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ConstructDTLA Dec 30, 2014 7:06 PM

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7502/...4cf19671_h.jpgLindbergh Beacon atop City Hall with Grand Park in the foreground by HunterKerhart.com, on Flickr

Earl Boebert Dec 30, 2014 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DTLAdenizen (Post 6859538)
Lindbergh Beacon atop City Hall with Grand Park in the foreground by HunterKerhart.com

Larry Harnisch (ladailymirror.com) ragged on Hizzoner about this, to good effect. What a gorgeous picture.

Cheers,

Earl

Godzilla Dec 31, 2014 12:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorendoc (Post 6859513)
"House of Better Riding"? Sounds like they will teach you how to trot like a pro.

But this was an auto accessory store (hence the spot lights, shock absorbers etc.) at 1740 N. Highland Avenue:

http://i.imgur.com/i3H1fzh.jpg
LAPL-1929 LACD

If you look at the left edge of e_r's post, you can see that there is a cleaning establishment just visible next door. The 1929 CD has a listing for "Napoleon Cleaners and Dyers Inc - 6318 Compton av br 1742 N Highland av" so I think the location is confirmed.

Today there is a six-story apartment/retail complex occupying the SE corner of Yucca and Highland. I like the old structure better.



Could be hidden in plain sight considering the many images posted concerning Hollywood Hotel and its immediate surroundings.


Highland, north of Hollywood Blvd . . .


http://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-co...d-12-27-52.jpghttp://www.pacificelectric.org/wp-co...d-12-27-52.jpg

HossC Dec 31, 2014 1:08 PM

:previous:

Well done on find the Webb's auto accessories store, Lorendoc. All the Googling I did was leading me to Reading, PA, like this article from a 1935 edition of Reading Eagle. It mentions the "House of Better Riding", and says it was a nickname of the Davis Auto Equipment Company. Although I found out a little more about the company, nothing linked it to a possible LA location.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...terRiding1.jpg
news.google.com

I'm sure I remember looking for pictures of this section of North Highland before, and they're surprisingly thin on the ground (the one posted above by Godzilla being one of the exceptions). The detail below is the best I could find of the store in question - the "WEBB" sign from e_r's picture is clearly visible where I've arrowed it. I posted HDL's version of the same panorama back in post #22923. The USC version is larger, but not as smooth.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...terRiding2.jpg
Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

ethereal_reality Dec 31, 2014 7:42 PM

:previous: Good eye HossC; I would have missed that entirely.
Of course we never would have found it without Lorendoc. Thanks buddy.
__

Beautiful photograph of the old Lindbergh Beacon DTLAdenizen.

I've been trying to find this KCET Huell Howser episode on the beacon. http://www.kcet.org/shows/visiting_w...gh-beacon.html
I didn't realize they found it in a city warehouse in the 1990s. I thought it was always on top of city hall; just not turned on.

Did anyone happen to see this episode?

ethereal_reality Dec 31, 2014 8:44 PM

I don't believe we've seen this unique apartment building at 666 S. Bonnie Brae (just off Wilshire Boulevard).


1978
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/tWgIm7.jpg
Anne Laskey at http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=4961087



I was pleasantly surprised to see that it still stands! (it reminds me of some of the places on Bunker Hill)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/LfR6Hi.png
GSV



...but I don't know for how long. (note the sign on the front door below)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/XaRFLA.png
Kansas_sebastian at flickr
__



There's also an interesting apartment building next door. (-also empty)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/633/vEPmKc.png
GSV

By the looks of things, I doubt they'll be around much longer. :( :(
__







I just found this better view of the next door neighbor in 2013.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/909/ucHWTQ.png
Kansas_Sebastian at flickr

Does anyone have any information on these unique apartment buildings?

__

ethereal_reality Dec 31, 2014 11:06 PM

News item from the Eagle Rock Sentinel, 19 August 1981

Here's a nice looking street clock that we might have missed on NLA.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/0Osck3.png
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/TGaAqq.png
Eagle Rock Sentinel


Information, with clock history.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/cK9vqN.png
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/W3dBrj.png
http://cdnc.ucr.edu/


...and the good news; the clock has survived.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/PDfbQ6.png
GSV
__

Beaudry Dec 31, 2014 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6860562)
I don't believe we've seen this unique apartment building at 666 S. Bonnie Brae (just off Wilshire Boulevard).


1978
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/tWgIm7.jpg
Anne Laskey at http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=4961087



I was surprised to see that it still stands! (it reminds me of some of the places on Bunker Hill)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/LfR6Hi.png
GSV



...but I don't know for how long. (note the sign on the front door below)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/XaRFLA.png
Kansas_sebastian at flickr
__

Does anyone have any information on these unique apartment buildings?

__

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8626/...93d75a79_o.png
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7573/...c2bd82a6_b.jpg

666 is marvelous and wonderfully intact—it BETTER get landmarked, and soon. It's an important piece of the Bonnie Brae fabric, and one of our few unmolested Mission apartment buildings (they always tend to lose their parapets and towers and so on). It was built in 1910 and designed by Charles C. Rittenhouse, AKA first Mayor of Tropico (Glendale) and who built about thirty-forty structures around LA. Rittenhouse was quite gifted and that he's largely forgotten now needs to be rectified. (And yes, this does have a certain Bunker Hill quality to it in its massing; relatedly, CCR was the architect of an apartment bldg on Flower btw 2nd and 3rd but I haven't nailed it down yet.) Am unfamiliar with Heather's neighbor to the south so will have to do a little digging there at some point soon.

Here, for example, are two archetypal Ritten-houses (though he did public buildings, churches, etc.), in a Times piece from January 1912—

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8679/...5d0b6d5c_o.png

Obviously, Olympic & Fig, and Flower south of Fifth, don't have these kind of structures any longer...and here's one (long-gone) in a similar Mission vein by Rittenhouse—
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7477/...b9c1bca7_o.png

—not to say there are none extant, here's one over by 666, a block over and half-block down—

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7532/...42332541_b.jpg
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8633/...72e46a17_c.jpg

ethereal_reality Dec 31, 2014 11:24 PM

:previous: Thanks for the additional information Beaudry. -much appreciated.
__




The Garage Beautiful. -capacity 1,000 cars!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/RSh2Rn.png
ebay

Metropolitan Garage LTD.
417 So. Spring Street
Los Angeles

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/HuEuVA.png
ebay


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/YMiCS7.png


General Manager, G.M. Sage
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/TsX8GY.png



The old Metropolitan Garage still stands. (remodeled in 1954)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/910/lKntdO.png
GSV

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/LTiFPE.png
GSV


In 2008, before the economy collapsed, there were plans to convert the 13-story building into a Holiday Inn.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/8izR9z.png
http://blogdowntown.com/2008/01/3093...n-with-history

__

Beaudry Dec 31, 2014 11:36 PM

So here's an image from my collection that I finally scanned, and it got me to thinking, of the (I'd guess) ten people on the planet who'd recognize the location, all ten of them are likely on this thread. New Year's Quiz Time! Where was this taken?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7580/...f8697ee2_h.jpg

(And does the graffito at left say what I think it does? My word!)

ethereal_reality Jan 1, 2015 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaudry (Post 6860686)
666 is marvelous and wonderfully intact—it BETTER get landmarked, and soon. It's an important piece of the Bonnie Brae fabric, and one of our few unmolested Mission apartment buildings (they always tend to lose their parapets and towers and so on). It was built in 1910 and designed by Charles C. Rittenhouse, AKA first Mayor of Tropico (Glendale) and who built about thirty-forty structures around LA. Rittenhouse was quite gifted and that he's largely forgotten now needs to be rectified. (And yes, this does have a certain Bunker Hill quality to it in its massing; relatedly, CCR was the architect of an apartment bldg on Flower btw 2nd and 3rd but I haven't nailed it down yet.)

Beaudry, here's why I'm so worried about 666 S. Bonnie Brae and it's boarded up neighbor.

While searching for additional photos & information on 666. S Bonnie Brae I came across this photograph.*

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/924RpU.png
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kansas...an/8351240485/

It shows the 'Italian Villa Apartments' at 746 S. Burlington Avenue; a block away from 666 S. Bonnie Brae.
It was built in 1922 by Thos. B. Morrison.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...911/pB7nSm.png
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kansas...an/8352300434/


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/i3YxH7.png
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kansas...an/8351240485/


When I drove the google-mobile over to Burlington to check it out, I was startled to see that it has been swallowed up by a mega-unit apartment building.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/ku03DR.png
google_earth

The massive new building stretches from Burlington to Beacon.



below: Here's the former site of the 1922 'Italian Villa Apartments' at 746 S. Burlington Avenue. :(

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/vXXUzh.png
GSV


below: Here's the Beacon Avenue side of the mega-unit apartment building.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/TD3rYo.png
GSV

The new building looks cheap, and the loss of the 'Italian Villa' apartment, that stood on that spot for 90 years, is tragic.
__

UPDATE:

*On flickr, the Kansas_Sebastian photograph of the old 'Italian Villa' is labeled 2013; yet when I went back and looked at the 2007 GSV the 'Italian Villa' was already gone.
Could K_Sebastian have the address wrong? -or is the 2013 date incorrect? Sorry for the confusion....I just noticed this discrepancy.

so-cal-bear Jan 1, 2015 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaudry (Post 6860694)
So here's an image from my collection that I finally scanned, and it got me to thinking, of the (I'd guess) ten people on the planet who'd recognize the location, all ten of them are likely on this thread. New Year's Quiz Time! Where was this taken?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7580/...f8697ee2_h.jpg

(And does the graffito at left say what I think it does? My word!)

My guess. One Bunker Hill or the old So. Cal Edison building on 5th St.?

Happy new year to all! :cheers:

Beaudry Jan 1, 2015 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6860716)
Beaudry, here's why I'm so worried about 666 S. Bonnie Brae and it's boarded up neighbor.

While searching for additional photos & information on 666. S Bonnie Brae I came across this photograph.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/924RpU.png
Kansas_Sebastian at flickr

It shows the 'Italian Villa Apartments' at 746 S. Burlington Avenue; a block away from 666 S. Bonnie Brae.
It was built in 1922 by Thos. B. Morrison.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...911/pB7nSm.png
KansaS_Sebastian at flickr

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/i3YxH7.png


When I drove the google-mobile over to Burlington to check it out, I was startled to see that it has been swallowed up by a mega-unit apartment building.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/ku03DR.png
google_earth

The massive new building stretches from Burlington to Beacon.



below: Here's the former site of the 1922 'Italian Villa Apartments' at 746 S. Burlington Avenue. :(

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/538/vXXUzh.png
GSV


below: Here's the Beacon Avenue side of the mega-unit apartment building.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/TD3rYo.png
GSV

The new building looks cheap, and the loss of the 'Italian Villa' apartment, that stood on that spot for 90 years, is tragic.

__

Tragic is an exceptionally kind word. Italian Villa was remarkable (my God, look at the original inward-opening windows, and the WOOD!), but the City loves its demo permits.

IV was a better building, IMHO, than—for example—than Morrison's Deighton, billed as such: a fully renovated Los Angeles historic building, The Deighton maintains all the charm of a bygone architectural era (from here) so could not the IV have played up its historic charm, rather than be felled for that...thing?

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7541/...c779b548_o.pnghttps://farm8.staticflickr.com/7583/...0fcede36_z.jpg

Beaudry Jan 1, 2015 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by so-cal-bear (Post 6860728)
My guess. One Bunker Hill or the old So. Cal Edison building on 5th St.?

Happy new year to all! :cheers:

DING DING DING! :cheers:

ethereal_reality Jan 1, 2015 1:32 AM

:previous: Well that was fast. ;)
__



I just came across this exceptional sepia postcard of the Briggs Apartments (later renamed the Barbara Worth).

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/913/LbHa3H.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/California-R...item4ae27fc627


reverse (it says there were 52 apartments...I can't read the rest)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/rgRdtP.jpg
__



gsjansen posted this funny snapshot way back in 2010. (the Briggs is visible in the background)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/rfRjUw.jpg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=1289
__

CityBoyDoug Jan 1, 2015 1:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6860770)
:previous: Well that was fast. ;)
__



I just came across this exceptional sepia postcard of the Briggs Apartments (later renamed the Barbara Worth).



reverse (it says there were 52 apartments...I can't read the rest)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/rgRdtP.jpg
__

__

" ...You can see only a small part of it from this picture....it is big - 52 apartments - all have[?] 2 rooms and some four..."

Sometimes people add in shorthand, which I do not know. My mom and her father were shorthand experts...not me. They were both professional secretaries.

Those Who Squirm! Jan 1, 2015 6:08 AM

(I apologize if this has been covered, but with such an enormous thread my computer will not allow me to open this thread in nested view.)

In addition to ProphetB's correction, to which I have taken the liberty to add a link in tovangar2's quote below: Plaza Street was originally the southern edge of the Plaza, skirting the old fire house and the Pico House, and then continuing more or less into Republic Street west of Main. The north side of the Plaza was Marchessault Street, which continued into Church (or Bread) Street.

Tovangar2's initial guess regarding Sunset is basically correct. As initially routed, Sunset Boulevard began more or less as a westward continuation of Marchessault just north of the old church, replacing Church Street; even to this day the original alignment is visible as the main entrance to and driveway through the huge accretion of parking lots that has spread over most of the area. But Bellevue is closer to the modern alignment.

As we all know, Sunset was later realigned to join Macy Street, and still later renamed, in honor of Cesar Chavez. When the realignment took place, I don't know, but it can't have been any earlier than the mid 1950s; maps exist from that time which still show the old alignment for Sunset. For many years, allusions in old sources to the Plaza Church at "Main and Sunset" had puzzled me, and it was only a few weeks ago that I learned the explanation. Perhaps the realignment of Sunset happened when the Plaza was closed to motor traffic.

Some confusion may commonly result from the fact that "Paseo de la Plaza" is a apparently retronym, if you will, devised by the park authorities to mean the entire Plaza, and often used that way when they give their address--125 Paseo De La Plaza.



Quote:

Originally Posted by tovangar2 (Post 5995865)
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


Those Who Squirm! Jan 1, 2015 7:08 AM

He looks like a model in an ad for bathrobes. I realize they didn't usually use Minoxes for this sort of thing, but could this have been some sort of "rough draft" picture, possibly done in great haste and with the intention of submitting the idea to some ad agency board meeting? The need for Ninja like nimbleness and fleetness of foot might also account for the Minox.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beaudry (Post 5150864)
Now here's one y'all haven't seen, I'm guessing, it being a snapshot from your average pile of thrift store snapshots.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4136/...0bf13c88_o.jpg

The only information we have is that it's a stamped Minox print, 16.8.67. So, who was shooting in Los Angeles with a foreign spy camera during the summer of love? And why is this guy in a robe and sandals in the middle of the Bradbury?


ethereal_reality Jan 1, 2015 4:27 PM

1940s negatives of the Los Angeles area on ebay.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/540/PkWLrR.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/N490-19-C-19...item566ec80986





http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/3tHvsi.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/N490-19-C-19...item566ec80986




below: This group of negatives is the most enigmatic. Does anyone recognize this garden setting? (hired musicians...an interesting hillside with a sign and pole lighting at far right)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/908/gSytQR.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/N490-19-C-19...item566ec80986


http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/537/avvjop.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/itm/N490-19-C-19...item566ec80986

HossC Jan 1, 2015 5:30 PM

A Happy New Year to All.

Sheet cake for a New Year's celebration at City Hall. Decorated to resemble a Western Union telegram, it reads, "To all city officials and employees, Los Angeles, Calif., A Happy New Year to All, signed Mayor Fletcher Bowron." - from source, circa 1940.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...wYearCake1.jpg
LAPL

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...wYearCake2.jpg
LAPL


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