You're welcome! Glad to be of service. And as a sort of coda, here's some satellite footage from 1980 showing the church and environs the way you'd remember them:

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/406...30131at419.jpg

When Packard was in residence: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=6512

It looks like the building may have once been freestanding and a little more prominent; given that and its distinctive decoration, it seems odd that so little comes up easily for it. And the two tenants I've found to have occupied the building offer no clue as to its distinctive features: In the 1910s and into the '20s, Campbell and Ward Hardware and Plumbing seems to have occupied the space; from the mid-'20s, it was a local outlet for the national manufacturer Reedcraft...


http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6121/reedcraft.jpgTimes 1925

:previous: Thanks for trying to find out more information on this building GW. I've tried and have failed.
I just noticed that there is a 'medallion' on the side of the building at far left and partially hidden. So I think you were correct in thinking it was once a stand alone building.
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Your photographs were great ProphetM. I love the detail. Thanks for posting them.
Also, I never understood the Bancroft system...so thx for explaining the markings.
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I just 'visited' the medallion building again. Sure enough, there are medallions along both sides.
I would love to see inside that 2nd floor.

http://imageshack.us/a/img12/7021/aa...lions7thst.jpg
gsv
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St. James Park


http://imageshack.us/a/img822/3012/aabstjamesparkdu.jpg
ebay







below: What is that stone triangular thingy?

http://imageshack.us/a/img209/1772/a...lephantear.jpg
ebay






We've seen this postcard before, but the colors are more vibrant than usual.

http://imageshack.us/a/img11/4739/aabstjamesd1.jpg
ebay






I'm not sure what the large square area is for, but there are benches facing it. badminton?

http://imageshack.us/a/img546/4224/aabstjamesumb2.jpg
ebay

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tragic.

http://imageshack.us/a/img818/2971/a...cr1latimes.jpg
http://framework.latimes.com/
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Could this have been an automobile showroom as well?
It's located several doors down from the Howard Motor Co. building, on the same side of the street.

http://imageshack.us/a/img651/7284/a...ecoloradoa.jpg
gsv






The decorative ceramic tiles are really beautiful.

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/1183/aa...coloradoaw.jpg
gsv







detail: I am amazed that the tiles are in such good condition. They also appear along the base of the building.

http://imageshack.us/a/img13/8548/aa...coloradoad.jpg
gsv
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Hollywood Victory Caravan Celebs
 

Looks like Colbert to me (and Davis).

The woman to the right of Benny looks like Mary Livingstone, his wife and professional partner, she who famously worked at the hosiery counter in the May Co on Broadway.

Could that be Dezi Arnaz in the light jacket behind Colbert?

But then there's this from 1942: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopefor...ryCaravan.aspx


and this: http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/118622314.html

Hollywood Victory Caravan film from '45: http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/hopefor...ryCaravan.aspx

LOL, not Davis after all (or Benny & Livingstone). This caption seems fairly reliable
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-P...633%2520PM.jpg
http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/ne...-photo/3231671

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-h...501%2520PM.jpg
Looks like Hedda Hopper/Charlotte Greenwood at the end of this section:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...702%2520PM.jpg
Grant near the center, Charles Boyer on the right?:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A...014%2520PM.jpg

photo first posted by e_r.


Thx for the Munn kznyc2k. The artfully recreated south side was amusing.

Natzel Oldsmobile
 

Well spotted ER. 1253 E. Colorado was once the home of Natzel Oldsmobile.

I haven't found any old photos of the exterior, maybe someone else will have better luck. I'm really curious if all that tile is original.

Here are a couple mid-50's postcards with interior shots, courtesy of automotivetraveler.com

http://www.automotivetraveler.com/im...ornia_1956.jpg
http://www.automotivetraveler.com/im...ornia_1957.jpg

Earlier this century, before the furniture places moved in, it was Aaardvark's Odd Ark "vintage" clothing store, who apparently moved next door into the old Howard building/Packard showroom for a short time, before relocating further West on W. Green St. The tile was there then at least.

http://www.loopnet.com/xnet/mainsite...&Extension=jpg
loopnet

:previous: Thanks for the information gus37. So my guess was right. :)

I remember when Aaardvark's was in this art deco building on Melrose Ave. & Curson Ave. in West Hollywood.

http://imageshack.us/a/img839/936/smelrosecursonave.jpg
gsv
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La Fontaine
 

We've recently seen Country Club Manor and Chateau Elysee (page 591) but a search didn't turn up La Fontaine, on Crescent Heights at Fountain, another grande dame, so here it is, helping us "march backwards into the future" by living in a fantasy past.

Designed and built in 1930 of rose-colored brick by the prolific Leland Bryant, (based on one he'd seen in his European travels) who did the Afton Arms, The Trianon and the Sunset Tower Hotel among others. Signature expansive, gracious apartments with many built-ins, dressing rooms, etc plus huge individual storage rooms in the basement. And I do like a house or building up on a plinth (in this case thanks to the semi-underground parking):

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_...521%2520AM.jpg
westhollywoodpatch.com

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-R...355%2520PM.jpg
gsv

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...731%2520PM.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-k...035%2520PM.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...913%2520AM.jpg
Is that pea gravel?:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...943%2520AM.jpg
An ultra-modern, south-facing 3,000 sq ft owner's unit/penthouse was built out the back in the 60s:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V...116%2520PM.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...613%2520PM.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U...923%2520PM.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...451%2520AM.jpg
lafontainewesthollywood.com

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-I...314%2520PM.jpg
craigslist

More info on other Leland Bryant buildings:
Romanesque Villa: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/0...2ea14a7900666a
Savoy Plaza: http://www.thesavoyplaza.com/history.htm
Trianon: http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/1...ic_trianon.php
Sunset Tower Hotel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunset_Tower
Afton Arms: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=10870
Chatear Laurier: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mic...ke/8001149518/
Villa Francesca: http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mic...001149518/illa

Some other gems on Fountain:
http://intimateexcellent.wordpress.c...leland-bryant/

And some West Hollywood treats: http://www.weho.org/Modules/ShowDocu...ocumentid=10073

:previous: Interesting post on the La Fontaine tovanger2. I like that interior with the fireplace. I wonder what's in the immense attic area.

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I found this on ebay tonight.

We've seen similar views early on in the thread but I don't remember the various signs like the Brunswig Drug Co. billboard.

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/2533/aabebayfind0213.jpg
ebay

I should be able to pick out these streets but I'm not 100% sure, so I checked my old map.

1947 map
http://imageshack.us/a/img39/9643/aabebayfind0213a.jpg

alas, it's still confusing to me. Is that Sunset curving around The Plaza onto Sanchez? how about Alameda St?...
and then there's Ferguson too.

OK. Here's my guess...the photograph shows Ferguson, Olvera and Alameda...with Sunset on the far side of The Plaza


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La Fontaine/Leland Bryant
 

Thank you kind and Glorious Leader. I wish I had some good stories to go with it. I'm hoping GW will ride to my rescue on that score.
Something must have happened there.

I think the attic's probably full of elevator stacks, the water tank and other mechanicals and lots of that 3,000 sq ft penthouse:
Looks like the ceilings extend above the beams into the attic area:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...803%2520PM.jpg
lafontainewesthollywood.com

More interior shots here:
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/0...a_fontaine.php

I think that's Sunset passing the north end of the Plaza then turning into Bellevue as it rounds the corner with the white building on it before meeting Alameda at an angle. Ferguson on the left. Olvera St buried in the block on the right. (?) (My '48 Gillespie's Guide has tiny type.) Anyway, we're on the Union Station block, corner of Macy. (see ProphetM's corrections on the next page)


P.S.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-N...937%2520PM.jpg
google maps

The building with the stepped gable ends is still there, the white building in the old photo is next to it, now with a peaked roof and some new "Spainish" arches at its base (man, Christine Sterling musta been working overtime). The church behind it also appears in both images. One can also see the shadow of the triangular block in the foreground of the old photo in the google maps image. And hey, there's the Avila Adobe

:previous: I'm seeing it much clearer now. I didn't even notice Bellevue. Hmmm....
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Another photograph (a reprint) from ebay tonight. Looking up Broadway toward the Bradbury Building and the old City Hall
(before it's tower was truncated).

The Geneva Restaurant doesn't ring a bell, but the elaborate building it's in looks familiar.
I wonder what kind of makeshift stand is in the empty lot next door? It looks like there are easels involved- caricatures?

http://imageshack.us/a/img842/5905/a...aurantebay.jpg
ebay

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Hello All, my name is Brad and Live in Tulsa. I have been studying this site for nearly 2 years with no intention of ever joining but just learning as much as I can of L.A. !

Being from the plains states I am fascinated by the current and long lost tunnels of Bunker Hill, the hill area itself and the beautiful buildings most which are gone.
I was watching an early episode of Adam-12 and in the opening credits I see these these large black circular tanks which intrigued me due to their size, so started trying to google them which finally led me to this site and the rest is history.

The reason I joined is because there is something driving me crazy dealing with the tunnels. At the intersection of Hill & Temple on the NWC (?) there is a single tunnel heading north. Someone please tell what this tunnel is and where does it come out ?

Hi Brad, welcome to the thread. Hill Street proper continues across Temple and up the slope of Fort Moore Hill. But the P&E tracks bend to the west and cross Temple at an angle and enter a tunnel that carries them under Fort Moore Hill pretty much directly under the old Los Angeles High School building up on the hill near California Street and Hill St. This tunnel is sometimes referred to as the second Hill Street tunnel or Hill Street tunnel number two.

Here's a shot of the intersection but I'm afraid shows little of the actual tunnel entrance which is just barely out of frame on the left...(and no, that's not Burt Lancaster coming up the sidewalk...)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8...72ab1488_o.jpg
Hill Street Tunnel at Temple, 1945

Small businesses and dilapidated hotels and apartments are in this view looking north from the top of the Hill Street Tunnel which was bored through a part of Bunker Hill in 1909 and connects Hill Street from First to Temple. The tunnel has two lanes; one for streetcars, left, and one for automotive traffic. A northbound Pacific Red Car stops for passengers. It will continue across Temple and then bend slightly left (west) and enter a tunnel which will carry it under Fort Moore Hill and come out on the north side adjacent to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hill Street. A billboard for "Rice Krispies" with its "Snap, Crackle, Pop", right, is in front of the 'Temp-Hill' Hotel (get it? Temp-Hill, Temple and Hill?? Yeah corny). Center, a billboard for "GMC Trucks" borders a parking lot. At the back of the lot is a billboard for "Eskimo Pie". A man climbs the stairs at the side of the tunnel. The broken balustrade on top is held together by a wooden frame.

LAPL

I realize what I'm looking at now..thx T2.

http://imageshack.us/a/img841/8886/a...powerhouse.jpg



This is the old LARy substation.

http://imageshack.us/a/img96/4433/aa...substation.jpg
http://www.geolocation.ws/v/P/173629...vera-street/en




circa 1913
http://imageshack.us/a/img442/9803/aabebayturbines.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/metroli...ve/2950326027/
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