noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Thank you for figuring all that out G_W.
I thought something was 'off' with the 1986 photo. The streets seemed wrong, but for the life of me I couldn't figure it out.
I googled the Church of Religious Science and it gave me the same address as the 'Florentine' building so I decided to go ahead and post it.

I agree with you, the 'new' building seemed more mid-century modern than anything built after 1986 (the date of the first photo).

You mentioned the address on the steps in the 1986 photo. I am absolutely amazed you could make out '32'.
Several times throughout this thread people have pointed out numbers and letters that are virtually impossible for me to make out.
What gives!?! Do I need to invest in a larger monitor....do I need to have my eyes checked?? I feel like I'm missing out.

________

[ethereal_reality]

I'm drawn to the old apartment buildings in Los Angeles....especially the ones with old signs still on their roofs.

In this case, it's the Superba Apartments at 335 S. Berendo Avenue.


LAPL

above: Notice all the television antennas.....at first I thought they were editor markings.
Much to my surprise the photograph is dated 1962 (I would have guessed much earlier).



below: The Superba Apartments at 335 S. Berendo Avenue as it appears today.


google street view



You can glimpse the old Superba sign in each of these contemporary photographs.




google street view

[GaylordWilshire]

LAPL

[GaylordWilshire]

Paradise Leased

Per Steve Vaught at Paradise Leased, the original caption reads "A Study in Diagonals - A novel and almost cubistic study of the west portal of the Third Street tunnel by Will Connell."


At first I thought it was a gouache, but it seems that Will Connell was a photographer.

Nesster

A commenter on the site on which I found this thought it might be a recent shot, perhaps a gag, what with the clarity of the image and the cheeky "Swell Photographer" slogan. There was, at any rate, a Will Connell, photographer, at 3008 W. 7th:

LAPL


Union Station by Connell:
California Rails/UCR-CMP

And this curiosity:
UCR-CMP
Clicking on the credit reveals something tantalizing, though unfortunately
non-functional, at least on my computer. (I couldn't find a "California
Bourbon Co." in city directories.)

Google Street View
Will Connell's studio at 3008 W 7th today... can't help but want to see a
resemblance, in window details, at least, of the "California Bourbon Co."
facade to it...where there's still a liquor store.

Bio of Will Connell:
http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/collections/p...ve/wc_his.html

[srk1941]

As much as I'd love to take credit for the exceptionally wonderful Paradise Leased blog, that is the good work of Steve Vaught.

But since I'm here, I have a question...

I'm writing a biography of a landscape architect who practiced in Southern California from the middle 1920's through his death in 1953 - Fred Barlow, Jr.

For the majority of that time he worked out of an office on the seventh floor of the Architect's Building, which has been discussed here before:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=170279&page=2

I'm wondering if anyone has seen floor plans or any other interior photographs or drawings of the building? I've only seen photos of the outside.

[Fab Fifties Fan]

While playing around with Google Streetview, I went to see if "Will & Grace" Connell's home on N. Berendo was still around. It's not, having been replaced by a rubber stamp apartment building, but I did come across a beautiful apartment building at Beverly Blvd and N. Berendo.

I scanned the net to see if I could find any history on the Dicksboro Apartments and found this great Dick Whittington photo from 1929.

USC Digital Library/Dick Whittington Collection

3918 Beverly Blvd. today

Google Streetview

~Jon Paul

[GaylordWilshire]

Baldwin Hills Village and the Village Green

srk1941: My apologies--I do know that you are the author of the exceptional Baldwin Hills Village and the Village Green....

[GaylordWilshire]

LAPL

LAPL

LAPL

LAPL

I searched the thread for whatever we might have seen here of the Belmont Hotel fire atop Bunker Hill, but I couldn't find anything...

The story:
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/1...tHotelFire.htm

[Muji]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Headquarters of the Church of Religious Science at 3281 W. 6th Street in 1986.


William Reagh

I was excited to see what this beautiful building looks like today......
but it appears that the 'religious scientists' tore it down and left us with this.


google street view.

What a wonderful find! I live right around the corner of where that building used to be. The modernist church building has actually been around for a lot longer. It looks like the original classical revival structure was replaced by the 4-story Holmes Center office building just to the right of the street view photograph.

[ethereal_reality]

Thank you Muji for clarifying the location of the earlier structure. It's fun to solve little mysteries.

[rick m]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

LAPL

LAPL

LAPL

LAPL

I searched the thread for whatever we might have seen here of the Belmont Hotel fire atop Bunker Hill, but I couldn't find anything...

The story:
http://www.lafire.com/famous_fires/1...tHotelFire.htm

The Belmont was to the west on what became the Crown Hill neighborhood-1/3rd of a mile from Bunker Hill - I think it occurred in the earliest days of the L A times- 1881 or so-- perhaps a bit more on USC site---

[FredH]

Los Angeles Times

Story is here:

http://framework.latimes.com/2010/09...gn-experiment/

[ethereal_reality]

In a city where so much has changed time and time again...it's pretty amazing to come across a structure
that virtually looks the same as it did back in 1929.
...and of all things it's a garage entrance!



below: The I.N.Van Nuys Building garage entrance in 1929.


LAPL





below: The I.N.Van Nuys Building garage entrance today, courtesy of 'KingoftheHill'.
The entrance/exit to the garage look so small...especially for modern automobiles.
Lose the red awnings and you're back in 1929.



KingoftheHill
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=195860


_____

[FredH]

This is a real nice set of pictures and stories of the bombing


Los Angeles Times

Pictures and stories are here:

http://framework.latimes.com/2011/09...eles-times/#/0

(keep clicking through the ads)

[GaylordWilshire]

MAJOR CORRECTION...PLEASE IGNORE MY FANCY STARRED MAP BELOW. I'm not sure now how I arrived at my erroneous placement of the 1935 Religious Science headquarters building (the "Loggia dei Lanzi"), but after seeing this post on the excellent Urban Diachrony, I did some more checking--as the always-scrupulous "UD" blogger cites in his sources, the Times in both 1935 and 1988 refer to the location as the northwest corner of Sixth and New Hampshire, not Vermont. Not sure why I had justified in my mind the church properties being separated as I did. Mea culpa.

Originally Posted by Muji

It looks like the original classical revival structure was replaced by the 4-story Holmes Center office building just to the right of the street view photograph.

Well, I hate to be picayunish, but the United Church of Religious Science headquarters building--the Loggia dei Lanzi knockoff--was on the northwest corner of 6th and Vermont (3223 W 6th); the Founder's Church of Religious Science, flagship congregation of United--the round Paul Williams design--is on the northeast corner of 6th and Berendo (3281 W 6th), almost two blocks west.... This story sort of explains it: http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-...igious-science. Before Founder's built at Berendo, it held services at the Wiltern.

mapquest.com

[ethereal_reality]

LAPL




The garage belonged to this impressive building....the I.N.Van Nuys Building at Seventh and Spring.



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1323138953683




below: The I.N.Van Nuys Building with rooftop sign.



LAPL




below: Rear view of the I.N.Van Nuys Building at left.



LAPL





below: A slightly different view. Anyone have any information on the Hotel Jovita?



LAPL

[ethereal_reality]

While searching for additional information on the I.N.Van Nuys Building.....I discovered there was also a Van Nuys Hotel at 4th & Main Street.
Pictured here in 1905.



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1323139132249

[GaylordWilshire]

http://www.mar-ken.org
The Lawlor Professional School, 5751 Hollywood Blvd.
Story here: http://www.mar-ken.org/history/lawlor.html.
(Anyone know what the arroyo stone columns are for?
Presumably for some sort of gate at Hollywood and Taft
for a real estate development?)

Later Lawlor became actor Reginald Denny's hobby shop:
Hargrave
That story here: http://web.archive.org/web/200807221...ennyplane.html (One guess
as to what's on the corner now. Hint: It's not a gas station or a parking lot.)

Hot Rod Hotline

[ethereal_reality]

The twin KRKD radio towers in the 1930s.



http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...0629/CHS-37221




below: The twin KRKD towers from the opposite direction. (previously posted at the beginning the thread)



LAPL

[3940dxer]

I wrote:...General question: can anyone tell me how, outside of the web, I might find old info, plans, building permits, business name records, and such? My brother suggested Building & Safety. Should I try the Central Library? Other resources? I would like to find more info on the 1518/1520 Cahuenga building, and some other Hollywood addresses.

Another question: Does any have info or an old photo of 524 S. Main St? It's now a fun little place called Nickel Diner, but was also a diner in the old days, maybe a Woolworths cafeteria or coffee shop? I have been unable to find old any photos of it...

rick m replied:Well you must get yourself up to the City Archives on the upperdeck at the large City Services Bldng on Vignes (its behind the MTA headqrtrs) Call them up first to go over your interests so they can pull whatever materials needed. Also- the next time you visit the Nickel Diner - take a gander at the recently hung early-forties street view I found for Monica and Kirsten- It shows that a Woolworths Five and Dime was there during that period. It surprised the hell out of them - comes from a not yet catalogued collection



Rick, many thanks for the suggestion. I had not heard of that agency but will definitely give that a try!

Re Nickel Diner, I was chatting with Kirsten a few weeks ago and she told me about the Woolworth's connection. This surprised me because I had not seen any previous reference on this thread to a Woolworth's at that address, and web searches came up negative. But the other day I saw that on (roughly) page 190 of this thread, someone posted a detailed downtown map that included business names and though some were barely readable, 524 S. Main did seem to be labeled Woolworth's. Funny, as it's such a small space.

She must have told you that the old menu mural on the wall (below, photo by me) is original. Not sure if this had anything to do with Woolworth's, probably it came later.



Anyway, thanks again for your suggestion, I appreciate it!