Gentle reader,
This video was shot some weeks back at William S. Hart Park in old Newhall, in the shadow of the beautiful Monterey Style mansion that the motion picture star built to hold his treasured collections of paintings, books, Western and Native American artifacts and relics of a long career.
When Hart died in 1946, he left his property to be enjoyed by the citizens of his adopted home. A house in town, tucked below the Sunset Strip, is now a West Hollywood dog park and acting studio. His grander ranch house museum near the Ventura County line has been on our minds since a proposal was made to break Hart’s will and transfer control from the Natural History Museum to Santa Clarita, a city that didn’t exist when Hart’s estate was settled.
As the proposed transfer moves through the County Board of Supervisors’ report-back stage, and eventually goes to probate court, we continue to advocate for careful consideration of the vulnerability of Hart’s house museum, and the need for it to be in the hands of an accredited museum, with the trained staff, financial resources and security that comes with that.
There is only 1920s movie star’s home in all the world that is still kept intact just as he left it. And as it says outside of the (currently locked) turquoise door, this priceless treasure was dedicated three quarters of a century ago by William S. Hart FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC OF EVERY RACE AND CREED.
We think that’s a gracious gift worth preserving, so we’ll be out in Newhall again soon, pleading the case with decision makers that they are just the temporary caretakers of something that rightly belongs to the future, and it’s beholden on them to honor Hart’s wishes and ensure this house museum remains safe and accessible to its true owners, the people. We’ll keep you posted here and on the preservation advocacy page when there’s any news or opportunity to be heard.
Three walking tours were just added to December’s calendar, including a new true crime outing on Bunker Hill.
• Sunday, December 4 - La Brea Tar Pits Time Travel Trip: an immersive excursion all around Wilshire and Fairfax, the western terminus of the Miracle Mile, on the trail of a layered history that leads from Columbian mammoths foraging in the last Ice Age to today’s construction cranes, with some fascinating detours along the way. Learn more or book your spot here.
• Saturday, December 10 - All Around the Auto Club West Adams History Tour: a stroll featuring early irrigation infrastructure, elegant clubhouses, esoteric faith centers, homeless shelters, gay archives, the surveyor’s edge of Spanish Los Angeles and a spin through the elegant St. James Park National Register District to learn about the ongoing battle to preserve this pocket of 19th century Los Angeles from insensitive development. Learn more or book your spot here.
• Saturday, December 17 - Bunker Noir! True Crime on Los Angeles’ Bunker Hill Tour: join author (and Angels Flight Railway operator) Nathan Marsak as we go out in search of a lost Victorian neighborhood viewed through the bloodstained lens of its murderous history. Learn more or book your spot here.
And we’ve still got room for you to join us on tomorrow’s Halloween tour of Evergreen Cemetery in Boyle Heights, to uncover some of the fascinating stories attached to this massive and beautiful memorial park which since 1877 has been central to the life and death of Los Angeles. Join us, do!
yours for Los Angeles,
Kim & Richard
Esotouric
Psst… 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 this newsletter, vintage Los Angeles webinars available on demand, in-person walking tours, gift certificates and a souvenir shop you can browse in. Or just share this link with other people who care.
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Skid Row's city owned Firehouse #23 has been shuttered for decades—except when Ghostbusters: Afterlife gets access for a trivial filming fee. A local activist has questions—and receipts.
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We''re honored to be part of the Metaphysical.LA’s Halloween publication of Black Box 001: The House, musing on historic preservation as a spiritual exercise, in good company with Molly Lambert, Geoff Manaugh, Cerise Castle, Daveed Kapoor, David Busch-Lilly, etc. The artwork riffs on the historic preservation property tax abuse surrounding the Hotel Cecil wall sign (and we’ve got updates at that link).
Valley Relics Museum threw much of a California State Landmark folk art environment into the back of a truck and the artist's family told them to stop. For advocating for Old Trapper's Lodge, which we were doing before they dug up the sculpted graves, these people are now blaming us. It's nuts.
For more than a century, Baker Coupling has designed and built connecting links for water, sewage and industrial pipe systems from California to Pakistan. Now their Art Deco HQ at 2929 S. Santa Fe is on the market for $13.5 Million, and in the virtual tour you can even creep around the office and see their archives. Did the pandemic kill this venerable legacy business? What will happen to their history and this amazing building?
Hollywood Blvd was once filled with bookstores—and they weren't all clean and classy like Pickwick. Down at the east end, between Vine and Argyle, Universal Books had a weirder clientele. Metro demolished all these buildings, but here’s a lost manuscript found.
There's something wonderful that happens when preservation people come together to plot and scheme. We love this column by Brian Curran of Hollywood Heritage about the passionate advocacy of his new neighbor, James Dastoli.
CORRUPTION CORNER: Troll Alert! There is a creature lurking under the Sixth Street Bridge, and if he catches you, Jose Huizar will bore you to death insisting the span's an improvement over the landmark viaduct that didn't need purple lights to be L.A.'s shining star. Next stop: his RICO trial… The blatant corruption that hollowed out Los Angeles City Hall has finally changed the political conversation, so Zócalo/KCRW can host a panel like "Do We Even Need a City Council?" Yeah, we do, but a very different one… Here's a wild ride from DWP corruption watcher Justin Kloczko: the ratepayer fraud that sent Eric Garcetti's GM David Wright to prison had its origins in a false Russian infrastructure hack story in the Washington Post… The Feds don't want to convict Jose Huizar—they want him to flip on the machine in which he was just a greedy pawn. As pressure trial #2 begins, he has yet to blink. Will he hold out? It's bad for L.A. if he does.
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