The City of Los Angeles is stitched into nearly 900,000 parcels of land with almost as many architectural styles built on them. Our easygoing attitude and mild climate have given root to fantastic hybrids. For instance, the 1894 Queen Anne pictured incorporates Richardsonian Romanesque, Islamic, French chateauesque, and colonial revival styles. The rest of the world isn’t immune to the charms of our indigenous creations. Today Californian bungalows can be found in Australia, and one of our traditional ranch homes sits among the snowy pines of Switzerland. Here we present a survey of modest to extravagant houses dating from 1865 to 1964, the century in which L.A. went from sleepy pueblo to eclectic megalopolis. Owning your own home is still the American dream, and where else will you find dreams in as many shapes and styles as ours?
100 years of L.A. homes start here
Adobe
(Glendale, 1865)
Italianate
(Angelino Heights, 1872)
Eastlake
(Angelino Heights, 1887)
Queen Anne
(Westlake, 1894)
Mission Revival
(Pico-Union, 1904)
Craftsman
(West Adams, 1905)
Bungalow
(Los Feliz, 1911)
Spanish Colonial Revival
(Toluca Lake, 1926)
Storybook
(Toluca Lake, 1928)
Tudor
(Pasadena, 1929)
International
(Mid Wilshire, 1934)
Streamline
(Los Feliz, 1935)
Colonial
(Toluca Lake, 1938)
Minimal Traditional
(Santa Monica, 1941)
Ranch
(Sherman Oaks, 1953)
Modern
(Granada Hills, 1964)
Tour of Beauty
Explore some of L.A.’s most original homes with the people who know them best
Victorian Era
Once a month, Los Angeles Conservancy docents lead walking tours through the gingerbread homes of Angelino Heights, like the Innes House, just a stone’s throw from the Hollywood Freeway.
Craftsman
The West Adams Heritage Association opens the Wheeler House annually. Across town each fall, Pasadena Heritage hosts Craftsman Weekend, featuring house tours, parties, and nearly 100 vendors who specialize in furniture and fixtures used to restore the homes of the early 20th-century movement.
Modernist
Architecture Tours L.A. includes the Buck House on one of its seven excursions. Its most popular explores Silver Lake and the homes designed by Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, and John Lautner—the all-stars of Los Angeles modernism.