The Queen Anne Cottage is located within the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia and was the setting for much of the TV series “Fantasy Island”. Each episode, Tattoo (Herve Villechaize) would ring the bell in the bell tower while shouting “The plane, the plane!” as the seaplane prepared to land with that week’s clients.
Links: Queen Anne Cottage
The B. Gerald Cantor Sculpture Garden is on the grounds of the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA) and features several impressive Rodin sculptures. The Cantors are said to have amassed the world’s largest private collection of Rodin sculptures and have donated several to LACMA.
Links: LAT article
This bust of James Dean is in front of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles on the right (west) side as you face the building. Both the interior and exterior of the Observatory were featured in his most famous movie, 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause, and was the first time a planetarium theater was used in a movie. The work is by artist Kenneth Kendall and a duplicate bust is in the James Dean Memorial Park in the actor’s hometown of Fairmount, Indiana. On a clear day you can take a picture of the statue with the Hollywood sign in the background.
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This statue, which is outside the entrance to the Autry Museum of the America West in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, depicts the Pony Express ride carrying the news of President Abraham Lincoln’s election. The ride began in St. Joseph, Missouri and ended in Sacramento, California, and was the fastest ride in the history of the Pony Express. The artist is Douglas Van Howd.
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The Warner Bros. Studios water tower is another iconic site/sight in Los Angeles (Burbank, to be exact). The tower was built in 1927 and moved to its current location in 1933 after the Long Beach earthquake. It’s 100 feet tall and can hold 100,000 gallons, although it is currently empty. It was used in the Animaniacs TV series to incarcerate the characters Yakko, Wakko, and Dot.
Nothing quite says Los Angeles like the Hollywood sign! The sign was originally erected in 1923 as part of an ad campaign for a housing development called “Hollywoodland” and included four more letters. It is located on the south side of Mount Lee in Griffith Park and is 45 feet tall and 350 feet long. This pic was taken from the parking lot at Griffith Observatory.
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This monument, designed by local artist Archibald Garner, was built in 1934 by the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) in an effort to employ workers during the Great Depression. The six astronomers depicted include Hipparchus, Nicolas Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Johannes Kepler, Issac Newton, and John Herschel.
One of the most popular attractions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is the lamppost series known as “Urban Light”, which consists of 202 restored cast iron antique street lamps. Since it is exterior to the museum, you can view it for free!
Links: LACMA previous related post
We really enjoyed our recent visit to the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum. This pic shows the Columbian mammoth skeleton excavated from Pit 9 in 1914 that is displayed in the George C. Page Museum. While there, one can also walk next door and visit the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Links: Tar Pits Museum
The Los Angeles Zoo is located in Griffith Park and houses over 1,100 animals representing over 250 species on its 133 acre site. The zoo opened in 1966 and was preceded by the Griffith Park Zoo which opened in 1912 in a nearby location. One of the big successes at the zoo has been its California condor breeding program.
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