Tuesday, October 20, 2009
halloween is coming - part 2
Continuing on at that same house.....This is the very cute sign that they have near their front door pointing the way to where Halloween goodies will be found. I wish I had a child that I could send over there on October 31st, just to see what else they will be doing....Actually, I might try to get back over there in the next week or so, if I can, to see if they have added any more 'set dressing'......
This hanging creature above is another skull-faced skeleton person....I love the juxt-a-position of the beautiful Bird of Paradise growing in their front garden and that strange hanging person......
It's like she/he is closed up in a kind of open cage....Look at that face....lol....And just because it is such a beautiful flower, here is closer look at that exquisite Bird Of Paradise!
This particular flower really does look like a bird. I've seen hundreds of them and most of the time they don't really look as much like an 'exotica' as this one does.....Beautiful, Beautiful. You cannot beat nature!
This happy little fellow above sits right next to the front steps. What a delightful character he is....perfect for greeting all the little 'trick or treaters' who will be coming by this house on Halloween night......
Look at that smiling non-frightening Pilgrim...! I applaud that they have him there so that the really little children won't be as scared by the Skeletons and that screaming guy, because this smiley-face person is right there greeting them, too! I love his green hair....lol! There were a few more Halloween Decorations that you just have to see......
These three colorful Witches were the first things I saw as we came to a stop on Carmelita. We were heading towards this house I mentioned in my first Halloween post, and I just happened to turn my head and saw these three on the lawn of this house and it was too good to pass up.....Below, here is the first witch over on the left.....
I love the color of their costumes....I am very partial to Purple and the material has a nice semi-shininess to it. Her hair is a little unkempt---it almost looks like a beard in the front.....! And her Broomstick is just as it should be.
The middle Witch is my favorite. Her hair is in the right place---no beard----
and her witchy face reminds me of 'Beulah Witch' from "Kukla, Fran & Ollie", for any of you who remember that superb gem of a show. (I wrote a post about them waaaay back in 2006---I absolutely adored that show......) Anyway, Beulah was one of the many puppet characters and she was hilarious! I loved all of them---Kukla and Ollie and Madame Ogglepuss and Colonel Cracky and Fletcher Rabbitt, etc., etc. etc. But I did have a special place in my heart for dear Beulah.....Something about her was so very appealing and she was so terribly funny...that show is a must-see......
The third Witch's face is turned 'up stage' at the tree....and her hair is quite askew, isn't it? But you can really see the very pretty color of the costume in this picture above.....Below, here is a picture of just the first two Witches.....
That second one's Broomstick has a bad curve in it...lol....well, this is how the three Witches are attached to each other---It did look funny, that's for sure----The Broomstick on #2 and #3 go up under the capes so you cannot see where they are attached.....When I saw them there on the lawn I thought of the three witches from 'The Scottish Play' by Shakespeare....I cannot write the correct name because they say it is very very bad luck, but it is a one word title that begins with the letter "M"! And below.....another wonderful show of humor by the folks who live in this house.....
This poor dear Witch flew right into that tree....lol! And of course, what came to mind for me was that Wicked Witch from "The Wizard Of Oz" that is hit and killed by the house falling on her when Dorothy first lands on The Yellow Brick Road, and she becomes a Heroine to all The Munchkins.....Remember?
And she gets those Ruby Red Slippers from Glinda The Good Witch.....I wonder how they know that Witches all wear these striped stockings...? Anyway....I love that Witch stuck on the tree. Very Very clever! (Though maybe if that Witch had had the Ruby Red Slippers she wouldn't have gotten stuck on the tree....ha!) And the kind of fun thing about this whole happenstance was that the house I wanted to photograph and which we were on the way to so I could photograph when I saw this Halloween display, is this-house-below......
It is known as The Witch House....! And it is right there in the flats of Beverly Hills. This is how it used to look before the renovation that has been going on for years......I didn't take the picture above.....But below is one of the pictures I took and this is how it looks today......
The renovation is still going on after quite a few years and that is why there is that green barrier thingy sitting on the street surrounding the whole house. It was originally built in the early 1920's by an Art Director on a movie lot in Culver City for a silent film or two. It was moved to it's present location in Beverly Hills in 1926 and has stayed pretty much the same for almost 70 years...It was then bought in 1998 I believe, by a Real Estate man who wanted to restore and preserve it and return it to it's original eccentricities with a few twists....Like the Chimney, for instance......
Above....how the Chimney looked 'back in the day' (and the overgrown garden, too)....And below, how it looks now on the day I was there......
I found another kind of wonderful picture on the net of The Witch House in all it's glory in maybe the 1940's or 50's or maybe the 1960's.....And here it is below......
As you can see, all of the landscaping is very low and many things had not grown in yet......Below are another couple of pictures that I took the day we were there.......
And below, a closer look at some of the restored windows......
I was told that this house is on the Starline Tour.....and it doesn't surprise me because it is quite an unusual oddity and has a history connected to the film industry and there isn't anything else like it in that area or maybe in any area.....There are what are called 'storybook houses' throughout Los Angeles, but none like The Witch House! Below, one last photograph of mine.....
I sure wish that green thing wasn't surrounding the house because it cuts off quite a bit of the view of the garden, but I understand why they need it there......I thought it would be kind of fun to feature this house with Halloween almost here---But I wish I could have gotten better pictures of it.......More To Come........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 12:06:00 AM
Friday, October 16, 2009
halloween is coming....!
Halloween is on the way and while driving around this amazing city with my dear friend Shawn the other week, we went into the "flats" of Beverly Hills because I wanted to take some pictures of a house that I will be showing you later on....To explain why this particular area of Beverly Hills is called 'The Flats' is very simple. It is because it is all on flat land as apposed to actually up in the Hills.
Here above...you see 'the flats'.....I didn't take this picture, but found it on the net---it was taken from a Helicopter. This whole section is above Santa Monica Blvd, which you can see way at the top of the picture---that's where the 'city' of Beverly Hills is----and it goes up to Sunset Blvd and a little beyond, here and there. This is all Beverly Hills, but before "Beverly Hills" actually goes up into 'The Hills of Beverly'. And it has always been known as 'The Flats of Beverly Hills'.......
This whole section is all on a slight incline starting at Wilshire Blvd and continuing on up to Sunset Blvd., where it then begins it's more serious climb up into The Hills. You can see from the Helicopter picture above that it is all residential---that street in the middle of the Helicopter picture is Rodeo Drive. There are many beautiful homes in this 'flat' area, most of which are not behind big walls and huge gates. And so, as we drove around, we came across a house that had a lot of Halloween decorations on their lawn. And I thought: Oh Perfect! A Halloween post or two for my blog, along with a little bit of other information.....And in the case of that very first picture above, they had a Skeleton or two, hanging in one of the trees, and some other places, too......
Here above is that first Skeleton's 'brother' or 'tree neighbor', as the case may be.....I loved that they put them both in a tree in their front yard.....And then we noticed there was another Skeleton laying down on the grass....I thought this was really really clever.......
As you can see....he is partly buried under the grass as if escaping from the crypt or his grave....lol! I love the homeowners sense of humor! It was fairly late in the afternoon and so the sun was going down in the West, as it always does.....But, considering that, I still got some fun pictures.
Here is their front entry-way....I think that black thing over on the right of the front door is a Witch on a Broomstick...but I'm not really sure. Here below is a closer look at another one of these black things.
This one looks like he is trying to get into the house through that window...lol. Or, is he or she facing front? The mystery of the hanging black thing.....I think I see some fangy looking teeth there (Do click on all the pictures to see them somewhat closer....) If any of you can tell me if this is a Bat or a Witch or whatever---do let me know in your comments.....I do know what is inside the gate there and here is a closer look at them, below.....
I love that big skull...and the little 'screaming skull hanging on to the gate.....Again, it really says a lot, to me about the people who own the house and their sense of humor. Here below is a closer look at that little screamer-guy.....
And an even closer look below---in detail.......
Sorry about the focus in that picture above---we were in a moving car, remember....He is pretty scary looking and the detail of his face and teeth and eye---well, I think it is all pretty extraordinary....! I love seeing things like this where so much care has been taken to make it look as authentically Halloween Creepy and Scary as possible.....
One last close-up of that Skull behind the Front Door Gate....He almost looks like he has this little ironic grin on his face, like he is saying--'I'm not really scary, I'm just part of the Halloween pretend-scary".....
Here above are the two Skeletons in the tree and that Skull on the Front Door.....There are more Halloween goodies here at this house, but you will have to wait for the next post......More To Come.......
Note: Today is my dear sister Gene's 83rd Birthday! A Very Very Happy Birthday, dear sister..........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 12:23:00 AM
Monday, October 12, 2009
hollywood
First there is the above, followed by the below......
And, ".....put them both together they spell........"
So earlier last week, I had to get out of the house because my Gardener had to spray, (for the third frigging time) these horrible chemicals underneath my house and all around the foundation of my house because the ants had returned, for the third friggin' time! And because of my irreversibly damaged lungs and my on-going lung illness, I am not supposed to breath in any toxic fumes, whatsoever---they could cause more damage, you see....So, with my Heat Registers still sealed off from the two times he sprayed before----that's where the fumes come up into my house and effect me in a very bad way----dear Seemah took me out for a long long ride. This time we went East of where I live. I thought it might be fun to get some pictures of the wonderful Hollywood Sign.....So, we went up into Beachwood Canyon.......
The sign already looks pretty close when you are on Beachwood Drive....certainly a lot closer than it looks from Hollywood & Highland....! Beachwood Drive is a very long street that goes up into the hills and is accessed from Franklin Avenue and though it climbs most of the way, for a good long time it is a very easy incline, until you get to the stone gates which starts the area that was actually once known as 'Hollywoodland', when this whole section was first developed in the early 1920's. Below, the stone 'Gates' that tell you, you are now entering Hollywoodland.
Above, as it looked back in 1923 when it was built. The white home that is at what looks like the end of the road was once owned by Busby Berkely, the great great director of early Musical extravaganza films---he was famous for the kaleidoscopic designs of the dancers/swimmers. etc....Below, a picture of some kind of gathering at Busby's home back in the early 1920's.....
His house is right there behind the 'Jitneys' which brought the people all the way up lower Beachwood Drive to his house, which is at the entrance to the Canyon itself....Here below is how it looks today.....
And you can just see a little bit of the 'gate' to the right....In truth, it was never a real gate at all....Just these two stone things on either side of the road. Here below is a closer look at that.....
And a closer look below at the Plaque.......
And below....this is what the original 'Hollywoodland' sign looked like.....
Built in 1923, the sign cost $21,000. It was erected by the developers of the area as a selling point and it was only supposed to be temporary...but it stayed up waaaay past it's prime.
Above, you can see the sign way up there in the distance. Eventually the last four letters were removed and the rest of it was in such disrepair that it was almost destroyed and totally removed by the 1970's.... At that point, in 1978, some very wonderful individuals each "bought" a letter for $28,000 a piece, so that the sign could be completely refurbished and re-built in a much more lasting manner......And today the Hollywood Sign remains a true iconic landmark.....Tourists are always trying to find out how to get up there. Well, it's up Beachwood Drive. The way I go from there is I turn left on Ledgewood and just follow it all the way up as far as it will go....Then it takes you to a very open area where you can see Lake Hollywood and see the Sign pretty close up! (There is another way to get to this Vista...but it's too complicated to explain here...lol)
A small section of Lake Hollywood, which is really a Reservoir, but they call it Lake Hollywood....And then in the picture below---and east of the Lake----is the Hollywood Sign.
As you can see in the picture above, there is an open Park right there at the base of the mountain, very popular on the weekends, but used all week long as well....
This residential area was developed in 1961 and is known as Lake Hollywood Estates......
And below, I took this picture of the sign at the top of one of the streets of Lake Hollywood Estates.....It is an interesting angle......
The angle makes it look like the "H" and the "D" are separated from the other letters.....Strange, isn't it? I've always loved the sign.....and I swear it still said Hollywoodland when I first saw it....Well, it had to be in 1947---the very first time I came to Los Angeles----because from everything I have read, they removed the last four letters in 1949......More To Come........
| posted by OldLady Of The Hills at 11:36:00 AM
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