14 Iconic Structures and Notable Properties Lost in the Los Angeles Wildfires

Featured image credit: Suiren2022 The Los Angeles wildfires of January 2025 were historic in their levels of property damage. And while we’re still assessing the full loss, the absence of several iconic structures and notable properties was quickly apparent. Obviously, there’s no comparing the loss of property, no matter how legendary, to the loss of […]

Absorption Rate Analysis – January 2025: We’ve Never Seen a Month Like This Before

We’ve never seen a month like January 2025 in the history of publishing our absorption rates. And with so many monumental factors at play, it’s tough to pin these results on one thing. New presidential administration? Citywide fires? The Grind to Greatness Realtor Race? In short, we expected a drop in absorption rates in January. […]

Is Amboy, California Worth the Detour? Inside the Googie Ghost Town That Refused to Stay Dead

Featured image credit: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Amboy (California, USA) — 2012 — 4” / CC BY-SA 4.0 About 200 miles east of Los Angeles and 100 miles northeast of Palm Springs sits a remote Mojave Desert town that exists out of logic and reason. It was built near a dead volcano, along a highway (that died), with a gas station […]

The Mid-Century Fairytale of LA’s Case Study Houses

Featured image credit: mbtrama It’s not often that we get to witness experiments in architecture while they’re in motion. Yet, that’s exactly the experience case study houses offer. Arts & Architecture magazine challenged notable architects to create affordable homes to address the U.S.’s residential housing boom. With World War II finally coming to an end, […]

The Last Chuck E. Cheese Animatronic Band in the World is Playing a Northridge Residency

Featured image credit: Ben Schumin What a year for legendary bands. New wave icons Devo retired from live performance. Rock gods Kiss called it a day. And now Munch’s Make Believe Band is packing it all in… with one notable exception. Wait, you don’t remember Munch’s Make Believe Band? Surely you’ve had the singular experience […]

The Eaton Fire Upends Altadena’s Historic Black Community Cultivated Over Half a Century

A certain segment of media and American culture have callously dismissed the wildfire disaster gripping Los Angeles as a “rich person problem.” We won’t waste space dignifying that assessment with a nuanced retort other than to emphasize that 25 lives have been lost so far, and the fires weren’t checking bank account balances. At the […]