Architecture

What do Vincent Price, Harrison Ford, Jackie Chan, and Uma Thurman all have in common with Frank Lloyd Wright? Answer: The Movies.

The influence of Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture can’t be overstated, and his unique creations have also left a lasting impression on movie audiences.

From the Marin County Civic Center’s starring role in George Lucas’s first feature film to the famous Ennis House appearing in multiple movies, eight of Wright’s California buildings have served as dramatic settings for stories about power, wealth and dystopian futures. Inspiring generations of filmmakers, these sites—both public and private—remain some of the most iconic places captured on film. With behind-the-scenes production facts and a peek into Wright’s design process, author Mark Anthony Wilson recounts the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture in the movies.

This book features:

• 120 color and black and white images, including scenes from popular Hollywood films such as Blade Runner, Black Rain and A Summer Place, as well as cult favorites like House on Haunted Hill, Permanent Midnight, and Cannibal Women in The Avocado Jungle of Death.
• Little known facts about how Frank Lloyd Wright's work influenced Alfred Hitchcock and about Wright's friendship with Walt Disney and his comments about some of Disney's most famous films.
• Detailed information about how to visit those Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in this book that are open to the public.
• The controversies created by several of these films that caused members of some audiences to leave the theater in moral outrage and caused other audiences to scream in horror.
• Behind-the-scenes comments by Hollywood directors and producers about why they chose to use Frank Lloyd Wright buildings or design features in their films.
• A look at how Frank Lloyd Wright's design philosophy influenced the style of Hollywood films and how some of his strong-willed female clients got him to change the design of their homes.
• Why Frank Lloyd Wright was accused of being a "communist sympathizer" and "un-American" near the end of his career, and why this nearly derailed the construction of one of his most famous buildings.

Westwood Memorial Park Cemetery, located on Los Angeles’s trendy west side, has been the leading choice for celebrity burials since Marilyn Monroe was interred here in 1962. The cemetery houses the remains of a plethora of household names, including Patty Andrews, Eve Arden, Lew Ayres, Jim Backus, Richard Basehart, Peter Bogdanovich, Ray Bradbury, Fanny Brice, Les Brown, Truman Capote, John Cassavetes, James Coburn, Jackie Collins, Richard Conte, Tim Conway, Bob Crane, Rodney Dangerfield, Richard Dawson, Kirk Douglas, Peter Falk, Farrah Fawcett, June Foray, Stan Freberg, Eva Gabor, Merv Griffin, Jonathan Harris, Hugh Hefner, Florence Henderson, Brian Keith, Stan Kenton, Jack Klugman, Don Knotts, Burt Lancaster, Peggy Lee, Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, Karl Malden, Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Rod McKuen, David Nelson, Lloyd Nolan, Carroll O’Connor, Heather O’Rourke, Bettie Page, Wolfgang Petersen, Gregor Piatigorsky, Donna Reed, Buddy Rich, Minnie Riperton, Doris Roberts, Wayne Rogers, George C. Scott, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Stack, Dorothy Stratten, Alvin Toffler, Mel Tormé, Josef von Sternberg, Harry Warren, Cornel Wilde, Billy Wilder, Carl Wilson, Natalie Wood, Darryl F. Zanuck, Frank Zappa, and hundreds more.

n Legends of Westwood Village Cemetery, Hollywood film historians husband-and-wife team E.J. and Kim Stephens and Phil Lantis take readers on a fascinating tour of this unique Los Angeles burial ground.

The unreliable river that shaped a modern city.

For nearly a century, the people of San Diego wrestled to control the mercurial San Diego River. Their efforts to keep the river from destroying their valuable harbor while providing water for a growing population led to decades of legal battles over river water rights. Likewise, the divisive question of where to dam the river consumed the town, pitting citizens and civic leaders against one another. The construction of El Capitan Dam temporarily solved the town's water dilemma but resulted in the removal of a native population.

Join author and historian John Martin as he chronicles the lives of those who shaped modern-day San Diego’s water infrastructure.

Los Angeles County’s San Gabriel Valley and the adjacent Inland Empire, encompassing San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, boasted a wealth of movie theatres throughout the 20th century. 

Entertainment options proliferated as people flocked to both areas, which were famed for their wealth-producing citrus groves and vineyards, their position along Route 66, and their mountain and desert resorts. Residents and vacationers could enjoy films at nickelodeons, picture palaces, drive-ins, and other venues; some still operate. Due to the regions’ proximity to Hollywood and their more rural and suburban settings, local cinemas frequently held studios’ test screenings (including for Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz); audiences there thus influenced what moviegoers elsewhere watched. Film exhibition’s history there reflects cultural, social, and demographic trends in these areas and the United States.

Kelli Shapiro, PhD, is a public historian and preservationist who has lived in both regions. She holds degrees from Pomona College, Texas State University, and Brown University. She wrote the Los Angeles Conservancy’s successful California Register of Historical Resources nomination for Route 66’s Azusa Foothill Drive-in Theatre—as well as Historic Movie Theatres of West Virginia, another Images of America book. This book’s images came from multiple museums, archives, and collections.

“Ye Olde Friendly Towne of Whittier” grew from a small colony of Quaker pioneers who arrived in 1887 into a center for the production of agriculture and oil around the time the city was incorporated in 1898, and not long after that into a commercial hub, college town, and flourishing Los Angeles suburb. Whittier’s beginnings also coincided with the so-called “Golden Age of Postcards,” when folks everywhere mailed and collected billions of the then new medium, and Whittier boosters and civic leaders published dozens that celebrated the things that made their Whittier one-of-a-kind—a trend that continued throughout the 20th century.

This book features many of these vintage postcards, selected by Whittier historians Erin Fletcher, Mike Garabedian, and Tracy Wittman from public archives and private collections. Described with an eye toward remembering the past—including long-gone landmarks—the book also charts Whittier’s trajectory through the unique features and places in town of which 20th-century Whittierites themselves were proudest.

The postcards in this collection reflect a hidden past of California that exists now only on the page. From college gates at Stanford destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and hotels in Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Oakland ravaged by fire to giant redwoods on the coast felled by storms and much of downtown Los Angeles razed in the name of the progress, California’s landscape has changed dramatically in the last 125 years. The buildings demolished in San Diego’s Balboa Park after the 1915 exposition closed are shown here as is downtown San Francisco before the earthquake and fire of 1906, amusement parks that decorated waterfronts from Long Beach to Santa Monica, and city halls from Anaheim to San Jose.

California is rare among states and nations in having two cultural capitals—Los Angeles and San Francisco—and San Luis Obispo is smack in the middle. In the middle of nowhere or equidistant from everywhere, its architecture is a riot of variety: samples of practically every 19th- and 20th-century form; experiments by local builders; and one-offs by nationally known architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Morgan, Richard Neutra, Edla Muir, and Warren Leopold (“Not A Licensed Architect” engraved on his tombstone), all without anxiety of influence from the outside. Where Santa Barbara, rebuilt after an earthquake during the City Beautiful movement, celebrates Spanish, Mission, and Moorish Revival, and Palm Springs embodies Mid-Century Modern, San Luis Obispo is California’s capital of the eclectic. Wright’s one Usonian office; Morgan’s biggest and smallest commissions: Hearst Castle and her cab driver’s daughters’ playhouse; the world’s only Greek Revival Streamline Moderne movie theater across from the Roman Revival PWA Moderne County Courthouse, like Ginger and Fred; the world’s first industrial desalinization plant in a power plant modeled after an Egyptian Temple and sheathed in aluminum; Art Beal’s bricolage Nitt Witt Ridge: all have an extraordinary story.

Author James Papp is an architectural historian and writer of walking tours as well as a principal with Historicities, a cultural resources consultancy in San Luis Obispo. He is a member of the Oceano Economic Development Council Advisory Board, the Education Committee of the California Preservation Foundation, and the City of San Luis Obispo Cultural Heritage Committee.

The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) had a long and rich history even before California became a state.

Formally established in 1921, UCMP was built with collections accumulated over 150 years. This treasure trove comes from all continents and ages; it is a major source for research, outreach, and teaching in paleontology—extinctions, radiations, asteroids, climate change, paleoceanography, and the animals, plants, and microbes themselves. Now the collections, built by the California Geological Survey (1864–1874), faculty, staff, students, and donors, are among the largest in America. Recently, UCMP members studied the biology of T. rex, the killer asteroid, human ancestors, reef paleobiology, flowering plants, and life on Mars and Europa. UCMP continues to make discoveries, interpretations, and outreach that inspire people.

Prof. Jere H. Lipps, faculty curator and past director of UCMP, studies paleontology, geology, marine biology, and astrobiology, publishing over 520 contributions. Elected fellow of six science organizations and president (1997) of the Paleontological Society, Lipps has also received various awards, including an island in Antarctica named for him (1979). He taught thousands of students in oceanography, paleobiology, and field courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Here, Lipps reviews the major events and people that have built UCMP.

The Memorial Coliseum's history spans eight decades, playing host to two Olympiads, two Super Bowls, one World Series, a multitude of concerts and political rallies, a Papal mass, and one of the most famous Democratic presidential nomination acceptance speeches of the 20th century by John F. Kennedy. Using photographs culled from its archives, pictured here are never-before-seen photographs of the Coliseum's construction; rare images of political and religious rallies held at the Stadium and the Los Angeles Sports Arena, and home to famous speeches by Franklin Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela; and a myriad of other sporting and entertainment events hosted by the Memorial Coliseum, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, motocross racing, and the Rolling Stones.

The impenetrable coast of Humboldt County has been a historic navigational conundrum for sea captains since the 16th century.

The Humboldt bar crossing, the lack of safe harbors, the storms, the unpredictable seas, and the rocky shores caused tragic shipwrecks, drownings, and maritime disasters. Beginning in 1850, the Department of the Treasury funded the construction of 11 lighthouses in California, including the Humboldt Harbor Lighthouse, the first one in Humboldt County. Due to its poor location in the sand dunes, the lighthouse was abandoned in 1892. New lighthouses were built in more appropriate locations such as Table Bluff, Cape Mendocino, Trinidad, and Punta Gorda. An increase in population on the north coast resulted in the reliance on passenger schooners and freight vessels, making these lighthouses critical to Humboldt County’s economic stability and success. The Trinidad Head Lighthouse is the only one in operation today, yet the lighthouses of Humboldt County and their keepers remain integral to California’s maritime history.

Julie Clark works for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a park ranger and is the author of Falk: Company Lumber Town of the American West in the Images of America series. The BLM currently manages the land where these lighthouses once stood and, in partnership with the Trinidad Museum and the Trinidad Rancheria, provides public and educational tours to the Trinidad Head Lighthouse. Images come from a variety of sources, including the Humboldt County Historical Society, Trinidad Museum, and Humboldt State University.

This book vividly traces the captivating evolution of Concord, California, from its humble beginnings to its vibrant present. Delve into the city’s rich history through a blend of archival and contemporary photographs and narratives. 

Local history author and longtime Concord resident Joel A. Harris captures the essence of Concord’s resilience, showcasing how it has grown into a dynamic hub while preserving the echoes of its remembered past through images provided by the Concord Historical Society, the City of Concord, and local citizens.

Before there was a Los Angeles or a San Francisco, there was Spain’s first colony in upper California, El Presidio de San Diego.

Founded in 1769, this small fortress and mission was the seedling for the twenty-one missions and four presidios that followed. It was here that Franciscan priest Junípero Serra planted the first Catholic cross in what became Alta California. The nearby harbor provided a safe port for sailing ships from all over the world, ensuring a steady stream of goods and supplies. Over its many decades, the San Diego Presidio was home to Spaniards, Mexicans, Native people and, toward the end, Anglo-Americans. Its cemetery became the final resting place for many of them.

Author and historian Richard Carrico provides insights into San Diego’s beginnings.

The Historic Marysville City Cemetery contains the ghosts of the city founders, politicians, Western heroes and bandits, and murder victims and murderers. Among the 10,000 individuals buried in this cemetery is a survivor of the ill-fated Donner Party; the brother of the founder of Macy’s department store; the minister to Japan, appointed by Pres. Ulysses S. Grant; and the founders and co-owners of one of the oldest continuously operated businesses in California, the Union Lumber Company, established in 1852. This cemetery is one of the oldest city-owned cemeteries in the area, with burials dating from 1850. The cemetery became inactive in 1939, allowing burials only in existing family plots and later only ashes. The most recent interment was in 2016.

Phyllis E. Smith and Victoria M. Tudor are board members of the Friends for the Preservation of Yuba County History (FPYCH). The group’s monthly newsletter, the Yuba Legacy, is written by Tudor and edited by Smith. They both help plan the organization’s fundraising activities, providing tours of the cemetery. Tudor spends considerable time working in the cemetery and coordinates headstone repairs with a local monument company. Smith digitized the handwritten book of burials, from 1870 to 1930, a four-year effort.

Through a side by side comparison of historic and modern photographs, Ryan Lee Price illustrates the evolution of Glendora from a quaint town known for its abundant citrus groves to the beloved suburban community it is today, affectionately called "The Pride of the Foothills'? by locals.

The Crystal Palace Market opened in 1922 as the largest market in San Francisco. It was developed by brothers Oliver M. and Arthur Rousseau at the intersection of Eighth and Market Streets. It was conceived as a 71,000-square-foot steel-framed structure lit by skylights designed by architect David C. Coleman. Its 65 shops included bakeries, fruit and vegetable stands, record stores, appliance stores, a pet store, and several shops that sold imported produce; it also offered free parking for over 4,000 cars. This market served the city for 37 years and was a significant part of the lives of the people of San Francisco. It was mentioned in the 1991 book China Boy by author Gus Lee, who wrote: “The Palace was an emporium dedicated to the palates of the cosmos.” On August 1, 1959, the market closed its doors. In 2022, a new Whole Foods opened in the former Crystal Palace Market location.

Before there was a Los Angeles or a San Francisco, there was Spain’s first colony in upper California, El Presidio de San Diego.

Founded in 1769, this small fortress and mission was the seedling for the twenty-one missions and four presidios that followed. It was here that Franciscan priest Junípero Serra planted the first Catholic cross in what became Alta California. The nearby harbor provided a safe port for sailing ships from all over the world, ensuring a steady stream of goods and supplies. Over its many decades, the San Diego Presidio was home to Spaniards, Mexicans, Native people and, toward the end, Anglo-Americans. Its cemetery became the final resting place for many of them.

Author and historian Richard Carrico provides insights into San Diego’s beginnings.

The area now known as Los Gatos dates to time out of memory, when Ohlone Indians settled in a favored locality, rich in natural beauty and resources.

From El Rancho de Los Gatos, the Mexican land grant of 1839, to 1854 when James Alexander Forbes built his flour mill, and to the era of the Valley of Heart’s Delight, an orchardist’s paradise, history has been recorded, and photographs still survive. The railroad arrived in 1877 and put Los Gatos on the map. The town burned down twice, in 1891 and 1901, but was rebuilt by residents who took pride in the matchless small town they called home. In the 1920s, Los Gatos attracted writers, painters, poets, and other assorted creative folk. The population expanded rapidly after World War II, and the orchards disappeared, replaced by homes and businesses. The October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta Earthquake devastated the town, with old unreinforced masonry buildings on Main Street and North Santa Cruz Avenue collapsing and at least 400 homes, including stately restored Victorians, damaged. Images of America: Los Gatos Remembered showcases the memories and history of this picturesque area of California. 

Peggy Conaway Bergtold, MA, MLS, retired director of the Los Gatos Public Library, has gathered together photographs from many sources to help preserve the community’s collective memory. 

Just fifty miles south of San Francisco stands Pigeon Point, one of California's tallest lighthouses. 

Named for the infamous wreck of the Carrier Pigeon on her maiden voyage, the beacon began operations in 1872 and has warned mariners away from the treacherous rocky shoals nearby for over 150 years. It has served as a home for many keepers and their families during its lifetime. 

The vantage point is not only perfect for signaling ships at sea, but it also gave Richard Fairchild, the second lighthouse keeper to serve at Pigeon Point, a view of a gunfight in 1875 that ended in the death of local wharf manager. Other memorable keepers include Henry Holbrook, who went on to become a private detective, and Jesse E. Mygrants, who was both the longest-serving keeper at Pigeon Point—from 1924 to 1941—and had the distinction of being kidnapped by rumrunners desperate for a ride to their rendezvous. 

Today, the lighthouse serves as a historical landmark, whale watching point, and incredible stargazing spot. 

Join author JoAnn Semones as she explores the unique history of the Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

Discover the historic homes and storybook architecture of Carmel-by-the-Sea

Historic Homes and Inns of Carmel-by-the-Sea showcases the creativity, talent, and originality of the town's residents, designers, and builders over a span of 80 years, from the pioneering days of the 1880s through the more contemporary ones of the 1960s. One-of-a-kind creations by top-name architects Frank Lloyd Wright, Julia Morgan, Charles Greene, Albert Farr, Gardner Dailey, Henry Hill, and Mark Mills are featured.

The designs by the three most influential people who shaped Carmel-by-the-Sea architecturally in its first half-century are well-represented: M.J. Murphy, who literally built the town, with hundreds of homes and buildings to his credit; Hugh Comstock, who defined it with his storybook cottages that gave the village its fairy-tale charm; and Jon Konigshofer, who modernized it through his trademarked, postwar Hillside House. Throughout its history, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, has attracted unique, spirited, and sometimes eclectic individuals, and this is reflected in its architecture. In combination with the breathtaking beauty, remarkable scenery, and coastal setting, these historic homes and inns give the village its distinct look and make it unlike any place else.