Mr Tiny's Neighborhood Watch: The Haunted Houses of West Adams

Once home to the brightest stars in early-Hollywood's firmament (think Theda Bara, Fatty Arbuckle, Norma Talmadge, Buster Keaton), the area of Los Angeles known as West Adams, while full of historic charm, includes a veritable graveyard of decaying mansions and haunted houses.

As scared as I am of manufactured gore (see: every horror movie ever made), I am equally unafraid of the "supernatural."  Ghosts, spirits, and their ectoplasmic kin just don't bother me...I mean they literally do not bother me.  When the witching hour settles in and most guests have left the party, every friend I have is able to regale the remaining crowd with multiple ghostly encounters.  I, on the other hand, sit there quietly thinking, "You should have an electrician check your breaker box" or "Maybe you have a squirrel in the attic."  I have never had a spooky experience that couldn't be explained by an overactive imagination or the forgetful placement of keys.  The fact is, I'll have a ghost story when I actually see ghost.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that I am inviting a demonic possession or anything, but you can classify me as a supportive non-believer; I believe that you believe ghosts are real.  I am the guy that would happily take the opportunity to spend the night in a "haunted house," more afraid of roaches, wayward hobos, and spotty cell reception than visitors from beyond the grave.  Here is just a small, real estate sampler of West Adams' phantasmal finest.

Given that this house is regularly used for filming (most famously for the show, Six Feet Under, according to my brother), my guess is that the rooms have been thoroughly saged, exorcised, and whatever else superstitious Hollywood believes one must do to banish specters.  I'm not saying I wouldn't pee a little if the lights started flickering, but I would love to spend the night in a house with such enticing attic space .

While only one fearless cat remained on the porch, this house is in the running for world's-
biggest, feral-cat condo.  It is clear that someone - or maybe something - is sustaining the
herd, as the side porch is littered in styrofoam plates crusted over with bulk-buy cat food.

Living in Southern California, the land of one million single-story ranch homes, houses like this - even in its current condition - are awe inspiring.  To see a haunted mansion of this magnitude, we usually have to visit Disneyland.  The eerie grandeur of the neo-Classical architecture, highlighted by the seriously-peeling paint job, is done no favors by the rotting baby doll on the front porch???  I admit that if I had the chance to spend the night here I would probably go into shock - albeit of the anaphylactic variety (cat dander is practically deadly to me).

I love this house!  Like a long-forgotten lodge found in the most deeply-wooded area of my imaginary version of the Black Forest, this freaky fairy-tale house reminds of me the one belonging to Shelley Winter's in Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (an early-'70s, Victorian retelling of Hansel & Gretel).  I would spend my night in this house searching for secret passageways and underground tunnels...and maybe hysterically sobbing in a corner (I told you that I have an overactive imagination)!

Without even setting foot inside, it is undeniable that these houses are creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky.  Given the all-together-ookiness of West Adams' many old mansions, it seems like a more apt spelling might be West Addams; any one of them could have easily stood in for television's coolest manor of the macabre.

The theme from The Addams Family

Do you have any haunted houses in your neighborhood?  Are you afraid of ghosts?  Do you have any scary stories that you tell in the dark?  Would you willingly spend the night in one of these houses?

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Mr. Tiny's Neighborhood Watch: The "Luck" of Baldwin Hills

As soon as the words left our mouths, we knew we had made a rookie mistake; during a round table discussion with a group of European friends, we suffered from an unfortunate choice of words by referring to the charming, turn-of-the-century, downtown area of a Southern California neighborhood as "historic."  History is a matter entirely relative, as was evidenced when one of our friends laughed heartily before explaining that the still-functioning church at the end of his street was constructed in the Fifth Century - like first, second, third, fourth...FIFTH CENTURY!  Yes, the rest of the world scoffs when Americans start detailing the highlights of our "rich history."  Imagine how much sillier it sounds when we as Southern Californians, wax poetic about the fascinating history of our state.  And yet, in spite of our infancy by world standards, there are certain neighborhoods that leave us feeling genuinely proud of our still-blossoming heritage.

Named after famed California pioneer, Lucky Baldwin, Baldwin Hills is one Los Angeles neighborhood that has us running to fill out our membership forms for the local historical society.  Offering unparalleled panoramic vistas of Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills is a city (within a city) upon a hill, a utopia of modernism.

The view from Baldwin Hills is, dare we say it, HEAVENLY!

Even better if you live in this flat-topped, window-walled dream house

I had heard that Baldwin Hills was filled with mid-century modern homes; after winding my way through the circuitous streets, I was happy to find out that I was not misled.

CHINESE MODERN!!!
From the beautifully-manicured gardens, to the stone wall, to some of the difficult-to-capture
details, this home is a perfect example of Chinese Modernism in residential architecture.

Not to be outdone, this otherwise nondescript ranch house is done up
with contrast stripes, shaped shrubbery, and festive faux foliage!  Let it
be said that there is no guilt in gilt double-doors with dynamic decorations.

Remove that distracting satellite dish (or even better, decorate it as a UFO or giant paper lantern) and
 this steel, glass, and concrete masterpiece would be an amazing venue for the coolest cocktail parties.

Filled with an equal measure of luxury and modest abodes, Baldwin Hills is a microcosm of the entire city's history as multicultural melting pot.  The street names (Don Diego, Don Luis, Don Felipe, et al.) are a nod to California's pre-statehood days.  Once predominantly caucasian, the neighborhood has become well known as an African American enclave.  Always considered an affluent community, the makeup of the population is becoming increasingly diverse.  Fortunately, the architectural character of the neighborhood has endured the progress of Baldwin Hills' evolution.

The roofline, the corner wall of windows, the stone facade, the well-integrated landscaping, and
the atrium entryway work together to create an urban oasis in which we'd be happy to seek relief.

There are still a few holdouts in our own neighborhood with pebbly roofs; this
petite pink palace puts them to shame with it's seriously-rocky rooftop landscape. 

Whoever said, "Simplicity is beauty," must've had this sweet, little house in mind.
The stacked flagstone retaining wall/foundation and two-tone color scheme
in sage and sea foam offer all the pizzazz that this house could possibly need.

Proving that a wacky tacky pedigree is made of more than mid-century modernism, Baldwin Hills offers homes of all varieties.

Sure, there are plenty of MCM details - breeze block, decorative screens, dimensional
trim - but we really go gaga for oversized reliefs of playful elephants, regal gates with
suits of armor, and custom garage doors with the street address as a clock face!

And while we're not huge fans of apartment living, Baldwin Gardens has the look we like!

In fact, some of our very favorite homes were those that were more mainstream America than mid-century modern.

I don't know how I'd feel about trudging up those stairs with arms full of grocery bags but I do know that
I love the scalloped trim, diamond-pane windows, and subtle storybook charm of this white clapboard house.

After a second glance, I'm not so sure that isn't a multi-unit dwelling rather than a single-family home.
Either way, this stately manse cuts an impressive, nouveau-neo-Classical figure on the corner of Don Mariano.

Oddly enough, it seems that Mr. Baldwin never kept house in his namesake hills.  If I was Lucky, I would have built my castle at the very top of said hills, proudly surveying the surrounding land like a king on a throne.  If I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to make the candy-colored, post-war dreamscape of Baldwin Hills (or a neighborhood like it) home someday.

"If I'm Lucky" - Perry Como

Well, what do you think of Baldwin Hills?  Are you a fan of city living with a quaint suburban feel?  Are there neighborhoods in your town that always have you itching to be in the market for real estate opportunities?  Is there an incredible neighborhood for which you think Mr. Tiny should currently be on the watch?  Let us know!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Mr. Tiny's Neighborhood Watch: Tiki Go Bragh

Limerick, Shamrock, Donnybrooke, and Kerry, these names offer the promise of a wee bit o' Ireland in the form of rolling green hills, stone cottages, and colorful village pubs.

What if I told you that there was a wacky tacky neighborhood in Southern California with street names as Irish as Irish Stew but whose architecture couldn't be further from the Emerald Isle - homes where fieldstone is replaced by lava rock and cozy thatch replaced by high-pitched roofs with longhouse beams?  Only about four suburban blocks long in either direction, there is a neighborhood that somehow manages to seamlessly blend the shillelagh with the ukulele.  

It's true!
Costa Mesa's Killybrooke neighborhood is an
island of island style in a sea of '60s ranch houses.

A half century of makeovers, remodels, and incongruous paint jobs have obscured some of the details of this tiki-tastic neighborhoood, but as the old saying goes, "The [tiki] devil is in the details."

Some people might tell you that these houses aren't anything special, but that's just a bit of the blarney.
The lava rock, decorative screens, assorted stone, and beautiful trim work all speak to their polynesian provenance.

Many of the homeowners, probably unaware of the treasures they have, try their best to disguise some of the tell-tale tiki signs.  If a homeowner has made it difficult to detect the Hawaiian-style heritage, one need only look up; it is easy to put on a new front door or slap on a coat of paint, but very few people change the roofline.

Some rooflines are high-pitched, some are supported by decorative beams.
My favorites have the extreme angled notch and the longhouse beams.

Beyond the Irish names, the most surprising part of this neighborhood is that not a single homeowner has truly embraced the original architecture.  The most exciting homes are those that have essentially just been left alone.

All it needs is a bit of landscaping!

Not the most ostentatious house on the block, I appreciate this one for the louvered
vents on the garage, the roll-down window blinds, and the dynamic roofline.  In its way it does
faintly echo the architecture of some of the modest plantation homes on the islands.

Take a peek at that peak!

The stone chimney and garage gable are great!

I kind of love the monochromatic scheme of these two houses.  In a way it makes the trim more of a textural element.

My favorite roofline!

This garden is headed in the right direction!

Contemporary garage doors just don't do these houses any favors but a polynesian paint scheme
(and maybe a couple of masks on those white insets) would do wonders for this house.

I think this home has got it down - the tropical foliage, the covered atrium with decorative screens, and the rock walls.
It definitely wins the Mr. Tiny's Neighborhood Watch Award!

Do these homes actually look like the type of architecture one is likely to encounter in Hawaii, Tahiti, Fiji, or Samoa?  Probably not.  There is no denying, however, that these houses are wonderful relics of America's obsession with polynesian pop in the mid-20th Century.  I can't wait for the day when a hardcore-tiki enthusiast brings the spirit of aloha back to this micro-community.  Just imagine the luau block parties!  

Saving the best revelation for last, I must disclose that in a near-adjacent neighborhood in the very same city, the streets, with names including Tahiti, Pitcairn, Samoa, Palau, Oahu, and Maui, are all named for islands.  Was this a major city-planning mistake?  I, for one, would like an explanation!!!  Maybe Mr. "Mele Kalikimaka" can elucidate...

"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" - Bing Crosby

I guess as long as everybody is smiling, we should just be happy too.

I mean why wouldn't those eyes be smiling when gazing upon such 

an incredible neighborhood?

Do you have a polynesian-themed neighborhood where you live?  Would you want to live in a tiki-fied house?  Even better, do you live in a tiki house now?!  Have you ever been to Ireland?  Having never been there myself, it just occurred to me maybe there is nothing unique about this tract of homes; this must be exactly how all Irish neighborhoods look, right?!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny