1. Impressive hidden gem in the San Fernando Valley
2. Weird!
3. Behind barbed wire
4. A Hollywood landmark that's not in Hollywood
5. A beautiful oceanside villa
6. A hilltop view of the Pacific
We live about 25 miles away, and yet we never knew just how impressive Los Encinos State Historic Park (CHL #689) was.
There is one room just dedicated to telling the story of the building's ongoing preservation, including a thorough explanation of the heavy damage the building sustained in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. We've been to several sites managed by the State Park system, and so far this is absolutely the best in terms of interpretation and story-telling.
We got so excited when we saw this next part of the display!
The S-shaped metalwork in the display may not have meant much to us at all, except for the fact that just last weekend we saw these on the side of the old Sacramento Union building. We looked up and saw this on the side of the building, and wondered what it was. Now we know! The fixture was called a "tie-rod brace," and it was used to add stability to buildings back in the 1800s.
OK, so let's return from Old Sac and come back to Los Encinos. Before we left, Heather and Libi took some time to feed the ducks and geese.
We got a few more shots of the grounds.
This must be a great place for a field trip! As soon as one of Libi's classes is ready to come visit Los Encinos, I will have to take a day to chaperone!
Overall, a wonderful visit to a hidden treasure!
One man's treasure is another man's, "Huh?" And that was exactly my reaction to the next landmark, Old Trapper's Lodge (CHL #939). Old Trapper's Lodge is one of a series of "939" landmarks all around the state. They are all tributes to 20th century folk art, and this was a little strange for my taste. Right next to the animal sciences building on the campus of Pierce College in Woodland Hills are these unusual pieces of art. The first piece was created by artist Claude Bell, and was commissioned by North Hollywood motel owner John Ehl. In his early years, Ehl was a trapper, and wanted to honor both his past and California's pioneer history by commissioning Bell to create a likeness of a young "Trapper John" (below).
After seeing the first piece, Ehl himself apparently thought, "I could do that," and so in 1951 began sculpting the rest of the collection. The collection includes an entire tribute to the Old West and pioneer times, complete with fake Old West tombstones.
Libi was a little creeped out by the whole thing, and refused to be photographed with any of the figures; she would only stand next to the plaque. I have to admit, I was a little weirded out myself. I somehow felt like these statues were like something out of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. It turns out, there was a connection! Remember the original sculptor, Claude Bell? According to Weird California, Bell was also the sculptor of the brightly-colored Giant Dinosaurs of Cabazon. And any true Pee Wee fan will know that the Cabazon dinosaurs featured prominently in the film. To finish the John Ehl story, he died in 1981. In 1985, his motel was set to be demolished to make room for the expansion of the Burbank Airport. The motel was torn down, but not before the sculptures were saved and transferred to Pierce College. Again according to Weird California, every few years a caretaker comes to clean, repair, and re-paint the statues. They even clean up the campus around the display. If only there were dedicated volunteers caring for all of California's landmarks.
We traveled from mysterious upkeep to behind-the-razor-wire neglect. Just beyond this fence in Chatsworth is all that's left of the Chatsworth Calera (CHL #911). From the state: "The Chatsworth Calera is one of the few surviving representative structures of the early 19th century lime industry. This kiln marked the introduction to California of the European industrial process for vitrifying limestone building blocks which were used in the construction of the missions."
The land is owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The fence is as close as we could get.
Our next stop was on the site of the Leonis Adobe in Calabasas, so we headed there next. However, we were also really hungry. Our original thought was to eat at Sagebrush Cantina (it was RIGHT there). But I'm getting cantankerous in my old age, and I just got a bad vibe from that place when we walked up to put our name in. Instead, we walked across the street and stumbled across Pedaler's Fork. It's a restaurant/bicycle shop, they focus on organic, sustainable, ethical food, so we felt good about eating here.
Alright, lunch is done. By the way, the food was delicious. It needed a touch more seasoning, and the kitchen was slammed (our food took over 30 minutes) but overall delicious. I guess they've only been open six months. I would go back. OK, on to Leonis Adobe, and more importantly, to Plummer House (CHL #160).
Plummer House was the oldest house in Hollywood, until threatened with demolition in 1980. Eugenio Plummer and the Leonis family were friends back in the 1870s, so it made sense to the trustees of the Leonis Adobe when the run-down, half burned-down Plummer House was about ready to be destroyed. Today, Plummer House is used as the visitor's center and gift shop for Leonis Adobe.
Eugenio Plummer was an interesting character. He was friends with Buffalo Bill Cody and famous bandit Tiburcio Vasquez. Helen Hunt Jackson, when doing research for her 1884 novel Ramona, consulted with Plummer to find out what old California was like when he was growing up.
From Calabasas, the Ippolito family traveled west along Highway 101 to Malibu, to one of Los Angeles County's greatest hidden treasures: Adamson House (CHL #966). Adamson House was a Spanish Colonial Revival built in 1930, and is known as one of the richest examples of Malibu Potteries.
The exterior is beautiful! It overlooks the Pacific Ocean, and it is very well maintained by California State Parks.
I was able to get one shot of the dining room by holding my phone up to the one window not covered by a screen.
We have to return on a day when the House is open for visitors. In the meantime, we'll have to settle for the beautiful exterior.
When we were looking around the grounds of Adamson House, I got the feeling like I had experienced Malibu Potteries-style tiles before. I did a little research and discovered that Adamson House was built in 1930. During my senior year at UCLA, I was the Resident Assistant at a house for transfer students. The UCLA Office of Residential Life had purchased an old sorority house and converted it into on-campus housing. I spent my senior year of college in 720 Hilgard, and was given the former studio apartment of the sorority house mother. I moved out of that apartment in 1996, but I still remember the tile from bathroom--it was beautiful! I checked real estate records online, and 720 Hilgard was built in the year 1930. Is it possible that Zeta Tau Alpha, when they built their house, contracted with Malibu Potteries? I may never know. The university demolished the old house in 2007 to build brand new graduate housing (I just found this out with a little Internet research). Sniff.
Alright, well now that I've had that sad moment (I guess I should have taken more photos of the inside of my apartment while I had the chance--never thought I would want to reference them 17 years later), let's move on to our final stop on today's journeys: Point Dume (CHL #965). From the state of California: "On November 24, 1793, English explorer George Vancouver, commander of an expedition to determine the extent of settlement of the northwest coast of America, named this rocky promontory, Point Dume, after his Franciscan friend, Father Francisco Dumetz, at Mission San Buenaventura. Point Dume is the western terminus of Santa Monica Bay and has been an important landmark for navigators since Vancouver's voyage in 1793."
This has been our first landmark that was actually a little bit of a hike! But the view was beautiful and well worth it!
In this panorama shot from the promontory, you can see north to Point Magu on the left, and you can see out to Rancho Palos Verdes to the right.
If you are planning a trip to Point Dume, here's the entry point (below). Coordinates are here: N 34° 0' 11.14" W 118° 48' 26.538. In fact, I have placed the coordinates of several of our harder-to-find locations in the Google Docs spreadsheet of all our locations. You can find the spreadsheet by clicking on the link above listed as "Directory of Sites Visited."
We got a few more shots of the grounds.
After seeing the first piece, Ehl himself apparently thought, "I could do that," and so in 1951 began sculpting the rest of the collection. The collection includes an entire tribute to the Old West and pioneer times, complete with fake Old West tombstones.
Alright, well now that I've had that sad moment (I guess I should have taken more photos of the inside of my apartment while I had the chance--never thought I would want to reference them 17 years later), let's move on to our final stop on today's journeys: Point Dume (CHL #965). From the state of California: "On November 24, 1793, English explorer George Vancouver, commander of an expedition to determine the extent of settlement of the northwest coast of America, named this rocky promontory, Point Dume, after his Franciscan friend, Father Francisco Dumetz, at Mission San Buenaventura. Point Dume is the western terminus of Santa Monica Bay and has been an important landmark for navigators since Vancouver's voyage in 1793."
Finally, for you Marvel fans, Point Dume is the location of Tony Stark's fictional hilltop Malibu mansion in the three Iron Man films. Next week: Sylmar and San Fernando!
0 comments:
Post a Comment