Architecture

#126: Richard Neutra’s Strathmore Apartments (Westwood)

#126: Richard Neutra’s Strathmore Apartments (Westwood)

November 12, 2022
Architecture
The Strathmore Apartments are one of four complexes designed in Westwood by famed modernist architect Richard Neutra. With its unadorned white stucco walls, flat roofs and long rows of ribbon windows, the Strathmore is quintessential international style. It's also surprisingly a plant lover's paradise, and a great example of Neutra's ability to design spaces that respond to the needs of his occupants with unfussy grace.
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#124: Aztec Hotel (Monrovia)

#124: Aztec Hotel (Monrovia)

October 30, 2022
Architecture
Ghosts! Hookers! Cultural appropriation! They're all part of the fascinating history of the Aztec Hotel, an eye-popping 1925 Mayan revival hotel in Monrovia (now closed) designed by the idiosyncratic architect Robert Stacy-Judd.
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#123: Natural History Museum (Exposition Park)

#123: Natural History Museum (Exposition Park)

October 23, 2022
Architecture
The Natural History Museum is justifiably famous for its awe-inspiring dinosaur skeletons and taxidermied animals. But did you know it was also an art museum for 50 years? Or that Exposition Park was once a hotbed of illicit activity like drinking, gambling and...camel racing?
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#120-122: Garment District High-Rises (Downtown)

#120-122: Garment District High-Rises (Downtown)

October 10, 2022
Architecture
The 1920s-era Garment Capitol Building, Textile Center Building and Maxfield Lofts each have their own thing going for them aesthetically. And they each capture a unique period in the economic and architectural development of the Garment District in downtown LA, which remains one of the city's economic engines to this day.
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#112: Heinsbergen Decorating Company Building (Central LA)

#112: Heinsbergen Decorating Company Building (Central LA)

August 18, 2022
Architecture
This curious late gothic French chateau was the headquarters of the Heinsbergen Decorating Company, one of the 20th century's great mural and interior design firms. Respected architects Curlett & Beelman designed it in 1928, and built it out of bricks salvaged from buildings that were demolished to make way for LA City Hall.
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#109: Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower (Palos Verdes)

#109: Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower (Palos Verdes)

July 31, 2022
Architecture
This medieval-style tower was built in 1925 to house the gatekeeper of upscale Palos Verdes Estates. The history of the Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower tells us a lot about the development of the Palos Verdes peninsula, and it's a fascinating case study for how architects can create a unified aesthetic when planning a city.
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#107: John Lautner House (Silver Lake)

#107: John Lautner House (Silver Lake)

July 15, 2022
Architecture
John Lautner's Silver Lake home, designed in 1939, was the first house the master architect designed by himself. It's a vitally important building for architecture history. It's also a beautifully put together home, packing a ton of creative details and spatial ideas into a very small footprint.
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#105: Ard Eevin (Glendale)

#105: Ard Eevin (Glendale)

July 3, 2022
Architecture
This eclectic 1903 mansion was the home of Daniel Campbell, an Irishman who emigrated to CA with $50, made a fortune in the Klondike gold rush, brought his family out to LA and soon became one of Glendale’s early civic leaders during the city’s first major growth spurt.
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#102: Glendale Main Post Office

#102: Glendale Main Post Office

June 15, 2022
Architecture
This stately post office has served the city of Glendale since 1934, and survived multiple waves of USPS consolidations. Yes, its Italian Renaissance revival style was old hat by the time it was built – but what a lovely example it is!
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