CITY HALL HAS PLANS FOR YOUR BLOCK
+ a Neutra on Mulholland, Aimé Leon Dore lands in LA, your future Eames house is finally within reach, and Sparkletts needs your help.
SANCTUARIES LA EXPLORES THE QUIETER SIDE OF LOS ANGELES THROUGH DESIGN.
ROOTED IN THE BELIEF THAT SANCTUARY EXISTS EVERYWHERE, OFTEN HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT.
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From the Field is an occasional Wednesday dispatch from Sanctuaries LA — what I saw, what's worth knowing, and what's coming up in the city.
Volume 002
INSIDE THE CULTURAL HERITAGE COMMISSION
Last Thursday morning I went to City Hall with my neighbor Deborah Gorman, wife of architect Andrei Pogany, for the Cultural Heritage Commission meeting. It was my first time there. I came for Sparkletts and left with a lot more than I bargained for.
The area around City Hall was oddly deserted. We entered through a ghost-town outdoor mall, cleared security, showed our IDs, and took the elevator to the 10th floor, where the hallways were lined with photos from the 1984 LA Olympics. With the 2028 Olympics coming, it had a strange resonance.
Inside, it was a genuine cross-section of the city: commissioners, developers, architectural historians, preservationists, concerned neighbors, the occasional young cool person mixed in with a lot of older regulars. The same faces would stand up again and again across different motions. It felt, at moments, like a more bureaucratic Game of Thrones with worse lighting.
Here’s what went down.
SB79: THE BILL THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
Before the main motions, Historic Resource Manager Ken Bernstein gave a presentation on SB79 — a Senate Bill, already signed into law, that would allow single-family residential lots near public transit to be replaced with apartment buildings. Let that sink in. Los Angeles needs more housing and nobody disputes that, but the question of where and how is very much alive. There is a real possibility your single family neighbor’s home could be torn down and replaced with an apartment building.
The part that really caught my attention: up to 80% of the impacted area in Highland Park falls within historic preservation overlay zones. You can look up whether your property is impacted here. The city isn’t sending out direct mailers to impacted households because it would cost $700,000 and they don’t want to pay for it. So consider this your notice. I’ll keep tracking this.
TAIX: THE SIGNS AND THE BAR ARE BEING SAVED. THE REST IS BEING LOST.
There was a long presentation on Taix — the beloved French restaurant on Echo Park Avenue that's been a fixture since 1927. It's coming down. A new apartment and commercial building is going up in its place. The developer unveiled the plans at the hearing. View them here.
Taix owners and the developer have signed a letter of intent for the restaurant to return to the new building, with a target of 2029. Whether it will feel like Taix when it does is another question. The signs and the cherrywood bar will be saved, but all in all I’d say this one is a huge loss. This is exactly why the work of preservation matters.
THE FOX APARTMENTS AND A NEUTRA ON MULHOLLAND
Two other nominations came up. The Fox Apartments — built in the early 20th century for actors arriving in Hollywood for the first time, when LA had one of the most extensive streetcar systems in the country. Few buildings like it remain. Commissioner Barry said something that stuck with me: “Not all architecture has to be beautiful to be historically significant.” He was right.
The other: the F.W. Schaarman House on Mulholland Drive, designed by Richard Neutra — nominated and moving forward. This one is a no-brainer imo.
SPARKLETTS: OFFICIALLY NOMINATED
Last on the docket, and the reason we came: Sparkletts. The Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously approved the nomination for Historic Cultural Monument designation. The agent representing the site, Mike Bogel, said he’s willing to work with the community on what the eight acres becomes.
The nightmare scenario of an Uber depot still looms. The dream: an eco-village-style community housing, neighborhood-serving uses, maybe that public bathhouse we talked about last week. The nomination has been approved. Now we need CD-1 rep Eunisses Hernandez and the council office to support it. We’re organizing. Email me or drop a comment if you want to be involved.
UPCOMING
Salmon Creek Farm x Terremoto: Our Seed Community Saturday May 9, 6–9pm at the Terremoto Office Garden, 3618 Pasadena Ave. A conversation on seeds, community, and growing things — with Fritz Haeg of Salmon Creek Arts, Nina Raj of Altadena Seed Library, and David Godshall of Terremoto. This is exactly the kind of gathering this city does well.
El Sereno Social Club Native Garden Tour Sunday May 3, 9am–1pm. A self-guided tour of native gardens in El Sereno. Tickets here. If you care about what LA actually looks like, this is the event.
WORTH KNOWING
Aimé Leon Dore opened its first LA flagship on April 17 at 8746 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood. Designed by Sarita Posada Interiors in a Mediterranean-inspired idiom — soft stucco, custom wood windows, a cobblestone courtyard anchored by an 80-year-old olive tree from the Central Valley. Café Leon Dore is inside. It’s the brand’s first Women’s collection debut. Now I can get my hats in person instead of waiting on shipping.
Café Leon Dore on Melrose. Photo: Aimé Leon Dore
The Getty Center is closing March 15, 2027. It will reopen spring 2028, just before the Olympics. This is its first major renovation since Richard Meier opened it in 1997. The tram, the galleries, and the welcome hall, are all getting revamped. You have 11 months. Go.
Gabi Abrão aka sighswoon just launched her second book, Practices in Apparition. She’s doing a book tour. Wednesday May 13th at Stories in Echo Park, Thursday May 14th at the B&N at The Grove, and Friday May 15th at the B&N in Santa Monica. Follow her for details.
The Eames Pavilion System debuts at Milan Design Week this week — a collaboration between Eames Office and Kettal for prefabricated structures based on Charles and Ray’s original vision for modular living. The dream of an Eames house may actually be within reach. And if you haven’t visited the Eames Foundation in the Palisades, thankfully spared by the fires, what are you waiting for?
The Eames Pavilion System — a prefabricated modular structure based on Charles and Ray's original vision, debuting at Milan Design Week this week. Photo: Kettal Saturday morning I went to Creature's Plants & Coffee for my usual matcha lemonade and realized they were hosting Rooted in the City, a talk on growing food in any space with Carrie-Anne Parker of Rolling Hills Certified Organic Heirloom Farm. The crowd was real. Planting season is here.
At Marta Gallery Saturday night for Ryan Belli’s art show opening party I ran into Holland Denvir, Trent Rohner and Sunny Robinson pouring drinks with their Calimocho brand Little Sun, and a handful of LADW people. Good room.
See you at Bungalow Heaven in Pasadena this Sunday. It’s back after a year off. Don’t miss it.
Shelby x