Pioneers & Settlers

#153: Peter Gano House / Holly Hill House (Avalon)

#153: Peter Gano House / Holly Hill House (Avalon)

May 23, 2023

This idiosyncratic Queen Anne Victorian is one of the oldest standing buildings in Avalon. It was built from 1888-1890 by retired civil engineer Peter Gano, and constructed with the help of a former circus horse named Mercury. This is one of the few extant connections to the earliest phase of Catalina's development as a resort destination, decades before the Wrigleys came to town.

#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.

#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.

#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.

#136: Villa Francesca (Palos Verdes)

#136: Villa Francesca (Palos Verdes)

January 31, 2023

This lovely Mediterranean revival compound in Rancho Palos Verdes was the longtime home of Harry E. Benedict, one of the peninsula's early developers. Though the Great Depression prevented the completion of a planned mansion, the gate lodge and farmstead still stand as fine examples of renowned architect Gordon Kaufmann's work.

#125: Los Cerritos Ranch House (Long Beach)

#125: Los Cerritos Ranch House (Long Beach)

November 6, 2022

Pioneers & Settlers

Built in 1844 by a yankee-turned-Mexican named John Temple, this house in Long Beach was the largest adobe built in southern California during the period when SoCal was controlled by Mexico. Its layered history tells LA’s transition from barren ranch land, to prosperous agricultural paradise, to a network of subdivisions that eventually coalesced into separate cities. You read into its history the story of Los Angeles becoming itself.

#105: Ard Eevin (Glendale)

#105: Ard Eevin (Glendale)

July 3, 2022

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.

#94: Victorian Homes on 1300 Block of Carroll Avenue (Angelino Heights)

#94: Victorian Homes on 1300 Block of Carroll Avenue (Angelino Heights)

April 22, 2022

The immaculately preserved Victorian homes on Carroll Avenue in Angelino Heights make up the highest concentration of Queen Annes in LA, and serve as a proud example of preservation efforts done right

#77: Old Santa Susana Stage Road (Chatsworth)

#77: Old Santa Susana Stage Road (Chatsworth)

March 4, 2022

Pioneers & Settlers

This treacherous mountain trail through the Santa Susana Pass was an important artery for stagecoach passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in the 1860s-70s, and an official Butterfield Overland Mail route during the Civil War

#65: Woodbury-Story House (Altadena)

#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

#50: Los Angeles Plaza Historic District (Downtown)

#50: Los Angeles Plaza Historic District (Downtown)

December 14, 2021

The birthplace of Los Angeles and its one-time commercial/social hub, housing dozens of historic buildings and monuments to the founders of LA

#47: The Old Mill/El Molino Viejo (San Marino)

#47: The Old Mill/El Molino Viejo (San Marino)

November 30, 2021

The Old Mill is Southern California's oldest surviving commercial building. Its millstones once ground grain for the San Gabriel mission, and were later rediscovered by a famous WWII hero.[…]

#43: Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (San Gabriel)

#43: Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (San Gabriel)

November 20, 2021

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel is the grandaddy of LA historic sites. Legend has it that the 44 “pobladores” set out from here the day they founded Los Angeles in 1781. For three years, it was closed to visitors due to the pandemic and a devastating arson. On July 1, 2023, the Mission finally reopened, with a reimagined museum that tells the Mission's complex story of deracination and development.

#27: Christmas Tree Lane (Altadena)

#27: Christmas Tree Lane (Altadena)

November 4, 2021

A 100+ year holiday tradition that began with a handful of deodar cedar seeds from Altadena's founding family, the Woodburys Added to the National Register of Historic Places on September[…]