Etan Does LA

#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

Architecture

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

Architecture

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

Architecture

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

Architecture

This 1882 mansion was the home of Altadena's founding Woodbury family, and later expanded by a prominent pump organ vendor

#64: Malibu Historic District

January 16, 2022

Recreation

Malibu’s famous Surfrider Beach was the birthplace of modern surfing, and witnessed important moments in Chumash, Spanish & American history

#63: La Laguna de San Gabriel (San Gabriel)

January 9, 2022

City Planning

An imaginative playground of concrete dragons, whales and octopi created by master artisan Benjamin Dominguez

#54 – #62: Historic Sites on the Rose Parade Route in Pasadena

December 29, 2021

Architecture

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.

#53: Bolton Hall (Tujunga)

December 25, 2021

Pioneers & Settlers

The community center of the defunct, WWI-era utopian Little Landers society is now a museum dedicated to its history.

#52: Case Study House No. 21 (Bailey House – Hollywood Hills)

December 22, 2021

Architecture

Architect Pierre Koenig's thoroughly modern jewel in the Hollywood Hills epitomized the Case Study House program.

#51: Plaza Substation (Downtown)

December 20, 2021

Transportation

This electrical power station, right on Olvera Street, powered 40% of LA's streetcars from 1905-1963

#50: Los Angeles Plaza Historic District (Downtown)

December 14, 2021

City Planning

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

#49: San Gabriel Mission Playhouse (San Gabriel)

December 9, 2021

Architecture

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

Architecture

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!

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

November 30, 2021

Commerce

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.[…]