A small home with a turret style entry, features steeped roof lines and ivy growing up the walls.

The Tiny French “Gnome” Village Hiding in the Citrus Empire

May 22, 2024, 1 Comment

Redlands is one of the great citrus empires of California, it’s also a city that is filled with gorgeous homes. Most of the houses you’ll stumble upon are grand Victorians, Spanish Revivals, and Mid-Century Moderns, but there is one narrow street that looks like something out of France, this is Normandie Court, and it is…

Bob's, a large, long flat roof building, with a jutting pointed sign reading "Bob's Big Boy Broiler"

The Bob’s Big Boy that Almost Never Was

January 8, 2020, 3 Comments

As I’ve said before, and as many of you know, I love visiting places that let you feel like you’ve stepped back in time, and one of those places is Bob’s Big Boy Broiler in Downey. But this place wasn’t always a Bob’s Big Boy, and it almost never was… It is no secret that…

The building - two tall golden arches flank a slanted flat roof, and red and white tile wrap around the bottom. Walls of glass allow guests to walk up to the window and place their orders. The Speedee sign to the left.

The World’s Oldest McDonald’s

August 22, 2018, 7 Comments

Right here in Southern California, in the LA suburb of Downey (a place my father lived during part of his childhood), is the world’s oldest operating McDonald’s. It’s a unique claim to fame, and one some may pay no attention to, but, like it or not, fast food is an invention of America, and thus,…

The building, with its white low pitch roof, peeked in the middle, walls of glass, and flagstone at either end.

Mel’s Resurrects a Googie Masterpiece in Santa Monica

August 7, 2018, 4 Comments

Imagine traveling Route 66 in 1959, perhaps in a brand new stunning Chevy Impala. After days on the road you finally roll up to the intersection of Lincoln and Olympic (the true end of the Mother Road) in the beach city of Santa Monica, and you are greeted by a dapper looking penguin in a…

A Return to the Orchid Tree Inn

March 11, 2015, 8 Comments

In 2013 during a visit to Palm Springs I shared images of a vacant (and at the time, for sale) hotel and adjacent church. It was The Orchid Tree Inn and the Community Church of Palm Springs, and you can view the first visit here. When we returned to Palm Springs in 2014, the hotel we…

Preserving the Past

February 2, 2014, 3 Comments

Recently I was contacted by fellow blogger Hannah, of Just Peachy Darling, about a project she was working on. She was asking several people to express why they are interested in history and how they are preserving the past. Since this subject is so near and dear to me, I was eager to get on…

Atomic Redhead

historic preservation

The Tiny French “Gnome” Village Hiding in the Citrus Empire

The Bob’s Big Boy that Almost Never Was

The World’s Oldest McDonald’s

Mel’s Resurrects a Googie Masterpiece in Santa Monica

A Return to the Orchid Tree Inn

Preserving the Past