Category Archives: Architecture

September 15, 1947: On Rosh Hashanah, a Call to Mobilize for Peace

Posted on September 15, 2025 by lmharnisch

September 15, 1947: For Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Ernest Trattner tells the congregation that “New beginnings come, not in new seasons, but in new attitudes. Solutions of life’s problems come, not in the passing of time, but in self-discipline and self-dedication.” Continue reading →

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Schaber’s Cafeteria and Einar Petersen

Posted on September 1, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory profiles Schaber’s Cafeteria in downtown Los Angeles, which featured murals by Einar Petersen. An encore post from 2012. Continue reading →

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July 22, 1947: TV, Jet Engine, Tucker Car on Display at World Inventors Expo

Posted on July 22, 2025 by lmharnisch

The Tucker is on display at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium as part of an inventors’ exposition. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Longest-Running Movie Studio in Los Angeles

Posted on July 7, 2025 by lmharnisch

Mary Mallory looks at the history of Occidental Studios, longest-running movie studio in Los Angeles Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Film, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Architectural Rambling: Julian Eltinge Home – 1921

Posted on June 5, 2025 by lmharnisch

A visit to the home of Julian Eltinge, in an encore post from 2011. Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Three Lives Of Villa Aurora

Posted on January 9, 2025 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Cats have nine lives. People often experience second or third acts in their lives or careers. Some homes have multiple lives as well, like Villa Aurora, which has experienced three diverse lives, … Continue reading →

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L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Posted on December 8, 2024 by lmharnisch

The Retro Holiday Shopping Guide: Melba Levick’s “The Big Picture: Murals of Los Angeles.” Wonderful paintings, most of them lost. One of my favorite’s is Kent Twitchell’s “Old Woman of the Freeway” featuring actress Lillian Bronson. Continue reading →

Posted in 1988, Architecture, Art & Artists, Books and Authors, Crime and Courts, Downtown, From the Stacks, Hollywood, Latinos, Photography, Preservation, San Fernando Valley, Sports, Zoot Suit | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on L.A. Daily Mirror Retro Holiday Shopping Guide

Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights – Vice Raid and Early TV in Hollywood’s Biggest Storehouse

Posted on October 14, 2024 by lmharnisch

The Hollywood Storage Building as seen in Google Earth. Note: This is an encore post from 2021. Originally Los Angeles’ tallest building when opened in 1926, the Hollywood Storage Building at the southwest corner of Highland Avenue and Santa Monica … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hotel Brevoort, Bohemians’ Outpost on Lexington

Posted on August 27, 2024 by lmharnisch

Long an entertaining trope for many a movie and stage play, the boarding house for theatrical performers offered an opportunity to gather together a colorful band of characters while at the same time providing them a supportive haven and family … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — The Three Lives Of Villa Aurora

Posted on July 23, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Cats have nine lives. People often experience second or third acts in their lives or careers. Some homes have multiple lives as well, like Villa Aurora, which has experienced three diverse lives, … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Frank S. Hoover, Portrait Photographer and Apartment Developer

Posted on June 3, 2024 by lmharnisch

Note: This is an encore post from 2012. Early Hollywood portrait photography developed from the need of stars for portraits to send out looking for roles, and from studios realizing the value of selling their product through stars. Los Angeles … Continue reading →

Posted in 1935, African Americans, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory, Photography | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sam ‘FU’ Zell’s Tacky, Trashy Memorabilia Up for Sale (Updated)

Posted on May 5, 2024 by lmharnisch

Sam “FU” Zell portrait in an automaton titled Zell 2012. Bidding starts at $500. Sam “FU” Zell was man of unusual tastes. That is, if he had any taste, which he didn’t, based on my experience during the debacle of … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Clara Bow’s 1920s Home for Sale, a Cozy Cottage for Star of Silent Films

Posted on April 23, 2024 by lmharnisch

Clara Bow’s former rental at 7576 Hollywood Blvd. is on the market for $1.3 million. Hollywood homes can show a star’s character just as much as any candid portrait. Ostentatious or understated, hip or homey, residences serve as a snapshot … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Highbourne Gardens, Bungalows to Apartments

Posted on January 22, 2024 by lmharnisch

Architect’s rendering of Highbourne Gardens from Architect and Engineer. Real estate development is all about money, expanding and “improving” on property to obtain high financial rewards. HIghbourne Gardens shows the evolution of what is called multi-famlly housing in Los Angeles, … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: 2178 High Tower Drive, L.A.’s First Community Elevator

Posted on January 8, 2024 by lmharnisch

The Tower appeared in the March 24, 1939, installment of Nuestro Pueblo by Joseph Seewerker and Charles Owens of the Los Angeles Times. Note: This is an encore post from 2020. Both marketing gimmick and necessity, the elevator shaft that … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Hollywood Sign Built and Illuminated November-December 1923

Posted on December 8, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Hollywoodland Sign, in a photo published in the Los Angeles Evening Herald, Dec. 8, 1923. Note: This is an encore post from 2017. Originally constructed as a publicity gimmick and branding symbol to help generate sales for a real … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights — Spooky, Ooky Witch’s House Haunts Beverly Hills

Posted on October 16, 2023 by lmharnisch

A sketch of the “The Witch’s House” by Charles Owens from “Nuestro Pueblo,” courtesy of Mary Mallory Note: This is an encore post from 2013. Once upon a time, home design and architecture saluted fantasy and make-believe, and not just … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Landmark Vista Theatre Turns 100

Posted on October 9, 2023 by lmharnisch

The Vista Theatre in 1951, via Water and Power Associates. The Vista Theatre opened October 9, 1923. Built as an upscale house for smaller studio releases, it remains viable even today, as director Quentin Tarantino restores it. One of the … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Casa La Golondrina Cafe, L.A.’s Oldest Brick Building

Posted on October 2, 2023 by lmharnisch

La Golondrina in Screenland magazine, 1930. News came this week that current owners of historic La Golondrina Cafe could soon be foreclosed on by the city of Los Angeles. La Golondrina is the oldest brick building in Los Angeles, possibly … Continue reading →

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Mary Mallory / Hollywood Heights: Clarence Brown Provides Quick Shave to King Gillette Ranch

Posted on August 28, 2023 by lmharnisch

King Camp Gillette dies at the age of 77 in 1932. He gave architect Wallace Neff free rein to built an expansive ranch in Calabasas, but only lived there for a few years before his death. Tennessean Clarence Brown reigned … Continue reading →

Posted in 1928, 1932, Architecture, Hollywood, Hollywood Heights, Mary Mallory | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment