Lost Los Angeles: What Happened to the OLDEST Mansions in LA?

It might seem hard to believe, but at one time, Los Angeles looked like this, a small town with plenty of space to expand. As the decades rolled on, and the city continued to prosper, mansions were built in enclaves from Bunker Hill, to Hollywood, and within easy reach of modern-day Wilshire Boulevard. But what happened? Why don’t we see these grand Victorian-era mansions around the city and how did a suburban neighborhood become the epicenter of modern-day downtown Los Angeles?

Like, Comment, and Share our video, Subscribe if you enjoyed this video!

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Join our Membership program:

Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress
CC BY-SA 3.0Photos from: Wikipedia User: DaveofCali, Los Angeles, Downtowngal
CC BY-SA 4.0 Photos from: Wikipedia User: Levi Clancy

Assets from: Envato Elements
Music from Epidemic Sound

[adamfitch]

We see grand Victorian home like this today and think they’re eternal. This video shows just how fragile even the most ambitious projects and greatest wealths really are.

[divinedaytripper]

Oh to have lived one hundred years ago and to have seen what Los Angeles looked like. Heaven. Clean air. Lots of citrus and blooming flowers year round. Glorious climate. Thanks for a walk through the wayback machine. "This House" never dissapoints.

[tamarawalker]

So much character in those old homes. Id choose one of those over one of the new ones in a heartbeat.

[jennsee]

Hi Ken, as a native Angeleno whose done too much research on the Downtown / Bunker Hill area, I can tell you that by the 40s and 50s, many of the prosperous families that didn't have descendants who wanted the properties had to pass them on to housekeepers or caretakers. The mansions were turned into apartments so that people could afford to live in them. Most of them fell into disrepair by the 60s and had unfortunately become slums. By the mid 60s, local officials got obsessed with modernizing the area to "clean it up" and build more high rise buildings, demolishing mansions that people could not afford to move to places like Heritage Square to save them. I'm so grateful that the homes on Carroll Ave were left alone! There are some historical neighborhoods and random homes around L.A. that can still be appreciated, but it still breaks my heart what they did to Bunker Hill 😭

[HarpySpirit]

I grew up in Los Angeles. As a child I witnessed the demolition of many of the Victorian, Queen Anne, and the Richardsonian mansions which lined Wilshire Boulevard. It was a sad sight to see. The detailed work and the intricate ornamentation were so beautiful. Riding in my grandmother’s car looking out the back seat window allowed me to use my imagination! Each structure was stunning! But every time we drove towards downtown or from downtown to Santa Monica many of the beauties were demolished or in the process of being torn down. It was heartbreaking to see! 😢Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

[kays]

My mother grew up in Los Angeles in the 1920s and 30s. My grandfather worked for Standard oil as an engineer on those oil well pumps that used to be everywhere. Their house disappeared under Dodger Stadium in the 1950s. California has a nasty habit of tearing out the old to build the new. My own house, thankfully, was spared and sits in a beautiful neighborhood full of other 1920s Spanish Colonials. I feel blessed.

[gridplan]

There is a pocket of beautiful Victorian homes in Los Angeles on Carroll Avenue. Worth a look if you're near LA.

[portaltwo]

I love the little bit of "humanization" for the Crocker mansion (2:10) provided by the woman (Margaret?) waving at the camera from the upper balcony. So much more affecting than simple brick, stone and timber. Nice. ♥

[bscottb]

Watch "Sunset Boulevard" and you'll see a great lost mansion of Los Angeles -- the William O. Jenkins House (also called the Getty Mansion) which served as Norma Desmond's abode.

[neighborhoodcatlady]

I was born in LA many years ago. At the time, my parents lived in an apartment on Bunker Hill. Although they later moved out to the San Fernando Valley, I remember going downtown and taking Angel’s Flight many times. Central Market was at the base of the little railroad and sold wonderful products. 😺

[kjm]

It always amazes me the different attitudes towards architecture here in Britain and in the USA. Here we try to preserve our ancient buildings and put laws in place so that they can’t be demolished or mistreated. It’s extraordinary to us that demolishing significant architectural structures is allowed.

[jayneneewing]

When you mentioned homes on Bunker Hill I was hoping you would show a picture of the one my cousin painted. Sadly it wasn’t there. My cousin went there just before they tore down the last few remaining houses still standing. He ended up painting two versions of one home. The first one he gave to his mother (my aunt). My mother kept a newspaper clipping of my cousin winning some type of award for it. I have no idea what happened to that clip. When my mother saw it she wanted one. So, my cousin painted one for her, and now it belongs to me. This one is visually different in the colors. My cousin made it a little bit brighter for my mother, but I am not certain why he made that choice. I think both paintings are equally lovely. The first one was done in circa 1958. The second was hanging on my mother’s wall in circa 1961. My mother’s is now in my home. I enjoyed your video. Thank you.

[lawrencesiskind]

Nice summary of Los Angeles' history. Pasadena's craftsmen houses are well preserved at least.

[BORN-to-Run]

There's a GREAT LONGING in my spirit for what Los Angeles USE TO BE!
I LOVE LA! But what I think I love is "WHAT IT USE TO BE, " not what it now is.
Thanks for the emotional walk down Nostalgic Lane.
Oh, how I wish it still were....😢

[jefflebowski]

Los Angeles' unofficial motto is "Out with the old and in with the new"
I use to live in LA and got tired of the traffic and crime. There's a city nearby that still has preserved mansions, Pasadena, I highly recommend visiting the Huntington Library.

[oltedders]

Does anyone remember Jack Nicholson's line from the 1930's period film, China Town?
"Los Angeles is a small town."
My, how things change.
The usual order of "progress": build, bulldoze, repeat.

[jenniferjones]

IT SICKENS ME EVERY TIME I SEE VIDEOS OF THESE MANSIONS BEING DESTROYED. OTHER COUNTRIES HONOR THEIR PAST AND KEEP HISTORY IN THEIR HEARTS. THEY HAVE BUILDINGS HUNDREDS OF YEARS OLD. NOT IN THE USA. ITS SAD AND DISGUSTING THAT OUR HISTORY IS NOT KEPT.

[postmodernrecycler]

Pictured at 0:13 is the Higgins mansion. It was moved in sections, west from its original site just outside of Bunker Hill, to the Hancock Park neighborhood. It's still there on Lucerne and Wilshire and was restored a few years ago.

[jetsons]

"Weather, " it's the almost perfect year-round weather that made LA grow, the entertainment industry left NY for LA for the lack of harsh winters -- year round filming.
Walteria, a small sub-section of Torrance CA, is said to have some of the best weather in the country. Our local paper is called "The Daily Breeze." Los Angeles grew due to the great weather, BUT today she needs a lot of TLC, mostly in the downtown and metro area.

[mvttstk]

Los Angeles has a lot of older neighborhoods that feature wonderful architecture and the occasional mansion. I lived in Pasadena not far from the designated "Bungalow Heaven" neighborhoods. I commuted to Los Angeles city, Los Angeles' Mid Wilshire, and later the West Side (Century City) for work. A drive along Sixth Street between Western to San Vicente will reveal neighborhoods full of large homes with a few modest mansions tucked among them--it is worth the drive to explore. 😉