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Old Posted Nov 14, 2012, 2:22 AM
tovangar2 tovangar2 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: West Los Angeles
Posts: 2,625
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
...another find on ebay.


__

Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
ebay

Since 28th Street and Burlington don't intersect, I'm wondering if this view is in the Westlake district or in the University district
down on 28th (or in either)...anyway, I'd love to know what those pillars led to. At top is another ebay card described on the
back as "Burlington and 7th"--the lawns look awfully broad for Westlake/Pico-Union, but knowing that quite a few ancient
houses still exist in these precincts, I looked for evidence of any of these, to no avail.


I'm fairly certain the stone pillars frame the entrance to the wide carriage drive (we'd call it an alley) which served the very large, turn-of-the-twentieth-century houses on W 28th & W 27th Streets, running NW from S Figueroa until it formed a T-junction with University Ave. It would have been lined with carriage houses like the one shown behind the big house (which faced then onto W 28th St) in the postcard photo. This block (and the next one north) of W 28th St is now USC's Fraternity Row:

gsv

The pillars are long gone, as is the house in the photo. One now enters the carriage drive between a Del Taco parking lot and a Fed Ex shop (see above). However, there is one carriage house left. It is behind 715 W. 28th St, the only house remaining on the block that hasn't been remodeled beyond recognition or replaced with a newer structure. It's a lovely house and looks really nicely maintained. If one goes, via Google Street View, to the other end of the carriage drive, where it joins University Ave, one can see its original, classic, gabled, two-story carriage house about a third of the way down on the right.

There is a second house at 624 W 28th St, directly across W 28th from the site of the house in the postcard photo, which, rather like an actor in a fat suit, is encased in an unfortunate remodel. Its third-story, hipped-roof, square tower gives it away. From above (on Google Maps) one can see the outline of the house's original roof. There's also a second-floor sunroom on the back of the house with a lovely bowed line of windows that can be seen in Google Maps axonometric view. The space between the home and what's left of the carriage house has been infilled with an extension.

The film "Fraternity Row" (1977) was filmed on W 28th. Maybe it contains more visual info about this block.

I believe the other postcard pictured above is labeled correctly as Burlington and 7th St. (NW corner). Starting at that corner, travel north in one's Googlemobile to about mid-block where the last remaining house of this once lovely collection of mid-sized homes can be seen on the left at 669 S Burlington:

gsv

7th and Burlington:

gsv

Last edited by tovangar2; Jun 20, 2015 at 4:07 PM. Reason: add links
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