Photo Essay: Schindler's Outer Space Architecture in Studio City, The Roxy Roth House

The Roxy Roth House by architect Rudolph M. Schindler was officially completed in 1946—but by the looks of it, it could've been done in 1964 or 2064.

 

This sculptural architectural masterwork—part of Schindler's "Space Architecture" movement—stands on a Studio City hill as though it landed there from a galaxy far, far away.

Swimming Like a Rookie at Fort MacArthur

My swimming tourism thing is nothing new. I tried a lot of different pools when I first moved to Southern California, before I got settled into a routine. And when the old West Hollywood Pool was closed and then demolished during the Covid pandemic, I was forced to find somewhere else to swim my laps (mostly because it was the only thing I wanted to do outdoors, and it wasn't safe to be indoors). 

Once the brand-new West Hollywood aquatic facility opened nearly four years ago, I got lazy and just stuck to my neighborhood. It was so easy. And nice.

But the WeHo pool was closed last week and this week for Pride celebrations—so I've been back on the road, looking for other places to take a dip. 

And today brought me to a pool that's long been on my list: the Hey Rookie Pool at Fort MacArthur.

circa 2023

The historic military pool reopened as a public pool in 2017 following a $7.1 million renovation, which repaired safety concerns that had closed and decommissioned it in 1997.

Photo Essay: Plunging Into the Biltmore Hotel's Tiled Pool Palace

I haven't written about the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles yet—despite having taken a tour with the Los Angeles Conservancy—because I just didn't think I had anything to add to the existing reporting.

Tichnor Brothers, Publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Located opposite of Pershing Square—once Downtown LA's "Central Park"—the Beaux Arts-style hotel by Schultze and Weaver gets a lot of press coverage, and for good reason. Today, this architectural masterpiece provides luxury accommodations much as it did back in 1923, when it was the largest hotel west of Chicago.

An After-Hours Sound Bath Among the Mattresses: Retail Therapy, LA Style

"I love LA," said the woman next to me, as she gathered up her crystals and folded up her sheet. We'd slept next to each other, on two neighboring mattresses, during a sound bath conducted inside the Mattress Central store in Atwater Village. And then we went our separate ways.