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Chestnut Place rang a bell with me from watching CHiPs, but more of that below. Here's a view from January 1, 1928, which shows the Hotel Virginia stil standing. I kept a wide view to show to early stages of construction on the Rainbow Pier. It looks odd without the Municipal Auditorium.
http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...8.jpg~original mil.library.ucsb.edu This view from October 17, 1939 shows the hotel gone, but the driveway on Ocean Boulevard is still intact. The lower level seems to have acquired some small amusements, but there's no sign of the bowlng alley. Note that Chestnut Place doesn't extend to Ocean Boulevard, and I think that the tree from e_r's picture is to the left of the Sovereign. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...9.jpg~original mil.library.ucsb.edu The 1953 and 1963 views at Historic Aerials are fuzzy, but appear to show a building where the bowling alley was. The roadway to Ocean appears by 1972. Many of the later episodes of CHiPs had scenes filmed around Long Beach. The season 4 episode 'Sick Leave' starts with a chase which goes down Chestnut Place. You can see the ramp in the background of the screengrabs below, but no sign of the bowling alley. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...laceCHiPs1.jpg http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...laceCHiPs2.jpg MGM TV/Rosner TV The 1980 aerial view shows how undeveloped this area still was at the time of filming. At the bottom, you can just see part of an elevated section of road which has since been removed. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...tPlace1980.jpg Historic Aerials This current aerial shows how things have changed. The Sovereign and Blackstone appear to be the only constants. http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...tPlace2018.jpg Google Maps |
LA Doo Wopers
http://history-of-rock.com/olympics.jpg...http://www.themortonreport.com/asset...x356-21378.jpg http://history-of-rock.com One of the great novelty acts of the 1960s. Recording for ARVEE at 7803 Sunset Blvd.Hollywood , CA. I believe there's a new building at that address. Link The Olympics were one of the great L.A.-based acts who managed to score regional hits on the West Coast by balancing upbeat and often humorous novelty R&B tunes with those about popular dances of the day (some of the other West Coast groups who fit this description were the Jay Hawks, the Cadets/Jacks, the Marathons, and the DooTones). They are perhaps best remembered for their Coasters-derived "Western Movies," but their other L.A.-area hits include the popular dance number "Baby Hully Gully," "Big Boy Pete" (which stalled out at number 50 pop, but went to number ten R&B), and "Mine Exclusively." Mostly, the Olympics attempted to duplicate their hit status with novelty songs along the lines of their smash hit... "Western Movies." from:....http://history-of-rock.com/doosix.htm |
It was around 1984 or ’86, I was between 18 and 20 years old, and was hanging out with a guy I knew from high school.
Long story short, we visited this building, which we soon discovered was… a whorehouse. I had a steady girlfriend, but my former classmate was a virgin, and he paid to sleep with one of the girls. I left as soon as he disappeared through the double doors with the girl he had chosen. https://i.imgur.com/Kayt4Jr.gif Link to location on Google Maps In all honesty, I was shocked that a brothel would be so “open to the public” as that. You literally just walked in, just like you’d walk into Pep Boys, no guard at the door, nobody checking IDs. The girls came out, you chose one, and that was that. How an illegal enterprise could operate so utterly indiscreetly (and in broad daylight - we went at around noon) certainly surprised me; maybe someone in high places had been paid off(?). All these years later, I’m wondering about that building. I wish I knew architecture as well then as I do now so I could remember the building better, but the building seemed quite old (at least for LA), maybe from the 1920s, and perhaps even older than that. In my faded memory, the building seems almost Victorian. I believe it was painted white, and it was a bit dilapidated inside. There were hardwood floors, and if I recall correctly, there were also high ceilings. I can’t recall the exact shape of the building, but I know it was at the north or northwest end of the parking lot. There were NO signs or billboards outside of the building that gave any indication of what transpired inside, and the building itself looked more like a large home than a place of business. I am virtually certain it began as a dwelling, and not a place of business. Does anyone know the history of this building? |
A Thoroughly Non-Mystery Building
OK, I'm sure everybody but me recognizes this place, used in an episode of one of our family's favorite shows (Face Off, sadly on its last season on SyFy) a week or so ago. So where/what is it?
http://www.bitsmasherpress.com/Downloads/syfy1.jpeg http://www.bitsmasherpress.com/Downloads/syfy2.jpeg http://www.bitsmasherpress.com/Downloads/Syfy3.jpeg Hey, at least I didn't ask about a picture of City Hall :) Cheers, Earl |
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https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/uxcIu4.jpg EBAY I'm including this view to show you the little man standing in the garden. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/y6uVHg.jpg EBAY I'm kidding...he's normal size. ;) It's just..I was surprised by how LARGE the hotel looks. my gosh! *lots of flowering mystery bushes too. Care to chime in odinthor? (the white blooms remind me of little parachutes) I still can't get over how small that man looks We're closer to Chestnut in this view. (it's behind the photographer) https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/TOIQ3i.jpg EBAY I believe those are Irises. my 2nd guess is Gladiolas __ |
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The rollercoaster in the lower right corner reminded me of a photograph I found on ebay a week or so ago. And if I remember correctly, it was listed by the seller that had the Virginia Bowling Alley photograph. Here it is. https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/X4RrHb.jpg EBAY As you can see the sailor is lying on some sort of big pipe. __ |
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I'm guessing Canna Lilies, but odinthor will know for sure |
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1227 N. La Cienega Blvd.
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Scott Charles, you must be referring to the place to the left of the blue dot. It's now within the West Hollywood city limits. Does the name Circus Maximus ring a bell?: http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1o658tyl.jpg 1971 Feb 28 -- Flight tg-2755 Frame 20-20 @ UCSB Circus Maximus was at 1227 N. La Cienega. I started working at the SE corner of Sunset and La Cienega in the summer of 1985, and I passed by 1227 N. La Cienega every day. I remember it looked like an old house mostly hidden by bushes and trees (directly across the street at 1216-1222 N. La Cienega are the Lotus Garden Apartments): http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psczp8iaeg.jpg 1950 Sanborn Map @ ProQuest via LAPL This is the first mention of 1227 N. La Cienega that I found: http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...pslg9uymyg.jpg Billboard magazine, June 17, 1967 @ Google Books Subtlety was not used in this advertisement: http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psz26jss80.jpg July 19, 1970, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL July 8, 1980, Los Angeles Times: http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1oxux74n.jpg ProQuest via LAPL Circus Maximus closed in April 1985; the following is from the article, "Vice Squads Have Mixed Success in West Hollywood": http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psqep6le2r.jpg http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...pswz89o1ss.jpg May 19, 1985, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL |
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As you said, it looked like an old house mostly hidden by bushes and trees - although you could see more clearly once inside of the parking lot. And the name Circus Maximus absolutely does ring a bell, though I don’t remember why - of course, it must be in reference to this place, what other reason could I have for remembering that name? This next clipping blows my mind: https://i.imgur.com/LIWSa8U.jpg How on earth could they NOT get arrested for prostitution? It was blatant, as clear as day! That’s like raiding a Chick-fil-A franchise and saying you couldn’t find any chicken! :???: That said, thank-you Flyingwedge for the time you took to track down that information! It certainly is appreciated… discovering these old places from my youth makes them seem more “real”, if that makes any sense. PS: Did you know that the place was a brothel when you worked on the corner of Sunset and La Cienega? PPS: Did you find any older history on the building itself? As in, what it was before it became Circus Maximus? |
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Cheers, Earl |
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https://s20.postimg.cc/r3q0vk3l9/new_008.jpg (L-R Bill Richards ,Roy Richards, Grady Chapman, and Dad Bobby Sheen) The Robins stayed on Arvee for about two years, then they kinda disbanded, some of them went to their parent group (The Coasters), the Richard's went to the family business of running Spaulding Mortuary off of LaBrea, but from time to time rejoin the surviving Robins for speacial occasions such as the Rhythm and Blues Foundation or R and R Hall of Fame ceremonies. Back to the Olympics... I knew of two of them. One of them was named Charles, he lived close by and would always tour with dad. I want to say he passed away in the mid 90's but i really don't remember. https://s20.postimg.cc/kd9jlyo3h/VCJX5711.jpg (L-R Unidentified Olympic, Dad, Charles wearing a Paris shirt, Donnie Brooks with the shades, J J Jackson wearing blue, Unidentified Olympic photo bomb, Bobby Nunn wearing black hat, Billy Richards Jr ,and Dee Clark) This photo was taken prior to 1986, which was the year that Bobby Nunn passed away. L.A. was filled with great musicians who all worked together and knew each other, which I've always been fascinated with. Its crazy to think that most of the men in the photo above, could go to Arvee Records, record a tune, then walk down the street to Imperial and do the same, then go across the hall to Sar and do the same and so on and on... |
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I remember there were widely held suspicions that less-than-wholesome activities occurred inside that house, but we had no first-hand reports like yours. I found no older references than the 1967 Billboard ad and the 1950 Sanborn. The house wasn't built in the City of Los Angeles, so there are no LADBS construction permits for 1227 N. La Cienega. There's another Circus Maximus ad here, as well as ads for similar establishments. |
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