Like the Conservancy itself, the Modern Committee began as a small group of passionate and concerned citizens and, over time, grew into a powerful voice for preservation in Los Angeles. The Modern Committee started life as the Fifties Task Force, a volunteer subcommittee of the Conservancy formed in 1984 in response to the rapid destruction […]

Helen Fong was a true pioneer. Very few women, let alone Chinese-American women, were practicing architects in postwar America...

Preserving and maintaining historic structures requires the special touch of professionals who understand the importance of preserving historic character — and who have the skills to do it right. To help you protect and enhance your investment in Los Angeles County’s rich architectural legacy, we offer a professional services directory for various aspects of historic preservation. […]

I remember the La Brea tar pits, the former Bullocks Wilshire building, the Wilshire Blvd. Temple (oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles) founded in 1873 on the corner of Fourth street (now Broadway) and Third Street. I am interested in the history of Los Angeles, Douglas Park on Wilshire Blvd. Between Chelsea and 25th street […]

Patriarch of one of the oldest and most prolific architecture firms in Southern California, Albert C. Martin saw opportunity in the open fields of a fledgling city...

Like most of the kids in my high school, I got my driver’s license as soon as I turned sixteen. But unlike everyone else, I was too afraid to drive the freeway; and so that entire first summer (1970), my younger sister and I regularly drove the family’s 10-year-old Ford Falcon over 25+ miles of […]

I remember the May Co: As a junior high student, my best friend and I would walk back and forth between May Co. and Ohrbachs. This was pre-mall hanging out (early 1960s). Also Thrifty Drug: My mother’s part time job; my first (and only) off the book job — untangling jewelry and wrapping gifts — […]

What is an ICO? The Interim Control Ordinances (ICO) for neighborhood conservation created a two-year moratorium on development in certain single-family neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The ordinances limited demolition in soon-to-be Historic Preservation Overlay Zones (HPOZ) and established temporary regulations for new construction in more than a dozen other neighborhoods.  What does the ICO mean for […]

What is re:code? Re:code LA is the first comprehensive update to the City of Los Angeles’ zoning code since 1946. The new, web-based code will make it easier for users to navigate and understand land use regulations. One of the first components to be unveiled is a suite of new R1 single-family zones.  What do […]

Well before 1940, Los Angeles architects (both native-born and immigrant) had developed a free-thinking, exploratory Modernism blended with commercial pragmatism that generated new forms, new architectures, and a new decentralized city. Bullocks Wilshire (John and Donald Parkinson, 1929). Photo from Conservancy archives Southern California had been nurturing a culture of architectural experimentation as early as 1900. […]