noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I hadn't noticed the two smaller cartouches above the first floor windows.

It just keeps getting worse.
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[HossC]

We're off to college for today's Julius Shulman post. This is "Job 5629: Richard Poper, Long Beach City College, Student Center (Long Beach, Calif.), 1978".



Anyone fancy a game of Space Wars?



Both from Getty Research Institute

As far as I can tell, the first picture is looking at the south-west corner of the building in the center of the view below (near the white vehicle).


GSV

It's building E on this map.


www.mappery.com

[riichkay]

Can't remember if we've seen this picture. Yet another photo of the Strip, this one at the Palm/Holloway intersection, 1966. The Budget Rent a Car site would eventually house Tower Records.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Andys

I believe the building in the hilltop distance would be Forest Lawn.

This building Andys?


google_earth


So the streetcars would be in the vicinity Los Feliz Blvd/Rd and Brand Blvd?


google



Here's the 1954 Kodachrome slide again.

ebay
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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Excellent post on Pierre Koenig's Case Study House #21 Hoss. (I meant to tell you earlier but I kept getting sidetracked)

I forgot to post this at the time. Above the Case Study House #21, there appears to be a small platform on the hillside. It's reached by a zig-zag of steps from the road above, but doesn't seem to be connected to any of the houses. To the left, there are tracks going across and down the hill. The road at the top is private, so the Googlemobile isn't allowed along to give us any clues. Does anyone know what it is?


Google Maps

BTW. You should've warned HenryHuntington that the Jacques Tati clip starts with a Renault Dauphine - it may bring back bad memories .

[ethereal_reality]

That has really piqued my interest Hoss. (and you know how I love a mystery )

So lets see...



The plants are on a grid so the small building could be a storage shed for gardening tools (even though it looks more like a 'Lookout'/ Deer Blind)

And the plants make me think Lavender garden. (odinthor?)

Or perhaps the plants are meant to stabilize the hill so the property owner can eventually build on the upper portion of the slope.

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This building Andys?


google_earth

So the streetcars would be in the vicinity Los Feliz Blvd/Rd and Brand Blvd?


google

Looking at the angle of the Forest Lawn building, I'd say it's more likely that the 1954 picture was taken on Glendale Boulevard where the railroad tracks cross. The image below is from 1952.


Historic Aerials

The grade separation took place sometime before 1964, so it's impossible to get an exact "now" picture.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

I believe you're right Hoss. I always forget which streets had the streetcar tracks. -Duh!

[ethereal_reality]

Here's another interesting slide I found last night.

It shows the Alhambra Freight Station in January 1949.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/TROLLEY-215-...QAAOSwHMJYOHgT

It looks like a winter storm approaching in the distance on the right.

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[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

That has really piqued my interest Hoss. (and you know how I love a mystery )

So lets see...



The plants are on a grid so the small building could be a storage shed for gardening tools (even though it looks more like a 'Lookout'/ Deer Blind)

And the plants make me think Lavender garden. (odinthor?)

Or perhaps the plants are meant to stabilize the hill so the property owner can eventually build on the upper portion of the slope.

__

I vote hill stabilization. The sight reminds me of what an uncle and aunt did with a slope down from their Lake Elsinore place (what they did = "plant stuff in rows to keep the soil there instead of in the lake").

[ethereal_reality]

I agree, but that doesn't explain the elaborate stone stairs and the hut.

...someone needs to traipse up there and get a better look.
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[Slauson Slim]

I thought the same thing about that awful house in Mon Uncle.

[FredH]

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;7636666]




I've been trying to figure out what the 'chrome-orb-thingy' is that's in the hallway. (behind the cactus plants)

Is it a rather uninspired decorative fountain or something more utilitarian like a sump-pump? -halfway kidding




If you look closely, the bottom of the rectangular pool is slanted.....from very shallow to deep at the other end.



Oh my, I just now noticed that spray of water hitting the wall. -so this really is a fountain!?




ER - My guess is that the 'chrome-orb-thingy' might be holding the recirculating pump for the little pool.
Also, note the floor drain between the two plants. I guess it is insurance against the damn thing flooding the house.

The whole set up seems rather ugly and amateurish to me. Reminds me of something I might put together.

[ethereal_reality]

FredH, you're not going to believe this but I just discovered another one in the kitchen area!


Look between the ladies' leg and the potted plant


Getty



The upward spray...the orb...the pool.

detail

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

FredH, I just discovered another one in the kitchen area!

Look between the ladies' leg and the potted plant



[...]

OMG--They're multiplying! The dreaded Metallic Tribbles!!!

[FredH]

[QUOTE=HossC;7636863]I forgot to post this at the time. Above the Case Study House #21, there appears to be a small platform on the hillside. It's reached by a zig-zag of steps from the road above, but doesn't seem to be connected to any of the houses. To the left, there are tracks going across and down the hill. The road at the top is private, so the Googlemobile isn't allowed along to give us any clues. Does anyone know what it is?


Google Maps



If you look at the property boundary lines on the Google Map below, it appears that the house (with the red roof) at the top right of your photo, owns the entire space above the house on Wonderland. I think that he has built the series of walls on the hillside to guard against erosion. My guess is that the area to the left (with the straight rows of plants) is his attempt at a fruit orchard of some sort. The guy obviously has some bucks to spend.


Google Maps

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by odinthor

OMG--They're multiplying! The dreaded Metallic Tribbles!!!

[ethereal_reality]

Floor plans for Case Study House #21.


midcentury_homes

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's another interesting slide I found last night.

It shows the Alhambra Freight Station in January 1949.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/TROLLEY-215-...QAAOSwHMJYOHgT

It looks like a winter storm approaching in the distance on the right.

__

But not just any winter storm: the following day, January 10, 1949, would see one of the major snowfalls to affect the Greater Los Angeles area. More on these events here: http://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/c...-its-happened/

The occasion for PE 999 occupying this section of freight-only track was a fantrip. Back in the 1910s-20s, PE cars would meet SP Sunset Route trains at SP's Alhambra Depot and shuttle passengers to the SP Pasadena Depot. This service later was operated by PE motor coaches. This segment of the fantrip commemorated that service.

As for PE 999 itself, it once was the specially-appointed LAP excursion car El Viento. After the Great Merger in 1911, PE rebuilt it as an officer's car. A few years later it was converted back into a standard passenger car but it kept its distinctive five-window ends. This feature made it unique among its 950-class sisters.

[HenryHuntington]

BTW. You should've warned HenryHuntington that the Jacques Tati clip starts with a Renault Dauphine - it may bring back bad memories .

It might make for a popular virtual reality experience - or a short episode of Cars. Maybe someone here could gauge Pixar's interest? :-)