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  #22801  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 1:46 AM
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I'm not condoning the demolition, just adding information.

The building at 3390 West San Marino Street, known as San Marino Villas, was a three-story luxury Spanish Colonial/Mission Revival style apartment designed by architect H. Monroe Banfield in 1923. It was "destroyed" by a "suspicious" fire just over a year ago - more info in an article on the LAFD's blog. Raw footage of the fire can be seen here. I found the article below in the July/August 2014 edition of Los Angeles Conservancy News (PDF file).



ETA: The fire damage was still clearly visible when the GoogleMobile drove by in February 2014. The LAFD article says that after the fire, "The Department of Building and Safety 'Red Tagged' the structure, deeming it unsafe for entry." Having said that, the exterior looks almost completely intact in the image below, and the guy demolishing the structure in GW's video isn't having an easy time knocking down the walls.


GSV

Last edited by HossC; Jul 25, 2014 at 1:07 PM. Reason: Added GSV image and description.
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  #22802  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:31 AM
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So much destruction....so sad.
__


I found this photograph in an old file of mine.


-labeled dead man's curve, main street in El Segundo, 1928.


I checked El Segundo and there doesn't appear to be any curves on Main Street.

Google_Earth

I'm guessing the vintage photograph shows the north end of Main Street where it confronts the airport (LAX).
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Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 25, 2014 at 2:59 AM.
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  #22803  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:39 AM
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You went to this vet? Did you go to it while it was Dr Jones' or Dr Nichols' practice?
No, I did not go to that Vet Dr. Just speaking in general terms.
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  #22804  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:56 AM
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while we're in the El Segundo area.


-public bath house, south of El Segundo circa 1960.

ebay

I'm not sure if this structure has survived.

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Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 25, 2014 at 3:44 AM.
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  #22805  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 3:14 AM
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....some noirish looking gals, circa 1933.




ebay
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  #22806  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 3:33 AM
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OK..I don't want you to think I'm obsessed with Alvarado Terrace but I just wanted to point out these four interesting homes that surround the old First Church of Christ, Scientist
The architect and designer of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles, is Elmer Grey; this is his account, in part, of this structure:

"The situation is the corner of Alvarado Street and Alvarado Terrace, and a very unusually shaped lot is partly responsible for a decidedly unique plan and equally unusual exterior."

Drawing of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles

"The lot is shaped somewhat like a kite with the pointed or tail end of it facing the intersection of the two streets. The church is planned with its main entrance at this point of intersection. From this point Alvarado Terrace runs down hill at quite a rapid rate, which circumstance has been taken advantage of by placing the Sunday School room with its entrance at the low end of the lot on Alvarado Terrace."

Main Floor Plan - First Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles

"The whole planning of the church has been an endeavor to exemplify that a building should be the logical outcome of the peculiar conditions which happen to pertain to any particular architectural problem, rather than merely a compilation of some historic style mechanically adjusted to a plan, but having little organic relation to it."

Sunday-School Floor Plan

"The main Auditorium is approximately 95 feet x 91 feet in size and seats approximately 1125 persons. Over the Foyer is a Balcony, easily reached by two flights of stairs and seating about 175 additional persons, making a total seating capacity of 1300 people."

Detail of Entrance

A "notable feature is a spacious arcaded porch [see 'Detail of Loggia' photo] on the south side of the building, semi-circular in shape..."; "The porch will look down upon a court which will be planted out with flowers and shrubs as a garden, thus enhancing its attractiveness."

Detail of Loggia

The book The Planning of Christian Science Church Edifices by Elmer Grey shows various photographs of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Los Angeles; a couple of those pictures are included here (see "Detail of Entrance"; "Detail of Loggia"). The photographer of those pictures stepped inside the loggia and snapped a shot of what one would have seen if they were looking in a rather south-westerly direction, across Hoover street:

Detail of Loggia

I spy a belvedere:

More Detail of Loggia [photo edited by me]

That belvedere belongs to the first house of ethereal_reality's posting #6360, a house we've seen various pictures of in Noirish Los Angeles:

1515 South Hoover Street, Los Angeles Google Maps

In "Real Estate Records - Transfers," Los Angeles Herald March 24, 1890, the "W 150 feet of lot 20, block C, Finney tract," was transferred to Henry Gilmore from H. E. Upton, Joseph Daniels and George H. Bonebrake:

Major George H. Bonebrake

Yes, that Bonebrake, of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block:

Bryson-Bonebrake Block

In January 1889, the Bryson-Bonebrake block began building; cost: $300,000; designed by architect Joseph C. Newsom who, at the time, had nearly two dozen of his designs sprouting city-wide. (Los Angeles Herald, "The Building Boom," January 1, 1889.)

The Los Angeles Herald announced the Grand Opening of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block in their February 24, 1889 edition ("A Noble Building"):

- The Spring Street school house (c. 1850) stood in that lot shortly before ground-breaking began on the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.
- The lot comprised of 120 feet on Spring street and 103 feet on Second street.
- The Bryson-Bonebrake had its own loggia "in the finest type of the Romanesque, with pillars of Colton white and black marble."

Let's now return to 1515 South Hoover street where, on March 31, 1901, the city issued P. B. Roy (incorrectly identified as "P. B. Ray" in the Los Angeles Herald's real estate section) a building permit for a two-story frame residence to be built on that lot, for $5,800.

On April 17, 1901, the Los Angeles Herald described 1515 South Hoover's residence as "A Substantial Dwelling House," designed by the architectural team Garrett & Bixby (who we're read about in Noirish Los Angeles as the designers behind the Van Fleet apartments, 230 S. Flower street; see CityBoyDoug's posting #15386). We also a get what appears to be an architect's drawing of the residence:

A Substantial Dwelling House

I believe that when the Los Angeles Herald reported newsworthy P. B. Roy-related items, that there was only one person by that name. With that said, Mr. Roy was, at the time, the proprietor of the Wellington saloon, on West Third street. The noirish aspect enters in at 1:20 AM, January 18, 1902, when he went home after work; there was, per his wife, a burglar in the house. Mr. Roy searched the premises for an hour, but didn't find an intruder. At 3:00 AM, however, the prowler stood in their bedroom and Mrs. Roy screamed. Mr. Roy ran after him, but didn't track the thief down, who had made off with valuables including a $300 diamond stud. The Herald made it attractive to burglars everywhere by reporting in the article ("Porch Climber Takes Roy's Watch and Stud," Los Angeles Herald, January 19, 1902) by describing, in detail, exactly where the owners kept their loot: the burglar "would have secured a great deal more jewelry," located "in the lower drawer of the [bedroom] bureau"; and where to find the tools necessary for a break-in: the porch climber "secured a ladder and chisel in the basement." In fact, three months later, a burglar climbed the rear fence at Mr. Roy's residence at 3:00 AM ("Roy's Bloodless Duel," Los Angeles Herald, April 11, 1902); Mr. Roy and the intruder exchanged gunfire without injuries, and the would-be thief fled.

(Sources:Out West magazine, August 1912, page 71, "The Christian Science Architecture of California," by George Wharton James; book: The Planning of Christian Science Church Edifices, by Elmer Grey)

Last edited by BrysonWilshire; Jul 25, 2014 at 4:07 AM.
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  #22807  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 3:37 AM
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Wonderful post BrysonWilshire! -thank you so much.




old file

The corner of White Oak Avenue and Chatsworth, Grandad Hills (no date)


-could this be the same building? (note the curved shape)

GSV


aerial

google_earth

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  #22808  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 4:21 AM
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My hat's off to you and Noirish Los Angeles, ethereal_reality. It's taken me more than two years to scroll/read/observe the postings made herein; as a result, I've begun to see the City of the Angels through the eyes of one of its "Noirish" citizens. I've lived in Los Angeles since 1977, but I've never seen Los Angeles as Noirish Los Angeles has (not until now, that is).

The building you've noted as being at the corner of White Oak Avenue and Chatsworth, Granada Hills, may very well be the same one in Google maps (now without a second floor, that is). After what I think may have been the Northridge earthquake, the entire second floor of a building on Brand Blvd. in Glendale had to be removed because with it intact, the building had become too unstable (as result of the natural disaster).
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  #22809  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 7:24 AM
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I'm dyin' that is so funny!
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  #22810  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 12:34 PM
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post

I found this photograph in an old file of mine.


-labeled dead man's curve, main street in El Segundo, 1928.
A zoomable version of the picture above is available at the USC Digital Library. They describe it as "Death Curve" on Coast Road at north city limits of El Segundo, from center line of Main Street south of Collingwood Avenue, El Segundo, looking north, Los Angeles County, 1928. I see they put a sign over the road saying "Come Again" - maybe the curve wasn't that deadly .

The earliest image at Historic Aerials is 1953. I've arrowed what I think must be the curve in question. The street it connects with is Main Street.


Historic Aerials

By 1972 the runways have grown, but the original road is still there.


Historic Aerials

You can still see where the old curve was in this 1980 image, but the surface seems to have been dug up. The upper part of the old road looks like it was incorporated into a perimeter road for the airport.


Historic Aerials

The Historic Aerials images from the 2000s look pretty similar to the current Google Maps image below. An extra taxiway has been added between the runways, and the road at the western end has now been re-routed. I've arrowed the short straight section which appears to be the only part that still follows the path of the original road.


Google Maps
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  #22811  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:18 PM
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Wonderful post BrysonWilshire! -thank you so much.




old file

The corner of White Oak Avenue and Chatsworth, Grandad Hills (no date)


-could this be the same building? (note the curved shape)

GSV


aerial

google_earth

__
The County Assessor's office has the original date of the building at that corner as 1927, which would tie in to the older picture. The second date is 1956, which would indicate some remodeling was done around that time. (too early for the Northridge quake) There was an earthquake in Tehachapi in Kern County in 1952 which did cause damage in the valley ( it cracked my living room ceiling from one end to the other). That may have damaged the 1927 building, which was probably un-reinforced masonry, under the stucco. Just a speculation. Water and Power has the photo in their collection listed as the Granada building and notes it was built in the 30's. Anyone want to go pull the building plans and find out?
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  #22812  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 2:48 PM
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post


old file
Quote:
Originally Posted by oldstuff View Post

The County Assessor's office has the original date of the building at that corner as 1927, which would tie in to the older picture. The second date is 1956, which would indicate some remodeling was done around that time. (too early for the Northridge quake) There was an earthquake in Tehachapi in Kern County in 1952 which did cause damage in the valley ( it cracked my living room ceiling from one end to the other). That may have damaged the 1927 building, which was probably un-reinforced masonry, under the stucco. Just a speculation. Water and Power has the photo in their collection listed as the Granada building and notes it was built in the 30's. Anyone want to go pull the building plans and find out?
Water and Power got the picture from the CSUN Oviatt Library Digital Archives. Their description adds a little more info:

"The Granada Building, built in the 1930s, at the corner of White Oak Avenue and Chatsworth Street, circa 1930s. The Char-Mar Malt and Coffee Shop was an early occupant of this Spanish-style building. It was also used as a community meeting center. The offices of California Trust Co., responsible for the sale of much of the land that makes up present-day Granada Hills, were located here as well. It is now a one story building."
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  #22813  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 4:47 PM
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Thanks for the additional information on the Granada Building oldstuff and HossC.
Oh, and for locating the 'death curve' in El Segundo.
__


1913 flood waters. York Blvd. & Avenue 54.

Photo #1

ebay


-a slightly closer look at the corner building...looks like it says York PharmacY.




Photo #2

ebay



Photo #3

ebay



info:

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Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 25, 2014 at 5:22 PM.
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  #22814  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 5:25 PM
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Shriner's Parade float, 1912.


ebay

Not the most beautiful float in the world.

flag detail
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  #22815  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 8:11 PM
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Originally Posted by HossC View Post


I'm not condoning the demolition, just adding information.

The building at 3390 West San Marino Street, known as San Marino Villas, was a three-story luxury Spanish Colonial/Mission Revival style apartment designed by architect H. Monroe Banfield in 1923. It was "destroyed" by a "suspicious" fire just over a year ago - more info in an article on the LAFD's blog. Raw footage of the fire can be seen here. I found the article below in the July/August 2014 edition of Los Angeles Conservancy News (PDF file).



ETA: The fire damage was still clearly visible when the GoogleMobile drove by in February 2014. The LAFD article says that after the fire, "The Department of Building and Safety 'Red Tagged' the structure, deeming it unsafe for entry." Having said that, the exterior looks almost completely intact in the image below, and the guy demolishing the structure in GW's video isn't having an easy time knocking down the walls.


GSV
I used to live across the street from this building in 939 S Serrano. Here's a photo I snapped of the blaze from my rooftop:



The fire seemed pretty suspicious to me. No one living in the building and all of the sudden it burns in the middle of the night? The motive seems pretty clear: the owner wanted to tear it down and build something new, but could not since its a historic structure. So he burned it down so it could be red tagged. Keep in mind this part of Koreatown is extremely dense and there is a school directly behind the building. I don't know if there was any kind of investigation into the cause of the fire but there if not there damn well should have been.
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  #22816  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 8:51 PM
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I didn't want to believe it when GW posted the demolition photograph. What a huge loss, this building was beautiful.
-by the way, your photograph is amazing DistrictDirt.
__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jun 11, 2016 at 2:21 PM.
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  #22817  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 10:13 PM
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1932

laTimes


The rock archway is still there along the Sierra Highway near Newhall.


www.elsmerecanyon.com




svchistory



This view is actually a nursery across from the rock gate. Some believe this old pair of 'monuments' (for alack of a better word) are from the old 'rock zoo'.

www.elsmerecanyon.com

My question is what happened to all the shaped rocks? Are they still on site?
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Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 26, 2014 at 12:00 AM.
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  #22818  
Old Posted Jul 25, 2014, 10:53 PM
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I found this beautiful photograph on ebay a few weeks ago. I believe it's pretty rare.

Playa Del Rey 1880s, Point Ballona

ebay

I've kept it large so you can see the buildings in the distance, especially the ones on the right that are farther away.

__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 25, 2014 at 11:16 PM.
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  #22819  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2014, 12:49 AM
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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
I didn't want to believe it when GW posted the demolition photograph. What a huge loss, this building was so beautiful.
-by the way, your photograph is amazing DistrictDirt.
__
Thanks!
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  #22820  
Old Posted Jul 26, 2014, 2:24 AM
alanlutz alanlutz is offline
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Pershing Drive used to go to Main Street

Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC View Post
A zoomable version of the picture above is available at the USC Digital Library. They describe it as "Death Curve" on Coast Road at north city limits of El Segundo, from center line of Main Street south of Collingwood Avenue, El Segundo, looking north, Los Angeles County, 1928. I see they put a sign over the road saying "Come Again" - maybe the curve wasn't that deadly .

The earliest image at Historic Aerials is 1953. I've arrowed what I think must be the curve in question. The street it connects with is Main Street.


Historic Aerials

By 1972 the runways have grown, but the original road is still there.


Historic Aerials

You can still see where the old curve was in this 1980 image, but the surface seems to have been dug up. The upper part of the old road looks like it was incorporated into a perimeter road for the airport.


Historic Aerials

The Historic Aerials images from the 2000s look pretty similar to the current Google Maps image below. An extra taxiway has been added between the runways, and the road at the western end has now been re-routed. I've arrowed the short straight section which appears to be the only part that still follows the path of the original road.


Google Maps
When I lived in El Segundo, 1963-1973, Main Street used to continue North and curve to the left onto what was Pershing Drive. I used that all the time as a short cut to the 405 N at Culver City instead of taking Sepulveda through the LAX area. When they expanded the runways, they got rid of all the curvy parts of Pershing Drive that went to Main Street. Now it just goes straight and terminates at Imperial Hwy closer to the beach.
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