Now That Is How You Fall in Love with LA

There’s nothing more LA than trying to be a million things at once. In one afternoon, Angelinos can go from a kitsch “Casablanca” to Canter’s Deli; grab a Cuban cocktail at “Versailles” and end up at a dentist’s office that would be much better as a discotheque. It’s a wonderful, borderline perverse eclecticism that has…

Take the “Fresh Prince” Throne & Sleepover at his Bel-Air Mansion

Without a doubt, “The Fresh Prince” had one of the most enviable pads on TV. Well, ’90s kids rejoice, because now Airbnb wants you to have a chance at living the sweet life just like Will Smith. “The actor and entrepreneur is adding [us] to his long resume,” reads Airbnb’s announcement, “and opening the doors…

A Brief Compendium of Copycat Cribs

There are dream homes, and then there are homes that feel like a waking dream – something from a movie, book, or from the past – you name it, someone *just* crazy enough has probably recreated it. They can be quaint, chic, grandiose, kitsch – but they’re always deliciously detail oriented, and above all a reminder…

The Overlooked Occult Movie Legend who holds Hollywood’s Darkest Secrets

As an artist and an outsider, Kenneth Anger was the West Coast’s answer to Andy Warhol – a California boy who hosted rituals for the Church of Satan in his San Francisco mansion, and introduced the Rolling Stones to the occult; a man who found a muse in Mick Jagger, but a bigger one in…

The Dandy Suit that America Banned and Caused a Riot

You know the zoot suit. It’s the suit that bad guys are usually wearing in comical mid-century gangster movies, but there’s much more to this story than a stereotype. In the 1940s and 50s, zoot suits were worn by Mexican-American hipsters who embraced the flamboyant oversized style of dress to express their desire for freedom from discrimination and racism as an underclass. The zoot suiters became a…

There’s an Iconic Art Deco Department Store Frozen in Time inside an LA Law School

It’s a spring afternoon in 1936, as you pull up to the doorstep of 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The valet takes your car, the doorman tips his cap, and suddenly you find yourself in the belly of a 230,000-square-foot mecca of West Coast fashion. Known as “Bullocks Wilshire,” this storied California department store was…

Greetings from California, the Hellish Oil-Pumping State of Yesteryear

It looks like a scene out of a dystopian horror movie foreshadowing our planet’s bleak future. But not very long ago, this was California, the (black) golden state. I guess I never really understood exactly what it meant when they said Los Angeles and much of Southern California was “built on oil”. I think I was imagining some oil fields out…

The Remains of a Hollywood Playground Wiped off the Map

Beachfront properties custom-built for movie stars and the Hollywood elite, panoramic views from the sand dunes stretching as far as Malibu, developed as “an isolated playground for the wealthy”– Surfridge, California was once one of the most coveted neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Today, it looks like this… (c) Eyetwist on Flickr (c) Houze on Flickr (c)…

So This Is Where Johnny Depp Does His Shopping

If any of Johnny Depp’s characters went clothes shopping, whether it be the sea-faring Jack Sparrow, the cravat-wearing Mad Hatter, the 1930s bank-robbing John Dillinger, or Roux and his band of river gypsies from Chocolat, this would probably be the place you’d find them digging through the rails. And seeing as Johnny Depp’s personal style looks…

My LA Boogie Nights Bar

After 24 hours in the city of Angels, I had yet to find the perfect LA hangout I was looking for. I have this romantic vision of Angelinos hanging out on seventies lawn chairs in their backyards with twinkle lights hanging from the trees and margaritas in hand. I love it when my imagination becomes a…