noirish Los Angeles

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

...on his terms.

Of course, TOV.!!!

CBD previously wrote:

The Hollyhock House:

This home, like all of FLLW's houses, were actually his homes.!! He just let you live in it.

------------------------------------------
Today 7:10 PM
That's what made him one of the four greatest architects of all time. No one has equaled or surpassed him since his death.

[Sorry but Frank Gehry is not even in my top 100.]

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

"c1890s Los Angeles California Streetcars and Railroad Workers Photograph."


http://www.ebay.com/itm/c1890s-Los-A...YAAOSwJcZWd4Lk


Why the shallow ditch running beneath the rails? -note the wood plank crossing it on the left. (maybe it's deeper than it looks)
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Guessing that the ditch is to accommodate water, sewage, or electrical ductwork. Could possible even be for mechanical switching equipment, although that was typically above ground.

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Of course, TOV.!!!

CBD previously wrote:

The Hollyhock House:

This home, like all of FLLW's houses, were actually his homes.!! He just let you live in it.

------------------------------------------
Today 7:10 PM
That's what made him one of the four greatest architects of all time. No one has equaled or surpassed him since his death.

[Sorry but Frank Gehry is not even in my top 100.]

May we please see your personal list of the top 100 architects of all time?

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

May we please see your personal list of the top 100 architects of all time?

Ha.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by sdmichael

Those caves aren't the Bronson Caves. What is shown is an actual glacier, not sure where however. You can see layers of snow/ice as well as glacial moraine. The geology is wrong for the Bronson location.

This is really a guess, but if that is a movie company, you would think that they would not want to go too far from LA for their glacier, so my guess would be "Snow Canyon" at mile marker LA 71.98 on Highway 2 in the Angeles National Forest. It is close enough to be reached and does, when there is enough snow, have the water coming out of the downhill side and sometimes it will make a "through and through cave". Not now, however, since we have had hardly any snow in that part of the mountains. There is a fairly high mountain peak in the background which would also fit.

The date of the picture, if we have it, might give more of a clue since Highway 2 opened in 1949 all the way through. The canyon is on the desert side of the mountains between Wrightwood and Newcomb Ranch and is in the shade of the mountains through most of the day, preserving the ice when it is there.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

That's what made him one of the four greatest architects of all time. No one has equaled or surpassed him since his death.

When I was a student, the owners of one of FLW's houses hired some of us to refinish the home's mahogany over a summer. We lived there on the weekends when the owners were away.

I found myself resenting (b/c all the furniture was built-in) that FLW chose where I would sit and what I would look at. He seemed to be exercising an extraordinary amount of control beyond the grave. I soon got over it b/c it was really no different than a trailer or a yacht (I guess), just on a much larger scale. But, his presence and his ego never left one's thoughts while there.

The Mies building I once lived in had a totally different effect. Extremely pleasant and not near as intrusive, although the charming details of scale and structure made me go, "Aw" a lot. He could turn a set of stairs like no other.

I agree FLW is brilliant.

Who are your other three "greatest"?


P.S.

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

May we please see your personal list of the top 100 architects of all time?

Here's a bunch to pick from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_architects

[Earl Boebert]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Of course, TOV.!!!

CBD previously wrote:

The Hollyhock House:

This home, like all of FLLW's houses, were actually his homes.!! He just let you live in it.

------------------------------------------
Today 7:10 PM
That's what made him one of the four greatest architects of all time. No one has equaled or surpassed him since his death.

[Sorry but Frank Gehry is not even in my top 100.]

A good friend of my wife's lived in a FLW house and we went there often. Nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there, for the reasons tovanger listed. Plus FLW was great as an artist but as a structural engineer, not so much -- so it had all the failings common to much of his work: instabilities, leaks and so forth. The impression it gave me was that I had walked into a museum exhibit where I was supposed to go ooh and aww and then not stick around after closing hours.

Cheers,

Earl

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

When I was a student, the owners of one of FLW's houses hired some of us to refinish the home's mahogany over a summer. We lived there on the weekends when the owners were away.

I found myself resenting (b/c all the furniture was built-in) that FLW chose where I would sit and what I would look at. He seemed to be exercising an extraordinary amount of control beyond the grave. I soon got over it b/c it was really no different than a trailer or a yacht (I guess), just on a much larger scale. But, his presence and his ego never left one's thoughts while there.

The Mies building I once lived in had a totally different effect. Extremely pleasant and not near as intrusive, although the charming details of scale and structure made me go, "Aw" a lot. He could turn a set of stairs like no other.

I agree FLW is brilliant.

Who are your other three "greatest"?


P.S.



Here's a bunch to pick from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_architects

Can't go wrong with .....Ludwig Mies van der Rohe,. His work speaks for itself.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Earl Boebert

...FLW was great as an artist but as a structural engineer, not so much -- so it had all the failings common to much of his work: instabilities, leaks and so forth.

Earl

LOL, yes, even the great Fallingwater almost fell in the water.

The structural problems seemed to be a result of FLW's ego. He had no natural aptitude for engineering, but wouldn't accept any criticism or advice and apparently didn't care what problems his clients were left with. He had to be Wright all the time.

[ericstoltz]

I've been enjoying Noirish LA for some time, and now it's time for me to contribute! So I thought I'd start with an original family photo I hope you will all enjoy.

My maternal great-grandparents Jose Maria Alvarado and Maria de Jesus Garcia de Alvarado were married in San Diego in 1895 and then moved from Ensenada to Los Angeles in 1899. Their first home here was on Bellevue and North Broadway in a house already documented in this forum by MichaelRyerson. My process in finding and identifying this house is documented on my family history blog.

The family's Los Angeles addresses are as follow:

1. 1900: 414 Bellevue Avenue (later Sunset, later Cesar Chavez) at North Broadway
2. 1905: 238 Myers
3. 1906: 1606 Bridge
4. 1907: 717 Bailey apparently until purchasing land in Lankershim
5. 1916: 10939 Fourth Street, Lankershim (today Magnolia Ave in North Hollywood); directory reads only “4th St., Lankershim”
6. 1918: 543 1/2 S. Fremont Ave. (they also kept the store in Lankershim through at least 1930)

I'll share information about other addresses later, but I'd like to start with the address at 10939 Fourth Street in Lankershim. Today this is at the corner of Magnolia Blvd. and Craner St. in North Hollywood.



The Alvarado family lived above the store and had a rooftop garden. In the rear was a public room they rented out for weddings and other special events. Standing in front of the store is my great-grandmother Jesus Alvarado. From the look of her dress this photo appears to be taken in the 1920s; my great-grandfather Jose Maria died in 1920, so this may have been during the time Jesus was running the store alone. The dog's name was Jack.

You can see the adjacent address is 10941 and at least in the original I can even read the labels of some of the cans in the window.

Anyone have anything interesting to share about this area of Lankershim at the time?

[ethereal_reality]

Oh my, that photograph is such a treasure! Thanks for sharing it with us.

_

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by ericstoltz

I've been enjoying Nourish LA for some time, and now it's time for me to contribute!

And contribute you did. Thanks and congratulations, a great initial post. Welcome.

412 Sunset Boulevard

https://www.flickr.com/photos/michae...26138/sizes/o/

[HossC]

The images at the Getty Research Institute have been unavailable (at least for me) for over 24 hours, and I thought I'd have to skip my daily Julius Shulman post. Luckily, I had this one half written. I was hoping to work out the location of this Hody's before posting, but now I'll throw it open to everyone. It's "Job 3061: Hody's (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1960", and the summary says "Van Nuys (Los Angeles, Calif.). Architect unknown. For Bernice Pons Advertising."



The interior shots below are great - I just wish there were more of the outside.









All from Getty Research Institute

I can't find any other pictures of Hody's that match this one, and none of the addresses I've found look right on Historic Aerials. The following notes about Hody's are from gogonotes.blogspot.com:

1960

There were 8 Hody's restaurants in Southern California at this time.

Hody's opened in the Panorama City Shopping Center at Van Nuys and Roscoe Blvd.

1965

Hody's opened at Victory and Sepulveda Blvds in Van Nuys. This Hody's replaced the former Hody's at Venura [sic] Blvd. and Sepulveda Blvd.

The Hody's at 3553 La Brea (at Rodeo) featured expanded service, circular drive-in and a sign pylon rising from the roof was designed by Wayne McCallister.

Can anyone identify the location in the Shulman pictures?

Hopefully, the images at Getty will be available again by tomorrow!

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Tourmaline

Guessing that the ditch is to accommodate water, sewage, or electrical ductwork. Could possible even be for mechanical switching equipment, although that was typically above ground.

I thought that was a zanja too in e_r's 1890s photo, but Harris Newmark remembers,

"Quite naturally with the advent of the settler from the
East and the Middle West, the zanjas, in early years so service-
able both for domestic and irrigation purposes and, therefore,
more or less venerable, came to be looked upon as mere sur-
face-conveyers and public nuisances; a sign, in 1883, at the
corner of Sixth and Olive streets warning teamsters against
crossing the ditch. By 1885, such opposition had developed
that most of the zanjas were condemned, the one extending
from Requena Street to Adams via Figueroa being, if I am
right, one of the last that was buried from view."

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

412 Sunset Boulevard

https://www.flickr.com/photos/michae...26138/sizes/o/

Wait, we know that house, but now I can't find the post :-(

Hi ericstoltz

Looking forward to more from you :-)



P.S.

Oh, n/m, here 's the post: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=11619

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this intriguing photograph earlier this evening on eBay.

Is anyone familiar with a tea house located in Silver Lake in the 1920s?


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Los-Angele...UAAOSwjVVVpavw
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That may be in Pennsylvania:

http://www.poconorecord.com/article/...ures/209250303

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Postcard-Yin...-/201162916646

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Silver-La...-/331162885139

[John Maddox Roberts]

Ericstoltz, are you by any chance the actor/director/producer of the same name? I ask because I'm the author of, well, my own name and I know Eric Stoltz is a Southern California native.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by tovangar2

That may be in Pennsylvania:

http://www.poconorecord.com/article/...ures/209250303

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Postcard-Yin...-/201162916646

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Silver-La...-/331162885139

If the Tea House was really in the Los Angeles area there should be many photos of it and its historical origin because of its unique design....but there isn't. Book'em Danno.

[ericstoltz]

Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts

Ericstoltz, are you by any chance the actor/director/producer of the same name? I ask because I'm the author of, well, my own name and I know Eric Stoltz is a Southern California native.

Sorry, John, I am not the actor.

[ethereal_reality]

re: Chavez Ravine area.

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Here is one last photo showing two women walking up . . . well, I'm not sure where. Could it be Lookout Drive?


LA Daily News/Islandora/UCLA -- http://lit250v.library.ucla.edu/isla...DailyNews%3A27

Hmmmmm....could they be walking along Bishops Road? (in red, below)


bigmaps







Title: Bishops Road [undated]

Summary: "Panoramic view of the Chavez Ravine area, with Bishops Road cutting through."


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=49001



Today, only a tiny portion of Bishops Road has survived. It briefly runs in front of the administration building at Cathedral High School.


gsv

Beautiful building!


glimpse of a small portico in the back. -very charming!

gsv



& just for fun, here's an aerial

google_earth



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