#74: 28th Street YMCA (Paul Revere Williams – South LA) | Black History Month
February 20, 2022
A vital community center and gathering place for Black Angelenos, and a major early building by legendary architect Paul Revere Williams
Architecture
#73: McCarty Memorial Christian Church (West Adams) | Black History Month
February 17, 2022
A fine example of gothic church architecture, McCarty Memorial also tells us a lot about how West Adams became a majority-Black neighborhood
#72: Dunbar Hotel (South LA) / Hotel Somerville | Black History Month
February 14, 2022
The hub of Central Avenue's vibrant jazz scene in the late '20s through the early '50s, the Dunbar Hotel hosted everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Thurgood Marshall to Joe Louis, and served as a symbol of Black achievement during the Jim Crow era
#71: 27th Street Historic District | Black History Month
February 10, 2022
The century-old Victorian and craftsman homes of the 27th Street Historic District have housed generations of minority communities in LA – including a large population of African Americans during the heyday of Central Avenue
#69: Second Baptist Church (South LA) | Black History Month
February 2, 2022
A center of Black community life since 1926, Second Baptist Church has hosted MLK, Malcolm X & James Baldwin, and is an early work of noted LA architect Paul R. Williams
#68: Montecito Apartments (Hollywood)
January 30, 2022
Standing tall in Hollywood since 1931, this art deco high-rise once housed Gene Hackman, Montgomery Clift, Mickey Rooney and Ronald Reagan
#67: John Lautner’s Harpel House (Hollywood Hills)
January 28, 2022
A triumph of light and space for mid-century modernist John Lautner, the Harpel House pointed the way to his later masterworks
#66: Hollywood Argyle Apartments (Hollywood)
January 23, 2022
While this 1920s Hollywood apartment building is anything but glamorous, its story says a lot about the development of Hollywood over the past century.
#65: Woodbury-Story House (Altadena)
January 21, 2022
This 1882 mansion was the home of Altadena's founding Woodbury family, and later expanded by a prominent pump organ vendor
#54 – #62: Historic Sites on the Rose Parade Route in Pasadena
December 29, 2021
All eyes are on Pasadena this week for the Rose Parade. Get to know the historic buildings that line the route of Pasadena's Rose Parade, a new year's day tradition since 1890.
#52: Case Study House No. 21 (Bailey House – Hollywood Hills)
December 22, 2021
Architect Pierre Koenig's thoroughly modern jewel in the Hollywood Hills epitomized the Case Study House program.
#49: San Gabriel Mission Playhouse (San Gabriel)
December 9, 2021
A 1927 theater built to house John McGroarty's epic play about the CA missions. Now it's haunted by his ghost!
#48: James Allen Freeman House (Heineman Brothers – Pasadena) + World’s First Motel
December 5, 2021
A historic home in the posh Oak Knoll neighborhood, designed by the untrained Heineman brothers. PLUS: a visit to Arthur Heineman's Milestone Mo-Tel in San Luis Obispo, the world's first motel!
#46: Culbertson House (Greene & Greene – Pasadena)
November 27, 2021
Across the street from the Blacker House is another stunning home by architect bros Charles and Henry Greene. Completed in 1913, it was the last major home they designed as a duo.
#45: Union Station (Downtown)
November 24, 2021
A beloved landmark for travelers, architecture aficionados and culture vultures since it opened in 1939 Added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 13, 1980 I took these[…]