, the San Pedro Post Office merges New Deal-era "starved classical" style with art deco quirks. While the architecture and Fletcher Martin mural are the draw here, the original glass-top writing desks are plenty charming, too. PLUS: a surprise postal museum downstairs!
Read More
#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

October 16, 2023
Architecture
Wilton Historic District comprises 63 well-maintained homes, mostly craftsman & colonial revival, built between 1907 and 1925. The neighborhood's unique, due to the weird-ass layout of the streets and unorthodox siting of many of the homes, and how magnificently it's held up over the past century.
Read More
#167: Golden Gate Theater (East LA)

#167: Golden Gate Theater (East LA)

August 11, 2023
Architecture
The Golden Gate Theater has had a hell of a life. For 65 years, this grand movie palace entertained East LA. But after the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 forced the demolition of the buildings that surrounded it since 1927, the Golden Gate was left unused for a quarter century, awaiting an uncertain fate. A fierce preservation battle ensued, which ultimately led to its restoration and reuse as a CVS. The story of this place is almost as wild as its Churrigueresque architecture.
Read More