noirish Los Angeles - Page 348

ethereal_reality · #**6941** Posted **Mar 21, 2012, 11:02 PM**

great post G_W...very intesting. Mr. Parkinson was a busy man.

_____

This mysterious 'storybook' apt. complex might need some feet on the ground detective work.

I've tried and tried to find more information on this place and have come up with zilch.
This quest started with this short question I found on http://la.curbed.com/

below: The place is located exactly midway between Chaplin Studios and United Artists.
It is located to the right of the N in Hampton and above L in PL.

1947 map

It is virtually impossible to get a good view via the computer.

google street view

I can not find any information about this place and yet there is a Historic Building sign.

below: Is anyone familiar with this type of sign?

google street view

This aerial shows a pretty large complex completely surrounded by other buildings.
The site is on the corner directly about the red A-teardrop.

google street view

Hampton Avenue turns into Pionsettia Place at the curve.

below: detail

Interested in taking a field trip David/3940dxer or sopas_ej?

____

3940dxer · #**6942** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 1:27 AM**

LOL, I knew that request was coming! Will stop by and have a look next time I'm in Hollywood.

BTW, happy to report that my photos here now work again. (Whew! Got a scare when I first noticed they were missing.)

GaylordWilshire · #**6943** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 1:28 AM**

Barnes & Noble

Imagine how flattered I felt when I discovered a new biography of myself...and then I read it. Well, all the material appears to have been dutifully gathered; it's the execution that is such a letdown. It's no secret that all book editors seem to have been taken out back and shot--it seems that no matter the author or publisher these days, typos, repetition, and often worse, are a given. In the case of Henry Gaylord Wilshire: The Millionaire Socialist, however, perhaps I should be fair--an editor is cited, so perhaps the manuscript was in fact even more unpolished than the published work, which is not to say that it's readable. There are long stretches of utterly improbable dialogue; confusing and poorly labeled illustrations; references to London's "Piccadilly Square"; several references to automobiles in Los Angeles...in the 1880s. A review longer than this would only be unkind.

I am torn between wanting to support the efforts of the author, but I cannot in good conscious recommend the purchase of this book...not that I think there was going to be a run on it at Book Soup. Perhaps someday the very interesting Wilshire--which is definitely not to say me--will have a worthwhile biography.

ethereal_reality · #**6944** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 2:20 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

LOL, I knew that request was coming! Will stop by and have a look next time I'm in Hollywood.

Atta' boy David!

ethereal_reality · #**6945** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 3:15 AM**

Some good news today regarding the 1914 Hotel Clark.....view the article here:
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/a...9bb2963f4.html
____

http://www.lapl.org/

The hotel will provide 347 rooms (down from 555 rooms) and two restaurant spaces.

____

ethereal_reality · #**6946** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 3:36 AM**

A view of the Hotel Clark and it's impressive sign (still intact).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_a...8410/lightbox/

____

ethereal_reality · #**6947** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 3:44 AM**

.....just found this really cool photo

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombarn...4377/lightbox/

Fab Fifties Fan · #**6948** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 4:07 AM**

Well, finally back home in San Diego after our road trip to Los Angeles and points north. Would have been much better in L.A. if the weather had not been so rainy/windy!

So now, about the El Mirador. Our firend was able to make me feel better about the future of the building even though many things are still up in the air.

The first positive is that there is now a fairly open line of communication between the property owner, Jerome Nash, and the City of West Hollywood. A style of replacement wimdows has been agreed upon and they are on order.

The city and Nash have made a pact to work in cooperation with each other to ensure that the building does not continue to deteriorate while it remains empty. And now to that point.

Mr. Nash is working with the state to try to vacate the Ellis Act. There is a clause in the act that does allow for applying to vacate it, but, there are a whole lot of hoops to jump through. The biggest is a minimum fine of 12.5% of the buidling's current assessed value (if the building is 50 mil, that would make the minimum fine 6.25 mil, or so). The second is that he would have to offer rent controlled apartments back to the 23 tenants he evicted under Ellis. Their rent would be calculated from the baseline of what they were paying prior to the Ellis declaration.

For their part, the city is working with the county trying to find tax breaks that may help Nash defray some of the intial costs for both the fines and the needed renovations.

Of course, their is a possibility that the request to vacate could be denied. If so, the building will sit empty for 8.5 more years. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

That is the Readers Digest condensed version on what is happening. There is "dirt" of course, but I'll save that for later

~Jon Paul

LAboomer52 · #**6949** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 8:24 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Dave's Web

These gates have been attributed to Paul Williams by one historian; whether or not Williams designed anything that
was actually built at the end of the driveway is unclear. But at least one historian claims that he designed Murphy
Ranch in Rustic Canyon, supposedly a bunker for Nazi sympathizers and intended to be the headquarters for Hitler's
eventual takeover of the U.S.: See Huffington Post and LACurbed.

I know it was touched on a year or so ago:
(LAboomer52's full post here.)

Noise Collusion

hikespeak.com
The exterior and interior of the powerhouse. Did Williams design this? Was the 22-bedroom
main house he drew up ever built?

And more here:
hikespeak.com

I can find no reference in an admittedly cursory check of any reference to Paul Williams having
designed this on any sites devoted to his work.

Thanks GaylordWilshire for the recent pictures of the powerhouse. Me and some friends threw a great midnight halloween party in there back in the early 90's. It was creepy!

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/sep/04/local/me-then4
This LA Times article gives a lot of information about rustic canyon history and states Welton Becket (capital records building) designed some buildings for the Murphy Ranch in 1938,and states that Paul Williams was contacted to design a 22 room mansion in 1941. After Pearl Harbor was attacked the compound was stormed so Williams plans never even made it to blueprint.

Further up this remote canyon is "Camp Josepho", given to the Boy Scouts in 1941 by a Siberian immigrant named Anatol Josepho (1894-1980) who invented the photobooth machine and built his dreamhouse near his friend Will Rogers Estate. Josepho’s is the classic immigration success story: he moved to The United States, struggled, found financial backing, sold the rights to his invention in 1927 for one million dollars (the equivalent of over $12.5 million today) and donated half the money to charity.
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm

http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm
Anatol Josepho, pictured with his wife Ganna, examining a strip of photographic portraits produced by the Photomaton, the automatic photo booth in which the couple sit. (28th March 1927). Ganna, a silent film actress, reportedly pawned her jewelery to help finance the development of her husband's invention.

http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm
Wonder if the producers of "The Artist" saw these pictures of Anatol and his pooch? What about Andy Warhol?

GaylordWilshire · #**6950** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 12:43 PM**

reddit.com

Not sure if this was some sort of Paramount promo, but it does indicate how California became the world in movies.

ethereal_reality · #**6951** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 9:33 PM**

Excellent story & photos about Anatol Josepho and his photomaton LAboomer52. I've never heard of him before your post.

KevinW · #**6952** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 10:16 PM**

This is my favorite book on Wilshire, the Boulevard and the Man:

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Wilshire-Boule...2454447&sr=8-1

oceantracks · #**6953** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 10:19 PM**

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post, and I found the forum last night after seeing "This Gun For Hire" for the first time, and doing LOTS of Google searches trying to find out where the walking bridge in the film was. Then I found this thread. Wonderful!

I'm wondering if any of you remember the film "Chinatown"....there is a page online that shows where some key scenes were done, but was wondering if anyone out there knows where they filmed the sequence where Jack Nicholson goes out to a dry riverbed, and there is some kind of overpass or bridge going over the dry bed. It's a scene that stuck in my mind for years for some reason...starts with him surveying the area with binoculars. Just wondered if anyone knew...

Thanks and great thread...super to see all the old landmarks in LA!

Tom

ethereal_reality · #**6954** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 10:44 PM**

Hi Tom....welcome to the thread.

I'm not sure of the exact location of that particular scene. Our bridge expert sopas_ej probably could tell you though.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/pressplay...own_Frames_and

GaylordWilshire · #**6955** Posted **Mar 22, 2012, 11:11 PM**

Paramount Pictures

GoogleSV

My favorite movie. It's the Foothill Boulevard Bridge over the Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland...

Paramount Pictures

GoogleSV

GoogleSV

I read a few years ago that it had been rebuilt, but retains the same design. Note the V-shaped formation in the hills behind Jake. The lamps and their detail seem to be more or less the same.

ethereal_reality · #**6956** Posted **Mar 23, 2012, 12:28 AM**

You're quite a sleuth Gaylord_Wilshire. Good job!

____

I found these great snapshots of the 1400 block of Miramar near Witmer, circa 1944.

ebay

ebay

below: Reverse side of one of the photos with the location and date (sorry, I'm not sure which one exactly).

ebay

Here is a map of the Miramar & Witmer area. It's up near the top where it says Emerald Drive.

1947 map

This must have been quite a prestigious neighborhood back around the turn of the century. Today not so much.
Only one home in those four photos has survived.

Here is the survivor.

google street view

Notice the HUGE palm tree that used to be on the left side of the front yard is gone.

google street view

below: Here's a larger view to see the many details. The tall chimney is missing on the right side.

google street views

below: This is the quality of 'architecture' on Miramar Street today....this is right next to the home.

google street view

Can you imagine tearing down one of those fine homes and replacing it with something as banal as this.

below: Across the street is a property that has not one but two fences.

google street view

At first I thought this was just a bunch of trees, then I realized it was a little bungalow court. Since the trees were in the way I thought I would view it from above.

I was right that it was a bungalow court but wrong that it was little. The place is huge and judging by the green roofs and architecture it once might have extended all the way to 3rd Street! Interesting property.

google street view

____

oceantracks · #**6957** Posted **Mar 23, 2012, 1:16 AM**

"My favorite movie. It's the Foothill Boulevard Bridge over the Big Tujunga Wash in Sunland..."

Wow super! Exactly what I meant..yeah one of my all time favorites as well. So cool that it looks nearly the same after all this time!.

OK one final one for you guys....I've always read that the caves near the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers" were real...anyone ever go out there for any shots?

This is great stuff. I'm going to have think of all the other great films shot in LA that might have some landmarks surviving and ask up here!

Thanks so much for the shots from "Chinatown"...

Tom

GaylordWilshire · #**6958** Posted **Mar 23, 2012, 1:30 AM**

Those photos are absolutely GREAT finds, e_r--I don't know who the architects were for the lost houses, but we are lucky to have the survivor, the Lewis house at 1425 Miramar--attributed to Joseph Cather Newsom, one of the great L.A./Calif architects of the late Victorian era. He's known for, among other L.A. places, the well-known Sessions house on Carroll Avenue...

LAPL

Back to Miramar Street for a second--it looks like the Lewis house might have an interesting carriage house behind it...

GoogleSV

rick m · #**6959** Posted **Mar 23, 2012, 2:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

You're quite a sleuth Gaylord_Wilshire. Good job!

____

I found these great snapshots of the 1400 block of Miramar near Witmer, circa 1944.

ebay

ebay

below: Reverse side of the photos with the location and date.

ebay

Here is a map of the Miramar & Witmer area. It's up near the top where it says Emerald Drive.

1947 map

This must have been quite a prestigious neighborhood back around the turn of the century. Today not so much.
Only one home in those four photos has survived.

Here is the survivor.

google street view

Notice the HUGE palm tree that used to be on the left side of the front yard is gone.

google street view

below: Here's a larger view to see the many details. The tall chimney is missing on the right side.

google street views

below: This is the quality of 'architecture' on Miramar Street today....this is right next to the home.

google street view

Can you imagine tearing down one of those fine homes and replacing it with something as banal as this.

below: Across the street is a property that has not one but two fences.

google street view

At first I thought this was just a bunch of trees, then I realized it was a little bungalow court. Since the trees were in the way I thought I would view it from above.

I was right that it was a bungalow court but wrong that it was little. The place is huge and judging by the green roofs and architecture it once might have extended all the way to 3rd Street! Interesting property.

google street view

____

Say what !? The very top photo is a view towards the Larronde house on No.Hope-Bunker Hill-- Nicely including 2 of 3 apt houses immediately north of it as well- Arnold Hylen has all these -Ever scoured the California State Library Photo catalog ?-nearly 550 of his images to be studied there-And I might add that all the extant William Fletcher LosAngeles stuff too-- HOT TIP--

ethereal_reality · #**6960** Posted **Mar 23, 2012, 2:16 AM**

oops___my bad. computer hiccup