Etan Does LA - Page 6 of 16 - I'm visiting every Los Angeles landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

#183: House at 1360 Lida Street (Pasadena)

December 6, 2023

The well-preserved Victorian house at 1360 Lida Street is one of the few 19th century remnants in Linda Vista, Pasadena's wealthiest neighborhood. It was built in 1888 at a critical juncture for the neighborhood, as it was transforming from sleepy rural farmland to an exclusive bedroom community of entrepreneurs and working professionals.

#182: The Homestead Acre / Minnie Hill Palmer House (Chatsworth)

#182: The Homestead Acre / Minnie Hill Palmer House (Chatsworth)

November 30, 2023

Pioneers & Settlers

This humble 1911 cottage was once home to the Hill family, some of Chatsworth's earliest settlers. Now called the Homestead Acre, it's one of the few physical connections we still have to the west Valley’s pioneer days.

#181: Malaga Cove Plaza (Palos Verdes)

#181: Malaga Cove Plaza (Palos Verdes)

November 22, 2023

Malaga Cove Plaza was the first commercial center built in the first subdivision of Palos Verdes. Though its buildings span decades and architects, it all hangs together thanks to a uniform Mediterranean vibe.

#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

#180: Bowen Court (Pasadena)

November 15, 2023

Bowen Court (1911), designed by Arthur & Alfred Heineman, is the oldest bungalow court in Pasadena still standing in its original location. It's also the quintessence of the style: 23 craftsman cottages, each one with its distinctive quirks, all centered around a wide walkway with nary a car in site.

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

#179: US Post Office – San Pedro

November 6, 2023

Built in 1936, the San Pedro Post Office merges New Deal-era "starved classical" style with art deco quirks. While the architecture and Fletcher Martin mural are the draw here, the original glass-top writing desks are plenty charming, too. PLUS: a surprise postal museum downstairs!

#178: Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Hollywood)

#178: Hollywood Forever Cemetery (Hollywood)

October 31, 2023

Pioneers & Settlers

Hollywood Forever cemetery is the final resting place of countless entertainers, and many of LA's all-time most important citizens. But its significance extends way beyond who was buried there.

#177: Point Vicente Lighthouse (Palos Verdes)

#177: Point Vicente Lighthouse (Palos Verdes)

October 23, 2023

The old keepers of the 1926 Point Vicente Lighthouse used to tell of a ghostly woman that would move across the walkway garbed in a flowing white dress. Though the "Lady of the Light" hasn't been seen since someone applied a fresh coat of paint in 1955, and no keepers have minded the beacon since the early 1970s, the Point Vicente Lighthouse is still an important navigational aid for ships heading into the Ports of LA and Long Beach.

#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

#176: Wilton Historic District (Hancock Park)

October 16, 2023

Wilton Historic District comprises 63 well-maintained homes, mostly craftsman & colonial revival, built between 1907 and 1925. The neighborhood's unique, due to the weird-ass layout of the streets and unorthodox siting of many of the homes, and how magnificently it's held up over the past century.

#175: Saddlerock Ranch Pictograph Site (Malibu)

#175: Saddlerock Ranch Pictograph Site (Malibu)

October 9, 2023

Art & Literature

The pictographs at Saddlerock Ranch are the earliest known indigenous documentation of the arrival of the Europeans in the LA area. They are believed to represent an encounter between the Chumash tribe and Gaspar de Portolá's exploration party in 1769-1770.

#174: Lasky-Demille Barn (Hollywood)

#174: Lasky-Demille Barn (Hollywood)

October 5, 2023

The Lasky-DeMille Barn is the earliest surviving structure from the beginnings of the Hollywood movie biz, and the place where the first feature-length Hollywood film (The Squaw Man) was shot. And its significance extends both before and after that. The barn was connected to some of the pioneering citizens of Hollywood, and in its current reuse as the Hollywood Heritage Museum, it serves as a cultural citadel, safeguarding Hollywood's history.

#173: Ralphs Grocery Store (Westwood)

#173: Ralphs Grocery Store (Westwood)

September 28, 2023

The 1929 Ralphs Westwood building is one of the only remaining vestiges of the SoCal grocery chain's early expansion years. It was also one of the very first buildings in Westwood Village, a neighborhood whose growth paralleled UCLA's.

#172: Pan American Bank (East LA)

#172: Pan American Bank (East LA)

September 16, 2023

This small community bank opened in 1966 as the first bank in California to offer fully bilingual services in English and Spanish. For 50 years they served the largely Chicano community of East LA, offering home and small business loans to people that other banks wouldn’t give the time of day, and generally helping the local economy thrive. It's gilded by a mosaic mural that inspired the local Chicano art movement of the late '60s/early '70s.

Listen to My Interview with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS FM

Listen to My Interview with Ryan Seacrest on KIIS FM

September 11, 2023

On 7:20am on Monday, September 11, 2023, KIIS FM listeners driving into work heard Ryan Seacrest interview some random dude with a weird name about three LA landmarks that everyone needs to see. SPOILER ALERT: I was that random dude with a weird name.

#171: Richard Neutra’s Jardinette Apartments (East Hollywood)

#171: Richard Neutra’s Jardinette Apartments (East Hollywood)

September 8, 2023

Though they're looking pretty ragged today, the Jardinette Apartments from 1928 marked the first solo commission for Austrian-American modern architect Richard Neutra, and one of the very earliest American works in the influential "international style."

#170: San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building (San Pedro)

#170: San Pedro Municipal Ferry Building (San Pedro)

August 31, 2023

From 1942-1963, this quirky streamline moderne building was the departure point for workers and sailors heading to Terminal Island's shipyards, canneries and Naval bases. It now houses the largest maritime museum on the west coast.