Hollywood // Stahl House

Stahl House // Pierre Koenig // 1954

On a beautiful summer’s afternoon we took an evening tour of the Stahl House, also known as Case Study House 22 by Pierre Koenig. We were in awe before we even made it to the house due to the amazing winding drive up from Hollywood where we passed two of Frank Lloyd Wright’s textile block houses.

After being let through the gate and being read the safety rules, the cliff just falls away beyond the pool to an amazing 270 degree view of Los Angeles. The guide told an amazing story of an ordinary couple who used to drive up the hill and admire the view, imagining their dream home on the site. The client was a builder and was interested in modern efficient steel and glass design. So with Keonig they designed a relatively cheap and simple L shaped house, and were convinced to put pool on the site by a real estate advisor friend. It was completed in 1954 for less than $40,000.

The mid century modern house was famously photographed by Julius Schulman and has a tag line of ‘nobody famous ever lived here’…

Hollywood // Pantages Theatre

Hollywood // Los Angeles // 1930s

Opened in the 1930s the Pantages Theatre was a luxury movie house and is presently the site of many broadway musicals including the Lion King, Wicked etc. I love stepping off grotty Hollywood Boulevard, showing my ticket and entering another world, its like stepping into the 1930s with the grand staircases, secret cocktail bar hidden down in the basement under the stairs, luxurious art deco bathrooms and best of all the amazing art deco chandeliers through out the building. The dark lighting makes it impossible to photograph but here are a few of my favourite lanterns;

California Touring // Santa Monica, Venice, Beverly Hills // LA in 1 Day

Start with a walk through Santa Monica, looking at all the beautiful art deco buildings – try not to be distracted by the fabulous newly refurbished shops on the third street promenade.

Hire bikes under the Santa Monica pier and cycle south along the beach to the funky suburb Venica. Pass the trapeze artists on the circus equipment, Muscle beach and all the weird and wonderful sights of Venice Beach, including the skate bowl;

Cycle through the backstreets of Venice looking at all the different types of architecture along the canals.

Further north past Santa Monica, cycle towards Malibu.

Jump back in the car and drive along Sunset Boulevard into Beverly Hills. Get lost trying and failing to find stars homes.

Drive up the weaving streets trying to get as close as possible to the Hollywood sign;

Park next to Harrison Ford on Hollywood Boulevard;

Visit the fabulous Marilyn exhibit at the Hollywood Museum housed in an art deco Max Factor building;

Drive down Rodeo Drive;

And back to Downtown LA on Wiltshire;

Have a sunset dinner with the Mariachi and Mojitos in the Mexican village “El Pueblo” just across the road from beautiful Union Station;