Esotouric's Secret Los Angeles
@esotouric.bsky.social
Just a couple of lifers looking out for Los Angeles. Join us for architecture, crime, literature & history tours, preservation battles. Newsletter: http://esotouric.substack.com
Pinned
Los Angeles is confounding, by design, but it is not unknowable. These folks are telling real L.A. stories if you want to listen.
go.bsky.app/zi1abc
go.bsky.app/zi1abc
This was a kick: encountered a riot of red-crowned parrots in San Marino as they tried out a tree, decided it wouldn't do and then dive bombed us!
youtu.be/ixeaLQY459I
youtu.be/ixeaLQY459I
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 5:17 AM
This was a kick: encountered a riot of red-crowned parrots in San Marino as they tried out a tree, decided it wouldn't do and then dive bombed us!
youtu.be/ixeaLQY459I
youtu.be/ixeaLQY459I
It's Christmas time again in Pershing Square, but you won't be able to capture this dreamy reflection of the Biltmore Hotel in the decommissioned Ricardo Legorreta fountain: a City worker is pumping the rain out just out of frame.
The park needs a water feature so badly!
The park needs a water feature so badly!
November 24, 2025 at 3:43 AM
It's Christmas time again in Pershing Square, but you won't be able to capture this dreamy reflection of the Biltmore Hotel in the decommissioned Ricardo Legorreta fountain: a City worker is pumping the rain out just out of frame.
The park needs a water feature so badly!
The park needs a water feature so badly!
Thrilling to see the chalk pounce pattern on the Earl Carroll, showing where the restored neon portrait of Beryl Wallace will go. When this iconic Hollywood sign is turned back on, we hope it's the start of a new golden age of neon, heritage and cultural revival.
esotouric.substack.com/earlcarroll
esotouric.substack.com/earlcarroll
November 23, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Thrilling to see the chalk pounce pattern on the Earl Carroll, showing where the restored neon portrait of Beryl Wallace will go. When this iconic Hollywood sign is turned back on, we hope it's the start of a new golden age of neon, heritage and cultural revival.
esotouric.substack.com/earlcarroll
esotouric.substack.com/earlcarroll
Sonder went belly up due to financial shenanigans, leaving guests scrambling when Marriott shut the app down. www.businessinsider.com/sonder-marri...
We're glad to see a guard in the 1923 Lane Mortgage Building (aka The Craftsman), protecting the Batchelder tiles. Will it become apartments?
We're glad to see a guard in the 1923 Lane Mortgage Building (aka The Craftsman), protecting the Batchelder tiles. Will it become apartments?
November 23, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Sonder went belly up due to financial shenanigans, leaving guests scrambling when Marriott shut the app down. www.businessinsider.com/sonder-marri...
We're glad to see a guard in the 1923 Lane Mortgage Building (aka The Craftsman), protecting the Batchelder tiles. Will it become apartments?
We're glad to see a guard in the 1923 Lane Mortgage Building (aka The Craftsman), protecting the Batchelder tiles. Will it become apartments?
Morris Kight, queer liberator, now has this beautiful niche on the ground floor north entry in the new Hollywood Forever mausoleum. Stop by and say hello!
November 22, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Morris Kight, queer liberator, now has this beautiful niche on the ground floor north entry in the new Hollywood Forever mausoleum. Stop by and say hello!
You've still got time to sign up for The Real Black Dahlia tour, departing from Grand Central Market at 10:30am on a walk in search of the mysterious Beth Short and the lost post war Downtown Los Angeles that is revealed by her murder investigation. esotouric.com/event/black-...
THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA DOWNTOWN WALKING TOUR
Visit the post for more.
esotouric.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:23 PM
You've still got time to sign up for The Real Black Dahlia tour, departing from Grand Central Market at 10:30am on a walk in search of the mysterious Beth Short and the lost post war Downtown Los Angeles that is revealed by her murder investigation. esotouric.com/event/black-...
Saturday afternoon in Hollywood, the ashes of queer organizer and service provider Morris Kight (1919 –2003) will be laid to rest in the Gower Street mausoleum at Hollywood Forever. All are welcome to honor a visionary who dreamed a better world, and lived to see it.
November 22, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Saturday afternoon in Hollywood, the ashes of queer organizer and service provider Morris Kight (1919 –2003) will be laid to rest in the Gower Street mausoleum at Hollywood Forever. All are welcome to honor a visionary who dreamed a better world, and lived to see it.
New from Empty Los Angeles: neighbors sound the alarm about the long vacant, bee-filled(!) 123-135 San Vicente Boulevard, housing held off-market for speculation since 2018. Why can't Santa Monicans live in the Courtyard Apartments Historic District? www.emptylosangeles.com/p/prime-real...
November 22, 2025 at 3:27 AM
New from Empty Los Angeles: neighbors sound the alarm about the long vacant, bee-filled(!) 123-135 San Vicente Boulevard, housing held off-market for speculation since 2018. Why can't Santa Monicans live in the Courtyard Apartments Historic District? www.emptylosangeles.com/p/prime-real...
Hollywood Boulevard just got a little uglier, with the senseless whitewashing of the Hollywood Downtowner Motel. And while the County's contractors made this mess, it's the City's fault for refusing to designate landmarks and demanding citizens volunteer to nominate them.
November 22, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Hollywood Boulevard just got a little uglier, with the senseless whitewashing of the Hollywood Downtowner Motel. And while the County's contractors made this mess, it's the City's fault for refusing to designate landmarks and demanding citizens volunteer to nominate them.
Carroll Ave. is all a-buzz about Tuesday's trustee's sale in Pomona of the Stilson-Botsford House, the Victorian mansion converted to cubic, stucco'd multi-family in the 1950s. She's still in there somewhere--could someone dig her out?
More recent photos: www.corcoran.com/listing/for-...
More recent photos: www.corcoran.com/listing/for-...
November 21, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Carroll Ave. is all a-buzz about Tuesday's trustee's sale in Pomona of the Stilson-Botsford House, the Victorian mansion converted to cubic, stucco'd multi-family in the 1950s. She's still in there somewhere--could someone dig her out?
More recent photos: www.corcoran.com/listing/for-...
More recent photos: www.corcoran.com/listing/for-...
Saturday, on The Real Black Dahlia tour, we'll explore the strange link betweenRaymond Chandler's worst ever case of writer's block and the 22-year-old drifter whose kidnapping and murder would haunt him for the rest of his life. esotouric.com/event/black-...
November 21, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Saturday, on The Real Black Dahlia tour, we'll explore the strange link betweenRaymond Chandler's worst ever case of writer's block and the 22-year-old drifter whose kidnapping and murder would haunt him for the rest of his life. esotouric.com/event/black-...
The disrespect with which American law enforcement and hospital staff treat people they perceive to be experiencing homelessness has apparently claimed the life of a great American troubadour, Todd Snider.
www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comme...
This Land is Our Land:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpE...
www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comme...
This Land is Our Land:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpE...
From the Utah community on Reddit: Story: Todd Snider, who canceled tour after alleged assault in Salt Lake City, dies
Explore this post and more from the Utah community
www.reddit.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:34 PM
The disrespect with which American law enforcement and hospital staff treat people they perceive to be experiencing homelessness has apparently claimed the life of a great American troubadour, Todd Snider.
www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comme...
This Land is Our Land:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpE...
www.reddit.com/r/Utah/comme...
This Land is Our Land:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzpE...
Perfect miniature Silver Lake castle in the mist.
November 20, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Perfect miniature Silver Lake castle in the mist.
Wonderful news! Larchmont Buzz gets the skinny on the much anticipated 2026 return of Lucy's El Adobe and the motion picture art crew that's restoring the tagged up facade for a shoot. larchmontbuzz.com/larchmont-vi...
November 20, 2025 at 12:28 AM
Wonderful news! Larchmont Buzz gets the skinny on the much anticipated 2026 return of Lucy's El Adobe and the motion picture art crew that's restoring the tagged up facade for a shoot. larchmontbuzz.com/larchmont-vi...
Barry Building/Dutton's update: as expected, the angels of death (Karen Bass appointees Board of Building and Safety Commission) rejected the appeal, validating the Munger family's demolition by neglect. They can finish destroying it now. No landmark is safe in Los Angeles.
November 19, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Barry Building/Dutton's update: as expected, the angels of death (Karen Bass appointees Board of Building and Safety Commission) rejected the appeal, validating the Munger family's demolition by neglect. They can finish destroying it now. No landmark is safe in Los Angeles.
The American Cinematheque will operate the Westwood Village Theatre when it reopens in 2027. deadline.com/2025/11/west... No word on if the nonprofit will continue part-time programming at its historic home, the now Netflix-owned Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. esotouric.com/egyptianthea...
Jason Reitman’s Village Directors Circle Taps American Cinematheque To Operate & Program L.A.’s Westwood Village Theatre
L.A.'s Westwood Village Theatre will be operated and programmed by the American Cinematheque upon its planned 2027 reopening.
deadline.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:03 AM
The American Cinematheque will operate the Westwood Village Theatre when it reopens in 2027. deadline.com/2025/11/west... No word on if the nonprofit will continue part-time programming at its historic home, the now Netflix-owned Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. esotouric.com/egyptianthea...
Going to the BBSC hearing at 9:30am to support the appeal against demolishing the landmark Barry Building for no new project by the billionaire Mungers, in memory of poet and Dutton's Brentwood fixture Scott Wannberg.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDY...
Join us! ens.lacity.org/ladbs/commag...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDY...
Join us! ens.lacity.org/ladbs/commag...
Scott Wannberg reads at Duttons Books
YouTube video by mywifespoetry
www.youtube.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Going to the BBSC hearing at 9:30am to support the appeal against demolishing the landmark Barry Building for no new project by the billionaire Mungers, in memory of poet and Dutton's Brentwood fixture Scott Wannberg.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDY...
Join us! ens.lacity.org/ladbs/commag...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpDY...
Join us! ens.lacity.org/ladbs/commag...
Did the Judge Give Indicted Councilmember Curren Price One Morning of Detention? Plus scoops about legal problems for the CM's wife Del Richardson, MIA demo notices, saving the Barry Building and the sad announcement of Robert Silverstein's passing.
esotouric.substack.com/east22ndstreet
esotouric.substack.com/east22ndstreet
Did the Judge Give Indicted Los Angeles Councilmember Curren Price One Morning of Detention?
Plus scoops about legal problems for the councilmember's wife Del Richardson, MIA demolition notices, saving the Barry Buillding and the sad announcement of Robert Silverstein's passing
esotouric.substack.com
November 17, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Did the Judge Give Indicted Councilmember Curren Price One Morning of Detention? Plus scoops about legal problems for the CM's wife Del Richardson, MIA demo notices, saving the Barry Building and the sad announcement of Robert Silverstein's passing.
esotouric.substack.com/east22ndstreet
esotouric.substack.com/east22ndstreet
On our new Hollywood Noir tour, debuting November 29, we'll visit the seedy motel district that's rich in true and fictional crime lore, and surprising beacons of hope in the darkness.
esotouric.com/event/hollyw...
esotouric.com/event/hollyw...
November 16, 2025 at 5:13 PM
On our new Hollywood Noir tour, debuting November 29, we'll visit the seedy motel district that's rich in true and fictional crime lore, and surprising beacons of hope in the darkness.
esotouric.com/event/hollyw...
esotouric.com/event/hollyw...
Here's a rare and thrilling piece of lost Los Angeles theater signage: the animated Follies showgirl demonstrating a legs akimbo headstand who once caught the eye at 4th & Main Streets. Source: LAPD Foot patrol, ca. 1947-1950, L.A. City Archives. calisphere.org/item/5c8874f...
November 16, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Here's a rare and thrilling piece of lost Los Angeles theater signage: the animated Follies showgirl demonstrating a legs akimbo headstand who once caught the eye at 4th & Main Streets. Source: LAPD Foot patrol, ca. 1947-1950, L.A. City Archives. calisphere.org/item/5c8874f...
A little kid in the ice cream aisle alerted us to Thursday's spectacular rainbow over San Marino and it was worth rushing out to see. Here's to rainy days and what comes after.
November 15, 2025 at 8:09 PM
A little kid in the ice cream aisle alerted us to Thursday's spectacular rainbow over San Marino and it was worth rushing out to see. Here's to rainy days and what comes after.
No Alvarado Terrance and South Bonnie Brae Tract walk today for obvious reasons, but we'll be back next week in the footsteps of Beth Short, the victim in the unsolved Black Dahlia murder case. And Thanksgiving Saturday, it's the all new Hollywood Noir tour!
November 15, 2025 at 5:33 PM
No Alvarado Terrance and South Bonnie Brae Tract walk today for obvious reasons, but we'll be back next week in the footsteps of Beth Short, the victim in the unsolved Black Dahlia murder case. And Thanksgiving Saturday, it's the all new Hollywood Noir tour!
Rudolph Valentino / Doris Duke house Falcon Lair was demolished in 2006 myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2012/05/holl... but Wallace Neff's original garage survived. Demo was recently sought--but now the whole compound is back on the market, with garage intact! hiltonhyland.com/property/143...
November 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Rudolph Valentino / Doris Duke house Falcon Lair was demolished in 2006 myloveofoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2012/05/holl... but Wallace Neff's original garage survived. Demo was recently sought--but now the whole compound is back on the market, with garage intact! hiltonhyland.com/property/143...
RIP to Robert Silverstein, who took the Hollywood Millennium fight to the California Supreme Court, and exposed how City Council and Eric Garcetti’s Planning Department were prepared to put Angelenos’ lives at risk if enough money was on the table.
November 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
RIP to Robert Silverstein, who took the Hollywood Millennium fight to the California Supreme Court, and exposed how City Council and Eric Garcetti’s Planning Department were prepared to put Angelenos’ lives at risk if enough money was on the table.
OHR fast tracked Hollywood Heritage's landmark nomination for the vacant, unsecured Hollywood Center Motel--first hearing will be December 4. But the compound is in grave and immediate danger now--tell councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez to protect it! esotouric.substack.com/metalshutters
When Will City Hall Act to Protect the Vacant, Arson-Threatened Hollywood Center Motel's 1901 Queen Anne Cottage and Surrounding Buildings?
We've got a suggestion, as seen at the well-secured former Off Vine Restaurant / Beryl Wallace Residence a few blocks east
esotouric.substack.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:03 PM
OHR fast tracked Hollywood Heritage's landmark nomination for the vacant, unsecured Hollywood Center Motel--first hearing will be December 4. But the compound is in grave and immediate danger now--tell councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez to protect it! esotouric.substack.com/metalshutters