Architecture

#185: Holmes-Shannon House (Victoria Park)

#185: Holmes-Shannon House (Victoria Park)

December 24, 2023

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.

#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

December 6, 2023

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.

#181: Malaga Cove Plaza (Palos Verdes)

#181: Malaga Cove Plaza (Palos Verdes)

November 22, 2023

Malaga Cove Plaza was the first commercial center built in the first subdivision of Palos Verdes. Though its buildings span decades and architects, it all hangs together thanks to a uniform Mediterranean vibe.

#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

November 15, 2023

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.

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

November 6, 2023

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!

#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

October 16, 2023

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.

#171: Richard Neutra’s Jardinette Apartments (East Hollywood)

#171: Richard Neutra’s Jardinette Apartments (East Hollywood)

September 8, 2023

Though they're looking pretty ragged today, the Jardinette Apartments from 1928 marked the first solo commission for Austrian-American modern architect Richard Neutra, and one of the very earliest American works in the influential "international style."

#170: San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building (San Pedro)

#170: San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building (San Pedro)

August 31, 2023

From 1942-1963, this quirky streamline moderne building was the departure point for workers and sailors heading to Terminal Island's shipyards, canneries and Naval bases. It now houses the largest maritime museum on the west coast.

#168: Samuel Merrill House (Greene & Greene – Pasadena)

#168: Samuel Merrill House (Greene & Greene – Pasadena)

August 16, 2023

The one-story Samuel Merrill House in Pasadena is one of the coziest homes by Greene & Greene, undisputed masters of craftsman architecture. The client was a rancher-turned-law-clerk-turned-conservationist who knew John Muir from his days in Indianapolis.

#167: Golden Gate Theater (East LA)

#167: Golden Gate Theater (East LA)

August 11, 2023

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.

#166: Miller & Herriott House (University Park)

#166: Miller & Herriott House (University Park)

August 3, 2023

The Miller & Herriott House is a primo Eastlake Victorian, built ca. 1890 as a model home for the North University Park neighborhood, near USC. As the oldest standing home in the Harper tract, it has a lot to teach us about how the area has developed over time.

#164: William Wrigley Summer Cottage / Mt. Ada (Avalon)

#164: William Wrigley Summer Cottage / Mt. Ada (Avalon)

July 20, 2023

Built in 1921, This was the summer home of the Wrigleys, the first family of chewing gum and developers of Catalina Island. The colonial revival-style mansion is now a high-end inn called Mt. Ada, named after the matriarch of the family.

#163: John Lautner – Harvey House (Hollywood Hills)

#163: John Lautner – Harvey House (Hollywood Hills)

July 16, 2023

John Lautner's Harvey House from 1950 represented the first time that this idiosyncratic architect could carry out his unique ideas about spatial geometry and texture with a sizable budget. In the late 1990s it was purchased by Kelly Lynch & Mitch Glazer, and lovingly restored by several of Lautner's most trusted collaborators.

#162: Second Church of Christ, Scientist (University Park)

#162: Second Church of Christ, Scientist (University Park)

July 10, 2023

This grand neoclassical edifice was designed by Alfred Rosenheim for the second Christian Science congregation in LA. Built in 1910, it was sold to the Art of Living Foundation in 2009.

#161: Wilshire Federal Building (Westwood)

#161: Wilshire Federal Building (Westwood)

July 4, 2023

The 1969 Wilshire Federal Building is a 17-story, late modernist office tower that houses some of the unsexiest branches of the American government. Compositionally, it's a pretty spectacular work by Charles Luckman Associates. It's also been the site of numerous major protests staged here over its 50+ year history.