Architecture

#152: Commercial Club (Downtown)

#152: Commercial Club (Downtown)

May 20, 2023

The Commercial Club building was the headquarters of a short-lived social club from the 1920s and early '30s. It was designed by the venerable Curlett & Beelman, whose expertise in handsome high-rises helped define the downtown skyline. After a decade of disuse, it was transformed into the swanky Proper Hotel, while retaining many of its historic quirks.

#151: Casa de Rosas (University Park)

#151: Casa de Rosas (University Park)

May 10, 2023

Built in 1893, Casa de Rosas was the first project by architect Sumner Hunt, who's also credited with the Bradbury Building, the Automobile Club of Southern California and many other classics. It's also housed many important tenants over the years: the Froebel Institute, one of the first kindergartens in LA; a WWII army barracks, LA's first mission catering to women, even the headquarters of L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics Foundation.

#149: Killingsworth, Brady & Smith Office (Long Beach)

#149: Killingsworth, Brady & Smith Office (Long Beach)

April 25, 2023

Long Beach architect Edward Killingsworth honed the mid-century modern aesthetic into 3D poetry, creating sanctuaries out of right angles, high ceilings, open plans, expansive glass and natural light. One of the purest distillations of his design philosophy can be seen in the office he designed for his own firm in 1955.

#148: Christian Science Society (Avalon)

#148: Christian Science Society (Avalon)

April 15, 2023

Built in 1929 by the fabulously wealthy Wrigley family, owners of Catalina Island, the Christian Science Society was the first building in Avalon designed in the Spanish colonial revival style, an aesthetic that would dominate Avalon's look and f for the next half century.

#147: Seaman-Foshay House (University Park)

#147: Seaman-Foshay House (University Park)

April 12, 2023

This exuberant Queen Anne-Eastlake style Victorian home from 1887 was one of the earliest houses built in the fashionable St. James Park neighborhood, just north of USC. We're not 100% sure who designed it, but we know it was home (at different times) to two of LA's most eminent educators, whose professional lives intertwined in a number of ways.

#146: Bungalow Court at 940-948 N. Raymond Avenue (Pasadena)

#146: Bungalow Court at 940-948 N. Raymond Avenue (Pasadena)

April 4, 2023

Back around 1910 - 1930, Pasadena was a laboratory for the bungalow court: a type of multi-family housing that placed a group of small dwellings around a central courtyard, with a driveway leading down to a garage in the back. This here court is one of 28 Pasadena bungalow courts listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it's a fine example of the Spanish colonial revival style applied to the bungalow court genre. Plus its architect has a very silly last name.

#145: Venice Beach House (Venice)

#145: Venice Beach House (Venice)

March 29, 2023

This historic craftsman house has stood in the same spot in Venice since 1911, back when this area was just white sand dunes. It was the summer home of LA Daily Journal editor Warren Wilson, an important early settler of Venice whose daughters married into the family of Venice founder Abbot Kinney. The house was a popular stopover for local politicians, businessmen and the cultural elite. These days it's a posh B&B, beautifully restored with much of the original woodwork and craftsman detailing intact.

#144: Halifax Apartments (Hollywood)

#144: Halifax Apartments (Hollywood)

March 23, 2023

The Halifax Apartments were constructed in 1923 to help address the influx of emigrants attracted to the exploding film industry. It's on the NRHP as a dignified Italian renaissance revival design by Walker & Eisen. But way more interesting is the story of its builder: Leach Cross, a Jewish dentist who moonlit as a mediocre boxer and eventually turned to real estate. And then the restaurant biz. And then back to dentistry and boxing.

#143: Louise C. Bentz House (Pasadena – Greene & Greene)

#143: Louise C. Bentz House (Pasadena – Greene & Greene)

March 17, 2023

This house is a minor marvel from the craftsman starchitects Charles & Henry Greene. It was commissioned in 1906 by Asian art importer John C. Bentz, one of the developers of the fashionable Prospect Park Tract in Pasadena. The house was the very first built on the tract, and it set a sky high quality standard for the neighborhood. It's also a great example of how Greene & Greene could work with more modest budgets and still showcase their architectural mastery.

#142: Citizen Publishing Company Building (Culver City)

#142: Citizen Publishing Company Building (Culver City)

March 13, 2023

Beginning in 1929, the Citizen Publishing Company printed Culver City's most popular local newspaper, The Citizen - a family-owned rag that championed civic reform and boosted the local film industry. Architect Orville Clark based his design on original plans by Kitty Donovan, wife of the paper's owner Eugene Donovan. Since 2020, the building has operated as a swank food court.

#141: Ebell of Los Angeles (Hancock Park)

#141: Ebell of Los Angeles (Hancock Park)

March 8, 2023

Since 1927, the Ebell of Los Angeles has been the forever home in LA for this venerable women's cultural and philanthropic organization. Designed by the great Sumner Hunt, this Italian Renaissance marvel wears its 75,000 square feet well, with refined exteriors, richly decorated interiors, and a courtyard that ties it all together. The adjoining Wilshire Ebell Theatre has hosted historic appearances by too many celebrities to name, including Judy Garland, Amelia Earhart, Stravinsky, Michelle Obama - the list goes on.

#140: The Lanterman House (La Cañada Flintridge)

#140: The Lanterman House (La Cañada Flintridge)

March 2, 2023

The unique kinda-sorta craftsman home was one of the first houses in Los Angeles made of reinforced concrete. It was the home of Roy and Emily Lanterman, scions of La Cañada Flintridge's first family. One of their two sons, Frank Lanterman, would establish a legendary career in the California State Assembly.

#139: Lincoln Heights Branch Library (Lincoln Heights)

#139: Lincoln Heights Branch Library (Lincoln Heights)

February 19, 2023

The Lincoln Heights Branch library is one of six branches of the Los Angeles Public Library system funded by a grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Built in 1916, its growth has paralleled that of the neighborhood surrounding it.

#138: Greystone Mansion/Doheny Estate (Beverly Hills)

#138: Greystone Mansion/Doheny Estate (Beverly Hills)

February 16, 2023

This 55-room mansion in Beverly Hills was designed by Gordon Kaufmann for oil heir Ned Doheny and his family. Over the years it has been a residence and a public park; a popular place to get married or hold a fashion shoot; the site of a still-controversial murder-suicide case; a film school where David Lynch and Paul Schrader honed their chops; and the location of Beverly Hills' largest reservoir.

#137: William N. Monroe House (“The Oaks” – Monrovia)

#137: William N. Monroe House (“The Oaks” – Monrovia)

February 9, 2023

The Oaks is a lovely Queen Anne Victorian built in 1885 for the co-founder and first mayor of Monrovia, railroad contractor William N. Monroe. It was just the second house built in Monrovia, which wouldn't be incorporated as a city until two years later.