Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
"Rex's Missing Arm".....very clever malumot. 
Beaudry, thanks for all the information on the Elk's Parade photos I posted earlier. You made the pics 10x more interesting.
below: originally posted by GaylordWilshire.
lapl
lapl
I find this unusual church VERY intriguing.
I stared at it for quite some time trying to figure out the architectural style.
Is it Richardsonian with Persian touches?
Is it High Victorian with Moorish influences?
Is it Eclecticism and the architect's Attention Deficit Disorder?
It has me stumped.
Oh, and welcome to the thread Vincent_G. |
Thanks for the kind words! I really dig that image of the Elks Lodge. There's something I just love about...bunting. My house was built in '07 and I'm now kind of obsessing over finding lots of 45-star bunting before the next 4th.
I'm also floored by this church (I've never really sat down and looked at a gang of pictures of it before; that's one reason this thread is so valuable) and find your stupefaction over its architectonic form totally hilarious and I share it with verve. A 50's article says it was built in 88-9, though a contemporary source says Simpson Methodist Episcopal Tabernacle was dedicated in '91, I dunno, do they wait two years to dedicate a church? I'm going with the '91 date; a 1910 article puts its date at '94; and was 134 x 165, seated 2,000, and boasted "unsurpassed" acoustical qualities (regarded as one of the best audience halls in the country, it was said: Tetrazzini, Melba, Schumann-Heink performed there). Anyway, mid-90s the MEs get into financial difficulty and donate the structure to USC, becomes known as the "Simpson Auditorium". Became the Third CoC,S in 1905, as a rental from USC, and the Christian Scientists buy it outright in 1910. But nothing about its architect. More digging may be in order.
Its original incarnation reminds me of a synagogue in that temples so often use the "twin tablet" motif, and here we see it in the windows (in the earliest picture with the horse-cart). And the Scientist remodel redid all the windows (including the strange pentagram one) and added the front part. I'm guessing the tower got truncated after Long Beach, so the 1947 LA Noire depiction isn't really accurate if my supposition is correct.
One other small thing, the ca. 1922 pic (which almost looks like an infrared -- and that ivy should place this church in Middlesex) , I'm just fair to middling at dating cars, and I'd confidently place those at 1929-30. Though I welcome to be proven wrong!
Now, its style. Uh...already mentioned synagogue, and it's got minarets. The Scientists add Gothic tracery. It's Richardsonian in brick and not stone. I...give up, which is the mark of a great building!