Renaissance revival Archives

#279: Young’s Market Company Building (Westlake)

March 16, 2026

The Young's Market Company Building in Westlake was the flagship store and HQ for a pioneering supermarket chain turned liquor distributor. Its story teaches us a lot about how food and beverage retail evolved in the early 20th century. Despite major interior changes and damage in the 1992 LA Riots, the building itself remains a grand exercise in Italian Renaissance Revival refinement. It's now a shoe store.

#273: Subway Terminal Building (Downtown)

December 1, 2025

Transportation

For 30 years the magnificent 12-story Subway Terminal Building downtown was the end point for LA's first subway, built by Pacific Electric Railway in 1925. After two rounds of renovation, the above-ground part now serves as luxury apartments. But it's the mothballed passenger concourse and tunnel that still excites the imagination of LA history buffs, 100 years later.

#241: Washington Irving Branch Library (West Adams)

November 26, 2024

Architecture

Designed by the firm of Allison & Allison, the Washington Irving Branch was one of a wave of libraries built in the 1920s to meet the needs of a growing LA. It's been vacant since the late 1990s, when the branch moved a few blocks westwards.

#233: Highland Park Masonic Temple

September 13, 2024

Architecture

Built in 1923, this handsome brick and terracotta building witnessed 60 years of ritual and fraternity as the Highland Park Masonic Temple. Since 2017, it's housed the music venue the Lodge Room and an adjoining restaurant, Checker Hall. All the original Masonic symbols are still intact, and EVERYWHERE.