Random thoughts on art, technology, stuff, and occasionally Real Estate: July 2009

Thursday, July 30th, Free
Doors Open at: 5:00 PM
Community Heroes presentation: 6:15 PM

Main act begins: 6:30 PM

Food provided by: Figueroa Produce

The ever-popular Susie-Hansen Latin Band returns to us for what promises to be an unforgettable performance. Electric violinist Susie Hansen plays fiery Latin Jazz and Salsa, creating music that brings audiences to their feet, dancing in the aisles. A long-time favorite in Los Angeles, Susie and her band play 175-200 live performances per year, including such events as the Playboy Jazz Festival, Fiesta Broadway, the LA Salsa Festival and Newport Beach Jazz Festival appearing with such big names as Tito Puente.

Heritage Square Museum is located at

3800 Homer Street
Los Angeles, California 90031
Tel. 323-225-2700

Parking is available along Homer Street.

Mount Angelus is a small hillside neighborhood within Highland Park. 

Mount Angelus is situated to the southwest of the intersection of York Boulevard and Figueroa Street, and bordered by Avenue 61 on the southwest and Mesa Avenue on the northwest,

The Mount Angelus neighborhood has one of the city's largest concentrations of public stairways, which link the narrow and winding hillside streets.

In the early years of the 20th century, entrepreneur Cora Scott Pond-Pope, purchased the land from the Garvanza Land Co., the holders of the original Spanish land grant. Pond-Pope subdivided the hill and sold lots to individuals.  Pond-Pope had relocated to the Los Angeles area after successfully organizing eighty-seven different woman's suffage leagues in Massachusetts in the 1880s. 

In years past, the Mount Angelus neighborhood was sometimes referred to as "Pope Hill"; taking the name from the neighborhood's original female developer; although newcomers to the neighborhood often mistakenly think the name "Pope Hill" is somehow releated to the presence of Saint Ignatius Catholic Church at the base of the hill on Avenue 61.

Although the Mount Angelus neighborhood has evolved over several decades, it was largely built up by the 1930s.

In 1997, the Los Angeles Times interviewed local historian Charles Fisher about Mount Angelus.  Charlie mentioned the fascinating layered development of architectural styles as you move further and further up the hill.

"The houses at the base of the hill are turn-of-the-century cottages dating from 1890 to 1910," he said."The next layer are houses from the Mission Revival era up to the First World War. Higher up are Spanish Colonial Revival homes built in the 1920s and '30s. At the top of the hill are the most contemporary houses, which were built in the 1950s and '60s."

 Search for homes in Mount Angelus and Highland Park.

The Historic Preservation movement in Highland Park can be traced back to the early 1980s.  During the real estate boom of the 1980s residents of Highland Park became concerned that older, historic homes were being torn down and replaced with apartment complexes at an alarming rate. 

In 1982, a group of residents formed the Highland Park Heritage Trust.  The first success came with nominating the original Northeast Police Station as a Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument and saving it from demolition.

This success was followed by four more Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument nominations:  The Southwest Museum, the Ebell Clubhouse, the Masonic Temple and the Yoakum House. Since 1983, HPHT has successfully nominated over 50 Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. 

A list of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in Highland Park and Northeast Los Angeles can be found here.

On June 7, 1994, the City of Los Angeles of Los Angeles established the Highland Park Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, the seventh HPOZ to be established in the city, and one of the largest, covering over 2,500 structures.  Highland Park was the first HPOZ in Los Angeles to include commercial buildings.

Highland Park is now an area that takes great pride in its heritage, and supports the historic preservation of its remarkable and eclectic architecture encompassing nearly every style popular from the 1880s through the 1960s.  

This link will take you to Highland Park Heritage Trust

This link will take you to L A Conservancy

This link will take you to the City Office of Historic Resources

This link will take you to Big Orange Landmarks  (Great photos of designated historic monuments here!)

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The El Mio Neighborhood of Highland Park takes its name from the stately mansion, originally called "El Mio" perched high on a hillside.

Superior Court judge David P. Hatch commissioned the construction of this Victorian mansion.  It was completed in 1896.  The mansion was later acquired by the Smith Family, who lived there for several decades.  The home today is often called "The Smith House".  It was declared a City Historic Cultural Monument in 1975.

The open hillsides surrounding  the mansion are now fully developed with homes, creating a neighborhood with a style and character reflecting the original mansion.

Avenue 59 and Avenue 57 create a western boundary to the El Mio Neighborhood;  Avenue 61 to the east;  Mesa Avenue to the north;  Terrace Drive to the South.

In 1920 the Smiths subdived Tract 4044, transforming a narrow dirt road into El Mio Drive which encircles the mansion grounds, and then branches out into a one block long cul-de-sac, creating an almost private street in the shadow of the mansion.  

The homes on that one block section form an eclectic collection of craftsman bungalows, spanish style and mid-century homes, enjoying a private, small town community atmosphere. 

Along with the Hale House at Heritage Square, El Mio is one of the most recognized buildings in Highland Park.

Search for Homes in Highland Park

Highland Park, California, has always been a town of contrasts.

In recent years, journalists from publications such as The New York Times and London's Financial News have visited the area, and published articles praising Highland Park's "cool restaurants and boutiques that draw young trendsetters in skinny jeans, flannel shirts and Converse high tops", or admiring Highland Park's "walkable streets and its glut of handsome old homes". 

And all of that is true.  And, yes, of course, as a local real estate broker, I enjoy reading it.  But wait, there is another dimension to the community of Highland Park.

Highland Park is a community of immigrants from all corners of the world, aging hippies, and working class folk most of whom will never buy a $15.00 burger at a "gastropub" and prefer shopping at a "thrift store" to shopping at a "vintage boutique".   These are the same local residents who find it more convenient to walk to the local 99-Cent store than to make a gasoline-burning trip across down to a "big box" store.  Even if NYT calls the 99-Cent store "garish".

These locals provide the foundation and backbone of the community.  And as a testament to Highland Park's spirit of individualism, creativity, and pride, they cheerfully coexist with the colorful, young trendsetters. 

Highland Park is truly one of the most diverse and cross-cultural communities in Los Angeles.  And its strength grows as each diverse group learns to respect and honor other groups within the community.

Highland Park Events and Commentary

Professor's Row in Historic Highland Park is lined with stately Craftsman style homes, and one home built entirely of river rock.

Physically, the street is a minor service road running parallel to North Figueroa, named Sycamore Terrace on some maps, and showing only as a part of North Figueroa on other maps.

The name Professor's Row originated in the early 1900s when the Occidental College campus was located for a brief time in Highland Park.  For a few years, the street was home to staff and faculty of the college.

Occidental College was founded in 1887, and was originally located in Boyle Heights.  It's original structures were destroyed by an early morning fire on January 13, 1896. 

By the end of 1896, Occidental had made the decision to to rebuild on a seven-and-a-half acre site in Highland Park.  The first building on the new site was completed in 1898.  Two more buildings would be constructed and some minor ones, before the campus outgrew the Highland Park site, and moved to its current location in Eagle Rock in 1914.

The professors moved on, but the homes remained.  A few were sold to developers in the 1960s, demolished, and replaced with apartment complexes. 

The remaining homes of Professor's Row are now protected by the Highland Park Historic Overlay Zone, one of L.A. City's largest HPOZs, covering over 2,500 structures.

This link will take you to the City of Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources for more information about Historic Preservation Overlay Zones.

Search for homes on Professor's Row and in Historic Highland Park

It is not likely that you will find the boundaries of Sycamore Grove defined on a map.

But long time residents instinctively recognize Sycamore Grove as the heart of Charles Lummis personal domain.  It is a neighborhood most notably defined by Sycamore Grove Park, the Casa de Abode, Heritage Square, Hiner House and Sosa Nook,  and Lummis' own home, El Aisal.

Sited amid towering and graceful sycamore trees, near the banks of the Arroyo Seco, Lummis began contruction in 1898 on this remarkable stone castle.

Charles Lummis passed in 1928; the Arroyo Seco was channelized (that is, lined with concrete for flood control) in 1938.  The nearby Union Pacific Train line was abandoned in 1969.  Apartments and small industrial buildings filled once open spaces.

After Lummis' death, El Alisal languished for several years.  The property was eventually deeded to the State of California, but it was not maintained until the Historical Society of Southern California moved in.  El Alisal was declared a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument in 1970.

A re-awakening to the vibrant history and culture of Sycamore Grove is also evident with the establishment of Heritage Square Museum in 1969.

Several historic Los Angeles homes were saved from demolition and transported to the Heritage Square Museum grounds, re-creating an elegant Victorian neighborhood on the museum grounds a very short distance from El Alisal.

The staff of Heritage Square Museum has reached out to the Sycamore Grove community, with fun and educational events such as Halloween Mourning Tours, Holiday Lamplight Celebrations, and of course, every summer, free weekly Concerts at the Square in July and August.

Here is an image from yesterday's (7/23/2009) concert:

Search for Homes in Sycamore Grove

Is there really an Art District in Highland Park?  As in Highland Park, California? 

Yes.  Highland Park has a tradition in the arts that dates back to the early 1900's when the USC College of Fine Arts was located right here in Highland Park and visionaries such as Charles Lummis and Antonio Corsi were living in the area.

Historically rich in tradition, the area bordering the Arroyo Seco was Los Angeles' first cultural center at the beginning of the 20th century.

The tradition continues with a concentration of artists continuing to reside in Highland Park, and with new gallery spaces opening regularly. Highland Park is now one of L.A.'s most exciting and richly diverse destinations to view contemporary art.

The Arroyo Arts Collective was established in 1989 as a community organization of artists, writers and performers who live and work in Northeast Los Angeles, including the neighborhoods of Highland Park, Mt. Washington, Montecito Heights, Cypress Park, Lincoln Heights and Eagle Rock.

Since 1993 the Collective has organized an annual Discovery Tour of artists' studios and homes on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Tours have been co-sponsored with the Southern California Historical Society, the Highland Park Heritage Trust, the Audubon Society and other community groups and feature the work of well over 100 artist participants.

Avenue 50 Studio, a central point of the arts community in Highland Park is now celebrating the ninth year of its remarkable journey. 

That journey includes dozens of shows in Highland Park ranging from international exchange exhibits to presenting Asian and African American artists in a largely Latino community.

The art openings are a testament to the mix of cultures, national origins, and races that make up metro LA and our special Highland Park neighborhood.

The artists in the local art community feel strongly that the showing of multicultural arts on a monthly basis in a working class neighborhood can go a long way in educating people to the importance of diverse art in our lives.

The Art District in Highland Park is indeed building bridges of cultural understanding through artistic expressions.

Search for homes in the Highland Park Art District

The LA Weekly and METRO have joined others in supporting the Concerts at the Square free music series, which continues Thursday with the Pasadena City College Swing Band. This Thursday evening enjoy great music and free food from the Barn Burner Texas Barbeque. Don't want to drive? Take the METRO Gold Line and hop on a shuttle courtesy of our partner, the Los Angeles Boys and Girls Club. Costumed docents will be on-hand to enliven the evening. For more information about planning your trip to the Heritage Square Museum please visit the Metro trip planner at http://www.metro.net/.

Opening the festivities at 5:00 PM will be Rock, Inc. who will play all your favorite classic rock sounds. After 6:00 PM, Dennis Kay will lead the Pasadena City College Swing Band, who will play big-band standards, swing favorites, and ballroom classics from the likes of Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and many more. Don't let the name fool you-the PCC Swing Band consists of extraordinary students, faculty and professionals who come together to present a rockin' good time! All you "swingers" out there, don't forget to bring your dancing shoes...

A little background:

WordPress Mu (multiple user) allows many separate individual blogs to be created under one WordPress installation.

BuddyPress adds a social network layer to WPMu.

When a new user registers on a WPMu/BP site, they have the option of setting a personal avatar.  Just like you did when you signed up on Active Rain.

Except, there appears to be a slight change in the "crop avatar" function in the newest version of BuddyPress (1.0.3); and existing BuddyPress Themes are choking on that one function.  (The existing theme is fine until a new member uploads or changes an avatar... then just the one function of resizing the avatar goes wonky ... the theme continues to function otherwise)...

The default BuddyPress theme does not have this problem.  Obviously, it was updated with the release of 1.0.3.

So, okie-dokie, pokie, here's what I am going to do.

I am going to open up the css files for the BuddyPress Home and Member themes  (it's base.css in the css folder) and start messing around with background, bar, and border colors, etc.,  so I don't have to wait for the designers to rework their themes......

Gee, just what I was trying to avoid doing since free time is at a premium right now. :-)