Gentle reader,
When you love, and fret about, Los Angeles as much as we do, then every crosstown errand is an opportunity to check in on special places in peril.
So when we recently found ourselves in central Hollywood, we had to see what had become of the 5212 Melrose Avenue bungalow court near Paramount Studios that Las Vegas “developer” Steven Molasky (of Molasky Ventures, with its blog not updated since 2020) had allowed to become a blighted wreck after his half-baked boutique art hotel scheme was rejected by the Planning Commission.
Although not a protected landmark, Rosemel Court (architect A.E. Wright, 1921-22) is listed as an historic resource in the city’s own Survey LA database as an “excellent example of a 1920s bungalow court… intact examples of the property type are increasingly rare.”
The compound was considered a potential National Register landmark, and more importantly for Angelenos, had provided naturally occurring affordable workforce housing for a century. But since Molasky bought it, the tenants had been gradually forced out, the units boarded up, broken into, defaced with spray paint and taken over by a colony of feral cats.
The small businesses on the block, Hercules Custom Furniture, Osteria La Buca, 82nd Market and MRV Veracruz (home of excellent banana leaf tamales), and the Colonial Revival bungalow court on Raleigh to the south, were all vulnerable to potential arson or accidental fire, and suffered the negative impacts of the filthy, neglected property and loss of longtime neighbors.
It’s easy to be upset with Steven Molasky for buying a building full of people in and destroying it, and we are. But this is really the City’s fault.
It’s not sufficient to jam the brakes on an ill-conceived project in the planning phases. Landlords with bad ideas are notorious for doing what they want no matter who it hurts. And while no new project was approved here, in the end the vulnerable tenants got forced out, the precious housing units were destroyed, and now it’s just a tagged up vacant lot generating billboard income for an out-of-town speculator.
The complete tale is laid out, with links, in our original newsletter from January 2024.
There’s not much more we can say that Kim doesn’t express in the video above. Just that the loss of any Los Angeles bungalow court is a moral crime, especially when it’s a demolition for no new project, and any councilmember who lets this happen on their watch needs to get a lot more serious about protecting tenants, the environment and historic resources.
We started mapping the city’s bungalow courts after 5720 Waring Avenue a few blocks away suffered a similar fate—tenants pushed out, old plantings ripped out, unhoused people breaking in to take shelter, then the units demolished without permits.
And the map continues to grow, as we get tips from Angelenos who love their local bungalow courts and are keeping an eye out for signs of dereliction or demolition.
In a city filled with vacant lots, aging mini-malls and illegal Airbnbs, there is no need to evict renters and destroy existing housing to “solve” a housing crisis that’s largely manufactured.
On the afternoon we walked the ruined Melrose bungalow parcel, as the cats skittered away and the magic hour rays made all the ugliness glow gold, we found the dust studded with broken tile, as if the wreckers had sledge hammered the old bathrooms and kitchens in their haste to clear the lot.
We hoped to take a little something away, as a keepsake from a place that mattered, but all we saw on the surface was rubble.
It was only as we turned to leave that something familiar glinted in the sun: the top of the Eiffel Tower in gilded porcelain, a souvenir piece left behind when the bungalows were hauled off to the dump.
So la tour eiffel has joined our mini bookshelf museum of pretty things left behind when good buildings and useful infrastructure are needlessly destroyed. These small relics, and some larger ones, are companions that remind us to keep on fighting, in hopes that more of L.A.’s time capsules can retain their power to transport and spark the imagination, while continuing to serve Angelenos as places to live, work and play.
This Saturday’s Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice tour is your chance to explore a side of the historic core of Downtown Los Angeles that seldom sees tourists, as we track a century’s weird kicks and odd amusements, bad girls and bad ideas, with cameos from the Rolling Stones, the Suspender Button King, burlesque queens and a real live mummified Old West outlaw. We’re accompanied on this outing by crime and cosmetics historian Joan “Red” Renner. Join us, do!
And just added to the calendar by popular demand, we’ve added another date to visit the mysterious and magical Dutch Chocolate Shop. The building is on the market and future tour dates are uncertain, so if you’ve been dreaming about seeing this legendary landmark for yourself, and walking the ghost streets of old Bunker Hill with native son Gordon Pattison, sign up for Know Your Downtown L.A. on Sunday, December 8.
Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
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Our work—leading tours and historic preservation and cultural landmark advocacy—is about building a bridge between Los Angeles' past and its future, and not allowing the corrupt, greedy, inept and misguided players who hold present power to destroy the city's soul and body. If you’d like to support our efforts to be the voice of places worth preserving, we have a tip jar and a subscriber edition of our main newsletter, vintage Los Angeles webinars available to stream, in-person tours and a souvenir shop you can browse in. We’ve also got recommended reading bookshelves on Amazon and the Bookshop indie bookstore site. And did you know we offer private versions of our walking tours for groups big or small? Or just share this link with other people who care.
UPCOMING BUS & WALKING TOURS
• Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice Downtown L.A. (Sat. 11/16) • Charles Bukowski’s Westlake (Sat. 11/23) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 12/7) • Know Your Downtown L.A. (Sun. 11/8) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (Sat. 12/14) • Miracle Mile Marvels & Madness (Sun. 12/22) • Human Sacrifice: The Black Dahlia, Elisa Lam, Heidi Planck & Skid Row Slasher (Thurs. 12/26) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 1/18) • Broadway (Sat. 1/25) • Evergreen Cemetery, 1877 (Sat. 2/1) • Film Noir / Real Noir (Sat. 2/8) • The Real Black Dahlia (Sat. 3/1) • Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice Downtown L.A. (Sat. 3/8) • Bunker Hill, Dead and Alive (Sat. 3/15) • Raymond Chandler’s Noir Downtown Los Angeles (Sat. 3/22) • Franklin Village Old Hollywood (Sun. 3/30) • John Fante’s Downtown L.A. (Sat. 4/5) • Angelino Heights & Carroll Avenue (Sat. 4/12) • Leo Politi Loves Los Angeles (Sat. 4/19) • Downtown Los Angeles is for Book Lovers (Sat. 4/26)
CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS
We made some new friends Sunday at Grand Central Market when setting off on a private tour: José A. Jarquin and his marvelous woven maraca rattles made by artisans in Oaxaca. Check out his OaxacArt Etsy shop for sweet gifts that tell a story.
Important information for residents and fans of L.A.'s heritage HPOZ neighborhoods: the old trees are also protected, so when you see a new property owner revving up the chainsaw, say something!
On November 21, 2024 at 10am in Los Angeles City Hall, the Cultural Heritage Commission will consider landmark status for the Sunset Boulevard Arby's Ten Gallon Hat sign. The property owner has hired Teresa Grimes to argue it should be moved off-site or donated to a museum. Do you want to help save the big hat? Members of the public can submit written comments expressing support, call/Zoom in during the hearing, or speak in person. For instructions, see the agenda here, and read the nomination here.
The Academy fired 16 dedicated archivists and librarians on Hallowe'en, striking horror in the hearts of all who love film preservation. Sign the petition urging the Oscars board to reverse the gutting of its knowledge base and save our Hollywood history!
Did you bring your gray tabby cat to the Blessing of the Animals in 1982? Here you are, both looking adorable.
We stopped to check on the aftermath of a building fire and stumbled onto quite possibly the cutest terrazzo storefront in South Los Angeles, featuring two of your favorite things. 80 years later, the Corner Café still charms!
On Wednesday, the Cultural Affairs Commission discussed replacing modern Gardco and Davit streetlights between 6th and 9th in the Broadway Historic Theater District with 1910s style 5 globe Llewellyn S5 electroliers.
Preservation pal Max alerts us to the demolition threat to blacklisted actress Marsha Hunt's beloved Sherman Oaks hacienda, where she lived from 1946 until 2022. Survey LA says they couldn't see enough from the street to assess it. Does this place matter? Marsha sure did!
The most beautifully decorated monument at Calvary Cemetery honors the family of Giacomo Scipione "James" Castruccio, Italian consul, Scottish Rite Mason, Mystic Shriner and proprietor of La Mariposa Market, where early Angelenos got real Italian olive oil.
Now two historic properties associated with Marilyn Monroe are in court over demolition threats. Last month, a judge took jurisdiction over Rockhaven, where her mother Gladys Pearl Baker was institutionalized. We hope this special place can be restored now, and share Friends of Rockhaven's concerns that the city will push for a quick, neutral remodel and lose the priceless patina of the past. With a judge in the mix, there will be opportunities to present preservation options and make good decisions.
Such a sweet sidewalk Easter egg at James M. Wood and Bonnie Brae in the Westlake District: the building that held corner dive bar The Real McCoy was demolished in 1983, but the wreckers left the penny tile entry to shine on.
Have so many appeals ever been filed on one project as are objecting to CBS Television City upzoning? Pretty much every neighbor, commercial and residential, says STOP! Where is the sane city planning voice in this scheme?
We spoke with SF Gate about Echo Park's Carroll Avenue, and how the picture perfect Victorian neighborhood aged backwards, with a little help from City Hall. No, really! And that’s a story we’ll share on the December 7 Angelino Heights tour.
Amazing newsletter comment: "The murals from the Snow White were NOT historic... My mother owned the Snow White Cafe for 25 years, before she lost ownership due to a nasty-politically-driven blackmail plot to strong-arm her out of Hollywood politics...."
Checking in on the legendary Golden Spur neon sign on Route 66, Glendora. The century old roadhouse closed in 2018, then new property owner Easter Seals took the big boot down. We heard it was back, so stopped by on a brutally hot day to find good news... and bad!
La Verne chopped down its greatest tree on October 8, due to an unchecked fungal infection we brought to its attention last winter. This giant could have been saved. Arborists must assess landmark trees regularly! And citizens need to watch out, too.
Heartbroken to see that the Royal Palms has destroyed the weedy steps to nowhere that once led to the home Charles Bukowski and Jane shared in the Aragon Apartments. Not seeing a permit for this ugly cinder block wall, either. Why do this? It was a special spot people rested on. We’ll pay our respects on the next Bukowski tour on 11/23.
The landlord is selling the building and the party's over for Vine-American after 90 (!) years. There won't be anything left to do, see or buy in Los Angeles when this grim era ends, just empty ugly apartment blocks forever. (pic: Ed Ruscha, 1975, Getty)
The Melrose Bungalows are gone, and we're planting our flag in the ruins