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Just started school on Monday at UCLA and wanted to share some things that I learned. My professor Eleanor Schapa serves as the design review commissioner for the City of Beverly Hills. To get an intro to architecture, we learned about the different types of styles and influences in Los Angeles area. Here are some notes I took, we went over alot of properties but here is a few of my favorites.

The Avila Adobe, was built in 1818 by Don Francisco Avila, and has the distinction of being the oldest standing residence in Los Angeles It is located in the paseo of famous, historical Olvera Street.

• The walls of the Avila adobe are 2-1/2 to 3 feet thick and are built from sun baked adobe bricks.
  
• Based on a Ranch style for LA breezes, not much wood so used stucco. (adobe/mud/donkey urine)
  

Hale House is a Victorian era mansion built in 1885 in the Hghland Park section of northeast Los Angeles. It has been described as the most photographed house in the entire city, and the most elaborately decorated

The house was inherited by Hale's niece, Odena Johnson, who stated her desire to dispose of it as soon as possible. When plans were announced to demolish the house and build a chrome and steel gas station in its place, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission stopped the demolition temporarily by declaring the house a Historic-Cultural Landmark.

After much debate Hale's niece agreed to sell the house for $1 if it could be moved from the site. In July 1970, the house was lifted from its foundation and moved to the nearby Heritage Square Museum in Highland Park. The move cost $10,300 and an additional $3,000 to raise wires so the house could pass under.

• Highly decorated houses are sometimes called gingerbread houses.


• The More elaborate the detail is the more you showed off how much money you had.


• During the renovation of the house, chips from the original colors were found on the house. The exterior was painted to match the colors from the old chips. The interior has been restored to recreate the appearance that it is believed to have had in the 1890s.
  

Stimson House is a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion in Los Angeles, California on Figueroa Street north of West Adams. Built in 1891, it was the home of lumber and banking millionaire, Thomas Douglas Stimson. During Stimson’s lifetime, the house survived a dynamite attack by a blackmailer in 1896. After Stimson’s death, the house has been occupied by a brewer who reportedly stored wines and other spirits in the basement, a fraternity house that conducted noisy parties causing consternation among occupants of neighboring mansions, as student housing for Mount St. Mary's College, and as a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

• Tower collapsed in the Northridge earthquake, it was re-done by the Walt Disney Imagineers with fake products.

Not necessarily my favorite designs, but the history was fun. These were only a select few of about 50 we went over, others included the Gamble House, (Arts and Crafts design) Banning House (Greek Revival) and Beverly Hills City Hall. (Mission Revival "Churrigueresque") Awesome first day. More details later.

Boycotts n' Things

Ever been to an empanada party? Well I just attended my fist one last weekend in Buena Park. I should be clear; I went to an Argentinean empanada party not to be confused with a Chilean or a Mexican empanada party. The name empanada comes from the Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Usually the empanada is made by folding a thin circular-shaped dough patty over the stuffing, creating its typical semicircular shape. Argentineans typically put beef or chicken as the stuffing, I’m not sure how many Latin American countries do this, but the Argentina empanadas were good. Brent was in heaven, I think he ate around 12.

I also ran my first 5 mile in a long time. Brent who does the 5K often was required to stay and run with me. I told him as we were running (sweat everywhere gasping for breath) that the sportsmanlike thing for him to do would be to let us finish at the house together. He agreed but at the last 10 meters he sped up to finish first. I was so pissed that he didn’t let me win, that I am boycotting his 5K run until further notice.

Top 5 things that has happened in the last week:

5. I used my Olive Garden gift card from Christmas.

4. If Michaela and Spencer get on their academic honor roll, they get Rock Band, which means I get Rock Band.

3. Britney Spears new song “Womanizer” comes out next week.

2. UCLA starts in 4 days.

1. I finally got California license plates.

Angelina Jolie-esque

I went to this pool party last weekend in the Hollyhood hills at a mega size mansion that looked like it would slide down the hill in a 2.0 Richter. The crowd reminded me of those Bacardi commercials where everyone is tan, pretty and has sunglasses that made a revival from the eighties. I wanted to scream mojito! just to see if everyone would jump in sync.

The pool was no bigger than 7X18 which was pretty impressive for a home that had a cliff as a back yard. Not many were actually in the pool, so I guess I attended a look at my beautiful Venetian stone surrounding the pool party. Even though the crowd was Angelina Jolie-esque, we actually ended up having a good time, I came in a party with four people, and you know safety in numbers.

I snuck a picture of the view from the pool house, it was pretty spectacular. I have to admit when I was lounging in a chair by the pool checking out the view I thought is this what P. Diddy feels like all the time?

Da Big House

108,421 – 5,000 = 103,421… 103,421 University of Michigan fans in the Big House last Saturday. I gotta tell you, these Michigan fans take football very seriously, and I would have to say after the Fiesta Bowl this would be the best college football experience I’ve had. I give the Michigan fans an A+, they were so cool to us, and everyone was welcoming; even after we had won, they were still polite to us. We ran into this guy a few hours after who lost a bet over the game so he had to wear all denim. He came up and talked to us about our upcoming season and he treated us like a best friend. The beer in hand helped, but still it was nice to get pleasant drunk rather than a bad one.

Just rewinding the beginning of the trip, Nick and I flew into Chi town and stayed at the Hyatt in downtown, which was right on Michigan Avenue. I took Nick for some Chicago deep dish forgetting that he hated cheese, but he was a trooper and enjoyed the experience. The next day we went to the top of the John Hancock building where we could see all the way across the lake. They had an audio tour of David Schwimmer (friends) who mentioned all the highlights at the top (hence the reason why I am wearing the headphones in the pic). We then went to a Cubs game at Wrigley field which was a great experience; the stadium opened in 1912 and has not been touched since. It felt like watching a real baseball team, even the score board numbers were moved by hand. The experience was really cool.

The drive to Ann Arbor was a part I wish I could erase. There was construction every 10 miles, so it made the drive go longer and longer, by the time we got to the hotel it was past midnight. The next morning we went to the tailgating party and there were over 2,000 fans there, which is a lot for having a game over a thousand miles away. We had a very impressive 5,000 fan turnout, but the number of Michigan fans was intimidating. When we had our season opener against UCLA a few years ago, the Rose Bowl held a good 90,000 and the place was not even a fourth of the way full, at Michigan the place was packed. I have never seen so many people so dedicated with so many traditions as this field. Nick said wait till we play Notre Dame in a few years, but I wanted to revel in the moment. I’m glad we won, but even if we hadn’t I still would have been really glad I went to that game for the experience. Going home was hard because I started to miss the fam, I wish Clint and Co. could have come, but I’m sure we’ll get everyone to go next year to Eugene.