Etan Does LA

#124: Aztec Hotel (Monrovia)

October 30, 2022

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.

#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?

#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.

#119: Chicano Moratorium March, 12/20/1969 (Boyle Heights)

October 2, 2022

Government & Politics

On December 20, 1969, some 2000 anti-war protesters took part in the first Chicano Moratorium March, starting at Los Cinco Puntos in Boyle Heights and ending at a rally in Eugene A. Obregon Park. It was a watershed moment in Chicano activism, both in Los Angeles and nationwide.

#118: Wayfarers Chapel by Lloyd Wright (Palos Verdes)

September 25, 2022

Architecture

Lloyd Wright's shimmering cliffside masterpiece of redwood, glass and stone gets more impressive with each passing year, as nature swallows it up. But Wright almost didn't build it! The story of how the Wayfarers Chapel came to be is almost as amazing as the building itself. Almost.

#117: Howard Longley House (Greene & Greene – South Pasadena)

September 18, 2022

Architecture

Finished in 1897, the Howard Longley House is the oldest surviving building in LA by Charles & Henry Greene, towering figures in the California craftsman architecture movement.

#116: Fire Station No. 14 (South LA)

September 12, 2022

Government & Politics

As the home of the LA Fire Department's second all-Black engine company, Fire Station No. 14 was a symbol of both pride and pain for LA's Black community before LAFD was integrated in 1956. The current station was built in 1949, a time of great change as LA reckoned with its segregated past.

#115: Upton Sinclair House (Monrovia)

September 5, 2022

Art & Literature

This was the home of Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, labor activist and would-be politician Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. Sinclair moved to Monrovia from Pasadena after unsuccessfully running for Governor of California, and wrote nearly everything from the last 15 years of his career in the study in the back.

#114: Alex Theatre (Glendale)

September 1, 2022

Entertainment

The Alex Theatre is the last of Glendale's grand movie palaces. Opened in 1925 as a venue for vaudeville and silent films, it spent decades as a first-run movie theater, and more recently as a vital performing arts center. The iconic marquee and tower, added in 1940, projects a timeless opulence befitting a building that's endured nearly 100 years of ownership changes, fires, renovations and the changing tastes of the public.

#113: Descanso Gardens (La Cañada Flintridge)

August 25, 2022

Asians

Descanso Gardens preserves 150 acres of flowers and plants from habitats around the world. But its long history is also a human one, telling stories of horticulture and architecture, racism and war, and the effort to preserve green space in a rapidly urbanizing Los Angeles.

#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.

#111: Watts Station | Collaboration with The South LA Recap

August 11, 2022

Transportation

This 1904 train station played a crucial role in the birth and growth of Watts, and was one of the only buildings on 103rd Street that survived the 1965 Watts Rebellion. In this collaboration with The South LA Recap, we trace the history of this landmark up through today.

#110: Ralph Bunche House (South LA)

August 6, 2022

Government & Politics

This small South LA bungalow was the boyhood home of Ralph Bunche, a revered diplomat who became the first Black man to win the Nobel Peace Prize who negotiated an end to the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

#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.

#108: Edwin Hubble House (San Marino)

July 23, 2022

Science

This National Historic Landmark in San Marino was the home of one of the most significant astronomers of the modern era. Edwin Hubble proved conclusively that there were galaxies and nebulae beyond the Milky Way, and that the universe was expanding. After each of his astronomical mic drops, here's where he would lay his head.