noirish Los Angeles

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Mulwray

Hi Mulwray, I spy the Southwest Museum, Casa de Adobe and the Zeigler residence/Casita Verde in your nice photo, all discussed here.

How are Hollis and Evelyn?

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

e_r,

What's "Government Undertaken Property"?

http://zipcodestreet.net/California/...an-Way/L/1669/

Thanks t2, CBD and Hoss for the information on the 'derelict' property I was curious about.

Originally Posted by HossC

The building's proposed replacement, which will have three 2-bedroom units.


www.smgov.net

What sucks about this, is that the new building (although quite nice) is going to block the view of the building behind it. (there's a vacant lot, with foundation fragments, in-between)


google_earth



One thing I hadn't noticed earlier was that the north side of the run-down building actually has some paint on it (white), and if you look closely there's an old 'abutment' with writing on it. (circled in red below)


gsv


It says ARCADIA TERRACE


detail /gsv

Pretty cool discovery huh!


This led me to the address of the building behind the paintless (except for one side) building on Appian Way.

It's 26 Arcadia Terrace....built in 1915!






I believe this is the first floor. (can you imagine losing this view) That chain-link fence you see is at the vacant lot.


https://hotpads.com/26-arcadia-ter-s...401-u4xc9z/pad



this is the 2nd floor I think (heartbreaking)

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...20484705_zpid/


I'm not sure if the view from the top floor will be blocked as well. It's definitely going to be close.



Last but not least, there's this....



At the bottom is the empty lot I mentioned earlier (with foundation fragments and some long lost steps)

Watch the vimeo video here:
https://vimeo.com/127221794


update:

I just found out #26 Arcadia Terrace's neighbor, #24 Arcadia Terrace is even older, built in 1910! (I haven't had time to look for a picture of it)

So where were these buildings in relation to the old Arcadia Hotel; Arcadia Terrace is no doubt named for the hotel, right?


*In the map below, Arcadia Terrace is marked in BROWN.


zillow

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by C. King

That composite pic was shot at the LACoFD Hq on Eastern Ave in City Terrace. The concrete pad is/was where recruit Firefighters were trained.
The "Tower" is still there, but they have built a building along the left edge of the property. Located at 1320 N. Eastern Ave.

p.s. The fire engines were built locally in LA near Santa Fe Ave and 12th St.

Hope that helps,
Casey

Thanks so much Casey. I appreciate the help.


Here's the tower today with two large tanks that weren't there in the 1960s pic. (note the long line of police cars along Sheriff Road)


google earth

ebay




Just for fun, here's a a side view of the 'tower' (from the 60s era photo), and a very cool looking guard tower. (this view is from Sheriff Road)

gsv

Thanks again Casey!

__

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

google_earth

It says ARCADIA TERRACE


detail /gsv

Pretty cool discovery huh!

__

I never noticed Arcadia Terrace before. It is super anonymous from the street. Thank you for finding it. Looks like someone tried to chop down the Arcadia Terrace marker. I'm glad they didn't succeed.


The empty lot between 26 Arcadia Terrace and the soon-to-be-torn-down building is actually a separate property, #24:

"Rare opportunity to purchase prime ocean view ready to build Beach area lot, steps from the sand. Located on Santa Monica's ONLY gated private walk street; a hidden gem surrounded by an urban paradise. Zoned R3 (3 story multi-family zoning) to allow for single family, condos, or apts. Stunning views would inc ocean, surf, beach, & pier views along the 90 ft of frontage. This parcel was used as a garden to the house next door for over 100 years & has never been developed."

It sold for $2.35M in 2014:

zillow

There's a rundown on all the Arcadia Terrace properties here

[rick m]

Originally Posted by HossC

The property websites seem to refer to the building as 1665 Appian Way (or 1665-1671). From zillow.com:

"1665 Appian Way, Santa Monica, CA is a multiple occupancy home that contains 2,707 sq ft and was built in 1914. It contains 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. This home last sold for $2,200,000 in September 2014."

I found the tiny image below (which I've enlarged slightly) at smgov.net. It appears to show the building's proposed replacement, which will have three 2-bedroom units.


www.smgov.net

Hmmm-- Around 1975 I slept over on the 3rd floor of the Appian Way Apts (a brick structure)-- With my surfer girl lesbian chums Sue and Tania- Lucky enuf to score with the cute lad across the hall-I remember my girls set me up-- That apartment bldng must be long gone...

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by rick m

Lucky enuf to score with the cute lad across the hall.

I don't believe it unless there are photographs.

_

[ethereal_reality]

The recent tricycle posts made me think of this photograph I had stashed away in an old file.


old file

The good looking young man is silent film actor Richard Walling.


Here's he is with Janet Gaynor in 'The Midnight Kiss' [c.1926]






One last look.


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0909227/m...r/rm3214278912


He quit acting in 1929 to become a portrait photographer for First National Studios.

__

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

So where were these buildings in relation to the old Arcadia Hotel; Arcadia Terrace is no doubt named for the hotel, right?

*In the map below, Arcadia Terrace is marked in BROWN.


zillow

__

I forgot to say before, the Arcadia Hotel was on Ocean Ave between Colorado and Pico, so, yes, Arcadia Terrace memorializes it.
The hotel was built in 1887 and torn down in 1909.
Do you think that marker and stairs could be from the days of the hotel?

[ethereal_reality]

I believe this rather remarkable photograph is new to NLA.


https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2015/0...comments-block

"Long Beach, showing the primary parking lot for 'The Pike'. The white building with red roof is the Ocean Center Building at Pine and Ocean and the one
to its right is the old Jergins Trust Building (now gone).

"Parking lots were a lot dirtier back then…….no expansion tanks meant lots of coolant boil-overs……mix in some oil leaks, and you’ve got a real mess." -Ray

"In the foreground, lower left, is the backside of a carbon arc searchlight and the generator power unit." -68Cougar




Today's view. (it's as close to the same angle as I could get) using the google-mobile)


gsv

comments from
https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2015/0...comments-block

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

I forgot to say before, the Arcadia Hotel was on Ocean Ave between Colorado and Pico, so, yes, Arcadia Terrace memorializes it.
The hotel was built in 1887 and torn down in 1909.
Do you think that marker and stairs could be from the days of the hotel?

Wouldn't that be amazing t2! I'd say it's a possibility if the hotel had a prominent terrace area.


gsv

Perhaps this was a special entrance that led directly to the terrace. (otherwise, it should say Arcadia Hotel, obviously)

Also, the style of lettering seems to fit that time period. (as do the vertical niches at the top)

Time for more sleuthing, wouldn't you say.


__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

Rubidoux Drive-in Theater (Riverside, Calif.), 1949"

getty

You can even watch the movie through the large windows.

getty

I couldn't resist.

Anyhoo, that concession stand is really nice. The ones I remember in Illinois and Indiana were plain rectangles built with cinder blocks.


Like this.


defunct_drive_in

Of course it was much nicer when it was open.




Okay, back to the Rubidoux Drive In.

The play area



is just a U-Haul truck now.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/231372499581408305/

It's really too bad that the architecturally significant pylon-'buttresses' were sawed off to accommodate a wider screen. (scroll back to play area pic to compare)








below: I'm curious, is that Rubidoux Mountain in the distance on the right? (it would be fitting....if it were)

detail
Originally post by HossC







Summit of Rubidoux Mountain, 1913.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=18695

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

[...]

It says ARCADIA TERRACE


detail /gsv

Pretty cool discovery huh!

[...]

__

LA Times via ProQuest via CSULB Library

Not sure what we see in the pic could be called a "massive concrete pillar"; but maybe what we see is a subsidiary element based on said pillars...

[tovangar2]

Thank you odinthor!! So this is the last of the four? They should be recreated (and the remaining one repaired).
Maybe things looked more massive in 1911 (?)


......................................................................................................

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Today's view. (it's as close to the same angle as I could get) using the google-mobile)


gsv

The Ocean Center Building was built right on the sand, but then this happened:

"Though originally built next to the shoreline, a number of geological and engineering changes have made it so today there is a long walk to seawater from the Ocean Center Building. When the Long Beach Harbor and breakwater were developed, and the Los Angeles River straightened and levied by the United States
Army Corps of Engineers, the Pacific Ocean no longer swept the alluvial granite sand away and the deposits of sandy beach continued to widen. By the 1950s the sand of the beach had grown so wide that the space between the shoreline and the Ocean Center Building was paved as a parking lot and is now Seaside Way. Coastal landfill continued, the beach filled in, then Shoreline Drive and Shoreline Village were built upon the fill."



google maps


..............................................................


If you happen to have cable, the original of "A Star is Born", "What Price Hollywood?" (1932), directed by Cukor, produced by Selsnick, airs
Thursday, March 2 at 10:30PM on TCM

Constance Bennett (1904-1965) plays a wise-cracking Brown Derby waitress before she hits the big time:

lookback

Also stars Lowell Sherman (1888-1934) as the drunken director, a part the actor/director unfortunately also played in real life. He helmed "She Done Him Wrong"
the year after he played in "What Price Hollywood?" and then died the year after that. He was just 46. A real loss.

Eddie "Rochester" Anderson (1905-1977) makes a very memorable, but uncredited, screen debut and Louise Beavers (1902-1962) is on hand too.

Features a premiere at Grauman's Chinese, a society wedding at Hollywood United Methodist right there at Highland and Franklin and the honest-to-gosh Brown Derby exterior
(the interior is a set) before it was bumped across the street for the Chapman Park Hotel. Good fun.

Based on a story (supposedly inspired by the marriage of Colleen Moore and John McCormick) by Adele Rogers St John


• Video Link


TCM has three short clips too.




siren

[Mulwray]

Originally Posted by JScott

Architecturally, 516-1/2 S. Figueroa does look like it could be from that approximate time period. However, it does not appear in that location on the 1894 Sanborn map.


Los Angeles Public Library/Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970


But it IS there on the 1906 map.


Los Angeles Public Library/Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970


And it still is on the 1955 map.


Los Angeles Public Library/Digital Sanborn Maps 1867-1970


I found our little relict structure in this panoramic photo taken circa 1916. It's the square white building at dead center.


USC Digital Library/California Historical Society: Panoramic view of Los Angeles, showing Sixth Street, Figueroa Street, Flower Street, east side of Sixth Street, ca.1916 (composite detail). Photographer: C.C. Pierce.

Closer:


USC Digital Library/California Historical Society: Panoramic view of Los Angeles, showing Sixth Street, Figueroa Street, Flower Street, east side of Sixth Street, ca.1916 (detail). Photographer: C.C. Pierce.


And closer still. It looks to be in pretty good condition here.


USC Digital Library/California Historical Society: Panoramic view of Los Angeles, showing Sixth Street, Figueroa Street, Flower Street, east side of Sixth Street, ca.1916 (detail). Photographer: C.C. Pierce.


The full set of photos on the USC page is quite remarkable, especially the portion showing the Apartment District in its heyday. Definitely worth a long look-see.


I had a chuckle seeing the big ad on the hilltop in the distance. It appears to read "SILVERWOOD'S $3.00 HATS".


USC Digital Library/California Historical Society: Panoramic view of Los Angeles, showing Sixth Street, Figueroa Street, Flower Street, east side of Sixth Street, ca.1916 (detail). Photographer: C.C. Pierce.

My home on Randall Court on top of Mount Washington happens to be on the site of this hill top sign. I've been finding porcelain sign sockets for years whenever I dig a hole over 6" deep and the home next to me had a concrete footing next to the driveway until the latest owner removed it for new landscape. Below are 2 images I obtained from the Mount Washington historian about 15 years ago when the street was developed by Phillip Randall in about 1949 when my home was built, I understand it was one of the first on the street. Mr. Randall is wearing the hat.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by odinthor

LA Times via ProQuest via CSULB Library

Not sure what we see in the pic could be called a "massive concrete pillar"; but maybe what we see is a subsidiary element based on said pillars...

Here we see some of the entrance at the top, on Ocean Avenue:



487592 @ Huntington Digital Library


This gives a better view of the top entrance:



487590 @ Huntington Digital Library

[tovangar2]

Thank you FW for the photo. It looks all so raw and new.

It looks like there were four of those pillars at the lower entrance, w/ benches spanning them (?)


FW (detail)

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Maybe the larger pillars were at the top of Arcadia Terrace, up on Ocean Avenue, just inside the palm trees?



487592 @ Huntington Digital Library

Thanks FW. This photo clearly explains what is meant by ''Arcadia Terrace".
You can see the posts at the top and bottom of the walkway. We can also see the concrete retaining wall at the left.

Several of the buildings in this old photo are still standing.

Thanks so much for posting.!

Here's a more overall view from 1922. Near the right side we see the old dilapidated building that has now been condemned. The old Arcadia posts are just the the left of that building.


huntington DL

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Here we see some of the entrance at the top, on Ocean Avenue:



487592 @ Huntington Digital Library


This gives a better view of the top entrance:



487590 @ Huntington Digital Library

1669 Appian Way used to have awnings in 1922. lower right side.

Good view T2.

[tovangar2]

The City of Santa Monica takes Arcadia Terrace's right-of-way so seriously that they've painted a crosswalk for it on the bike path:

google maps

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This gives a better view of the top entrance:



487590 @ Huntington Digital Library

Seeing this view, I'd guess the second pair at top and bottom are decorative lampposts. Really does look like benches connecting them at the lower entrance
arounnd that little plaza.

Interesting that all the 1922 buildings are still there, with the possible exception of the No. 25, directly across from No. 26
(No. 25 still seemed to be original in 1979):

google maps


Before & After:

gsv

Not quite the grand entrance it once was.




Thx again e_r, odinthor and FW for the walk back through time.



P.S.

Inside gated Arcadia Terrace. e_r, this is the 1910 building you were looking for (the bay windows were added at some point):

hotel california