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  #53861  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2020, 8:35 PM
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Bristolian Bristolian is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliNative View Post
My guess would be the old Camarillo State Mental Hospital? The hills look right, with a few scattered oaks. Now a state college. Just a guess. The gathering of people in top hats, looks like a grand opening. The fat guy at the podium, the governor, or maybe the warden????
I agree that the terrain looks right for that area but every early image I see of Camarillo State Mental Hospital shows Spanish style buildings and not the more European looking architecture seen in the photos here. The hospital officially opened in 1936.
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  #53862  
Old Posted Feb 28, 2020, 11:25 PM
malumot malumot is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliNative View Post
My guess would be the old Camarillo State Mental Hospital? The hills look right, with a few scattered oaks. Now a state college. Just a guess. The gathering of people in top hats, looks like a grand opening. The fat guy at the podium, the governor, or maybe the warden????

Nice try, but no. I used to ride my bike past CSH from Oxnard, up Portola Rd and down into 1000 Oaks. All the original buildings were Mission style.

This one IS a head scratcher........way the h*** out in the middle of nowhere.......would appear to be some institutional facility......

Maybe a new and improved Rock Ridge?
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  #53863  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 12:13 AM
Earl Boebert Earl Boebert is offline
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There appears to be a California state flag by the door in the third picture down. In the fourth picture we have a young boy on the podium, so I would guess a school or an orphanage.

Just a wild guess, but that terrain and vegetation looks more like north central California than southern.

Cheers,

Earl
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  #53864  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 2:23 AM
CityBoyDoug CityBoyDoug is offline
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Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
Does anyone recognize this cluster of buildings, obviously then new--a school, an asylum...? Have we seen it before on NLA?




Cliff Wesselmann
OK, I give up....what and where is this?

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  #53865  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 5:37 AM
Lorendoc Lorendoc is offline
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2100 Sunset Plaza Drive

I enjoyed reading the memories of 2100 Sunset Plaza Drive recently posted. This address is not far from my house. I have a dim memory that when I moved in (1988) the previous owner gave me a newspaper clipping about the Fields property that involved some crime whose details I do not remember. I wondered if I could find out what it was all about.

Here is the property as it looked this afternoon:



The address shows up in the Times in the '30s as the "French Norman" style chateau of silent film comedian Chester Conklin. The mid '30s must have been tough times for him because his furnishings went on the auction block twice, in 1935 and 1937:


LAT 9-8-35 via newspapers.com


LAT 10-19-37 via newspapers.com

As can be seen from the first photo, 2100 Sunset Plaza has undergone multiple additions, which include a tennis court, observatory, disco, etc. The LADBS provided the date and perpetrator of these "upgrades": 1977 and one Joel D. Nelson:


LADBS

In the 70s and 80s, Joel D. Nelson was a frequent subject of stories in the Times, as was his wife:



San Pedro Pilot 10-17-78 via newspapers.com

I think I remember those billboards. Alas, all good things must come to an end. Front page news on January 20, 1982:



LAT via newspapers.com

Arrested!


LAT 6-6-84 via newspapers.com

The inevitable plea bargain:


LAT 8-28-84 via newspapers.com

And the sentence:


LAT 1-9-85 via newspapers.com

A few years later, an LA Times writer had an attack of snark:


LAT 8-29-88 via newspapers.com

Nelson's second wife is still active in the entertainment industry, at least according to her Wiki page:


Wikipedia retrieved 2-28-20

Unfortunately, the Conklin/Fields/Nelson house does not look long for this world:


my photo

I am not sure I understand the intent of the bars on the facades, looks rather jail-like.

Richard Landry's Wiki page calls him the "King of the Megamansion." Wonderful.

Last edited by Lorendoc; Feb 29, 2020 at 6:05 AM.
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  #53866  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 5:47 AM
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What a shame they couldn't keep it in operation as a post office. As a performing arts space I assume access is strictly controlled, whereas when it was a P.O. anyone could walk in at any time, during business hours.

When my brother and I were kids we found out that it was a whispering gallery; if the two of us stood at two particular spots near either end of the hall, we could hear each other whisper.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA View Post
Exterior of the former Beverly Hills Post Office:
_8160009-1 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

Main Lobby of the former Post Office:

_8160011-1 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr
__________________
The new Wandering In L.A. post is published!

This Is Probably The Oldest Intact School Building In L.A.
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  #53867  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 6:15 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post
Does anyone recognize this cluster of buildings, obviously then new--a school, an asylum...? Have we seen it before on NLA?



Cliff Wesselmann
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaliNative View Post
My guess would be the old Camarillo State Mental Hospital? The hills look right, with a few scattered oaks. Now a state college. Just a guess. The gathering of people in top hats, looks like a grand opening. The fat guy at the podium, the governor, or maybe the warden????

We are looking at the dedication ceremony for the Tehachapi Women's Prison on May 22, 1932. The guy in the top hat on stage on both photos
appears to be California Governor James Rolph (the kid with the striped cap is in both photos, too). I don't know who the fat guy is, but he's on
the left in this other photo.



UCLA


Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1932 (partial article):



ProQuest via LAPL


The above-mentioned verdant Cummings Valley is here. And e_r posted about Clara Phillips in 2014.

More Tehachapi prison-related photos at Calisphere.



Great post on 2100 Sunset Plaza, Lorendoc!
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  #53868  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 7:14 AM
malumot malumot is offline
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Verdant? And BTW.......what's with that California State Flag? Looks like it was stitched together by grade schoolers!

So when Brigid O'Shaughnessy moved in it was still fairly new.....

"......Well, if you get a good break, you'll be out of Tehachapi in 20 years and you can come back to me then. I hope they don't hang you, precious, by that sweet neck...Yes, angel, I'm gonna send you over. The chances are you'll get off with life. That means if you're a good girl, you'll be out in 20 years. I'll be waiting for you. If they hang you, I'll always remember you........

FYI......that brand spanking new facility only lived 20 years......." After the 1952 Kern County earthquake on July 21, "made the brick dormitories unsafe", the institution was closed and the 417 prisoners were sent to the new California Institution for Women in Corona....."




------------------------------

The women's prison has been frequently mentioned in popular film and radio, particularly during the noir era.

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
Double Indemnity (1944)
Nocturne (1946)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
The Hunted (1948)
Criss Cross (1949)
The Story of Molly X (1949)
1001 Rabbit Tales (1982)
The Black Echo, 1991
Duckman episode title "Noir Gang" (1996)
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon (page 106 (Italian translation)) (2009)
Dragnet radio drama series
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  #53869  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 8:23 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug View Post
OK, I give up....what and where is this?

Matron Alva Brittain in the kitchen of the luxurious prison for women at Tehachapi...1933


rainbow


Last edited by CityBoyDoug; Feb 29, 2020 at 7:47 PM.
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  #53870  
Old Posted Feb 29, 2020, 12:21 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flyingwedge View Post
We are looking at the dedication ceremony for the Tehachapi Women's Prison on May 22, 1932. The guy in the top hat on stage on both photos
appears to be California Governor James Rolph (the kid with the striped cap is in both photos, too). I don't know who the fat guy is, but he's on
the left

Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1932 (partial article):

ProQuest via LAPL

Thanks FW--I thought it could have been a mental hospital but never thought prison-- the architecture for a prison, during the Depression, is amazing. As malumothas said, it seems the buildings were compromised by the Kern County earthquake of July 21, 1952, and then apparently torn down.


Here a picture of actress Madge Meredith being freed from Tehachapi prison on July 15, 1951--looks leafy compared to the dedication pictures, but apparently these are the facility's gates:




I found only one mention of Madge on NLA here


More on her story here:

http://1947project.blogspot.com/2005...or-kidnap.html

Last edited by GaylordWilshire; Feb 29, 2020 at 1:02 PM.
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  #53871  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2020, 12:50 AM
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709 South Broadway

As you know, acquiring a postcard prompts my interest in the address's often diverse experiences over a span of time . . .



LA Herland, June 11, 1908



LA Herald, July 14, 1908



LA Times, August 29, 1913



LA Herald, August 14, 1914



LA Herald, December 29, 1915



LA Times, August 25, 1918



LA Herald, April 3, 1920



LA Times, August 27, 1920



LA Times, April 16 1922



odinthor collection



LA Times, March 10, 1931



LA Times, December 29, 1931



LA Times, November 10, 1933
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  #53872  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2020, 6:44 AM
malumot malumot is offline
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LA Times, August 27, 1920-------------------



Egads! Isn't that what Pioneer women wore? But by the 40s.......MUCH more stylish. Light years in just one generation.

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  #53873  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2020, 10:34 AM
BillinGlendaleCA BillinGlendaleCA is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm! View Post
What a shame they couldn't keep it in operation as a post office. As a performing arts space I assume access is strictly controlled, whereas when it was a P.O. anyone could walk in at any time, during business hours.

When my brother and I were kids we found out that it was a whispering gallery; if the two of us stood at two particular spots near either end of the hall, we could hear each other whisper.
I just wandered in, the old post office serves more as a lobby for the performing arts space.
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  #53874  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2020, 1:01 PM
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GaylordWilshire GaylordWilshire is offline
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LAPL


Ran across this ad in the 1908 CD and was going to post it by itself for its artistic merits. Then I decided to dig a little further.
Interestingly, there is an optical shop in the space today. It's part of the Sun Drug Company Building at the nwc of Broadway & Fifth,
which I think we've seen on NLA before.





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  #53875  
Old Posted Mar 1, 2020, 9:10 PM
BDiH BDiH is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post

LAPL

Ran across this ad in the 1908 CD and was going to post it by itself for its artistic merits. Then I decided to dig a little further.
Interestingly, there is an optical shop in the space today. It's part of the Sun Drug Company Building at the nwc of Broadway & Fifth,
which I think we've seen on NLA before.
Haven't seen the name Marshutz in ages. They had an office on Hollywood Boulevard, close to Rector's Admiral Theatre and Orange Julius. I was a patient in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Last edited by BDiH; Mar 1, 2020 at 9:14 PM. Reason: typo
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  #53876  
Old Posted Mar 2, 2020, 10:22 PM
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A mystery from the Jean Howard Papers at the University of Wyoming.


LINK






A closer look at the sign

detail

by the office of
John Woolf
8450 Melrose Place
Phone YO - 0108



But where is this house with the spiral(!) staircase in the front foyer.


LINK

One of the lovely ladies is Mrs. Gary (Rocky) Cooper. I imagine she's the one of the right. (my guess is grandmother, daughter and mother)









Lastly, here's a closer look at the house minus the women. I believe this style would be classified as 'Hollywood Regency'.


LINK

So where is this house . . .Beverly Hills? . . .Bel Air? . . .Trousdale Estate?

The archive at the University of Wyoming doesn't say.



.
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  #53877  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2020, 7:41 AM
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I don't believe we have seen the following two snapshots.



eBay

Rue Los Angeles, California...April 1902...R. C.

I believe the Hotel Ramona is down the street on the left. It was located on the SW corner of Spring & Second Street. (per 1893 city directory)







mystery street corner.


eBay

A Los Angeles, California...April 1902...R. C.

There is an old wooden street sign high on the pole at the corner but it's impossible to read.







So you didn't take my word for it.


detail

Impossible.


.
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  #53878  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2020, 7:54 AM
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This next snapshot appears to have been taken in the 1920s.


eBay

My guess would be. . .squints . . . where Santa Monica Canyon meets the ocean.

.
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  #53879  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2020, 8:09 AM
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Remember this sign in my post from yesterday.


skyscraperpage





I just located a photograph of John Woolf posing in front of his office at 8450 Melrose Place.



Vanityfair

He is the person responsible for the Hollywood Regency architectural 'style'. (a precursor to post-modern architecture) We have no doubt talked about him previously on NLA)


Here is an abbreviated list of his work.

• Cary Grant, 9966 Beverly Grove Drive, Los Angeles.
• Errol Flynn, 7740 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles.
• Vincente Minnelli and Judy Garland, 8850 Evanview Drive, Los Angeles.
• Barbara Stanwyck, 273 South Glen Boulevard, Los Angeles.
• Ira and Leonore Gershwin, 1021 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills.
• Fanny Brice, 312 North Faring Road, Los Angeles.
• Bob Hope, 10346 Moorpark Street, North Hollywood.
• Agnes Moorehead, 1023 North Roxbury Drive, Beverly Hills.
• Ronald Colman, 1003 Summit Drive, Beverly Hills.
• Charles Feldman and Jean Howard, 2000 Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles.
• Lillian Gish, Trancas Beach, Malibu.
• Mervyn LeRoy, 332 St. Cloud Road, Bel Air.
• Paul Lynde, 103 Robin Drive, Los Angeles.
• Ray Milland, 10664 Bellagio Road, Los Angeles.
• Ricardo and Georgiana Montalban, 9256 Robin Drive, Los Angeles.
• Loretta Young, 8313 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles.
• Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, 9191 St. Ives Drive, Beverly Hills.


This guy's life is all kinds of interesting. He adopted his gay lover as his son. . .and then later in life, he adopted another gay man as his son. (total: two sons!)


I have only heard of one other gay gentleman who has done this. . .Robert Allerton of Chicago.


An indepth article on John Woolf's life:....Vanityfair

wiki: Robert Allerton



.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Mar 3, 2020 at 8:38 AM.
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  #53880  
Old Posted Mar 3, 2020, 3:55 PM
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Scott Charles Scott Charles is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lorendoc View Post
I enjoyed reading the memories of 2100 Sunset Plaza Drive recently posted. This address is not far from my house. I have a dim memory that when I moved in (1988) the previous owner gave me a newspaper clipping about the Fields property that involved some crime whose details I do not remember. I wondered if I could find out what it was all about.

Here is the property as it looked this afternoon:

Thanks for the info, Lorendoc! That photo is much clearer than what you can see on Google Maps.

I didn't notice the observatory when I visited, but I did visit the disco, and I did see the elevator (though I did not ride in it) - as I noted, I was the only person in the house and was afraid of getting trapped if the old thing broke down. This was before I had a cellphone!
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