In 2023, I visited 69 LA landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places. Here are my top 10, with links to my full writeups on each of them.

10. Morris Kight House (1822 4th St., Westlake)

This unassuming craftsman in Westlake was the home of the pioneering gay rights activist Morris Kight from 1967-74. But Kight’s house was more than just his residence. It was also a think tank, a clinic, and a meeting place for the LA chapter of the Gay Liberation Front, a group of gay activists with a radical approach to creating political and social change for their community.

9. Killingsworth, Brady & Smith Offices (3827 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach)

Long Beach architect Edward Killingsworth honed the mid-century modern aesthetic into 3D poetry, creating sanctuaries out of right angles, high ceilings, open plans, expansive glass and natural light. One of the purest distillations of his design philosophy can be seen in the office he designed for his own firm in 1955.

8. Hollywood Forever Cemetery (6000 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood)

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.

7. Jardinette Apartments (5128 Marathon St., East Hollywood)

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.” Though they’re looking pretty ragged today, they’re undergoing a thorough restoration, set for completion in spring 2024.

6. Mirlo Gate Lodge Tower (4420 Vía Valmonte, Palos Verdes Estates) (this was a revisit – I got a rare peek inside)

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.

5. Golden Gate Theater (5188 Whittier Blvd, East LA)

The Golden Gate Theater has had a hell of a life. For 65 years, this grand movie palace entertained East LA. But after the Whittier Narrows earthquake in 1987 forced the demolition of the buildings that surrounded it since 1927, the Golden Gate was left unused for a quarter century, awaiting an uncertain fate. A fierce preservation battle ensued, which ultimately led to its restoration and reuse as a CVS. The story of this place is almost as wild as its Churrigueresque architecture.

4. The Bungalow Courts of Pasadena

This unique form of housing – basically, a bunch of small units around a central walkway – flourished in LA from about 1910 to 1930, especially in Pasadena. In 2023, I visited all 30 of the Pasadena courts on the National Register. Some are beautifully kept up, some not so much – the fun in doing a court crawl is seeing how architects tweaked the basic template.

Here are my writeups on two representative ones – many more to come:

• Bowen Court
• Court at 940-948 Raymond Ave.

3. Leo M. Harvey House (2180 W Live Oak Dr, Los Angeles)

John Lautner’s Harvey House from 1950 represented the first time that this idiosyncratic architect could carry out his unique ideas about spatial geometry and texture with a sizable budget. In the late 1990s it was purchased by Kelly Lynch & Mitch Glazer, and lovingly restored by several of Lautner’s most trusted collaborators.

2. Mission San Gabriel Arcángel (429 S Junipero Serra Dr, San Gabriel)

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.

1. Saddlerock Ranch Pictograph Site (32111 Mulholland Hwy, Malibu)

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. The pictographs are contained on a private ranch, but you can book a tour through Malibu Wine Hikes for $49 bucks and see it yourself. It was a transformative visit for me.

I wish you and yours a historical 2024, and as always, thanks for doing LA with me!