Bunker Hill, affluent residential neighborhood of Victorian Los Angeles, famously fell victim to redevelopment in the postwar era. In its place, over the decades, rose commercial high rises and cultural centers, plazas and pedways. And nobody seems to love modern Bunker Hill—except for the lost neighborhood’s historian, Nathan Marsak.

Join Esotouric and Nathan Marsak for a guided tour through the redeveloped Bunker Hill, to get to know Downtown’s open-air Museum of Modernism, featuring remarkable examples of Late Moderne, New Formalist, Postmodernism and more. All of them are featured in his brand new guidebook, which will be available for purchase and signing.

Featured landmarks include the Los Angeles County Court House (1958), Union Bank Plaza (1967), the Bonaventure Hotel (1976) and Walt Disney Concert Hall (2003), along with rare survivors from the pre-redevelopment era, which offer a peep into the past from our futuristic vantage.

On this tour, you’ll not only learn about architectural developments, but get to know the Hill’s rich history, from initial development to decline, displacement and reinvention, and the colorful characters who transformed the landscape, for better or worse.

As declining office occupancy makes Bunker Hill’s role as a business center uncertain, it’s time to look deeply at the useful and beautiful relics of redevelopment and imagine a future that is the best Bunker Hill of them all.

This walking tour is illustrated with rare photos you can view on your smartphone.

MEETING INSTRUCTIONS:

Tour begins at 10:30am sharp, with check-in time 10am at the patio outside Grand Central Market at 324 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Please arrive on time and proceed to the check in table to get signed in and logged in to the smartphone slideshow. Scroll down for tour rules and recommendations.

TOUR RULES & RECOMMENDATIONS:

BE PREPARED: This is a walking hour lasting 3 hours, over a mix of level ground and occasional hills and stairs moving at a casual pace. We will be making frequent use of the pedestrian bridges, and there will be one or two flights of stairs to ascend or descend at a time for the first half of the walk. Wear comfortable walking shoes, sunscreen and a hat. Bring your smartphone so you can view the tour slide show. We will have a cooler with cold water, and you’re encouraged to bring a full water bottle. A restroom will be available at the start, roughly halfway through at the Bonaventure, and end of the tour. If you need more information about what to expect, please email us.

COVID SAFETY: At this time, we no longer require that masks be worn on walking tours.

CAMERA POLICY: No video- or audio-taping unless it has been pre-cleared with us, please. Still cameras and sketchbooks are fine.

Parking & Public Transit:

There are numerous paid public parking lots around Grand Central Market, including GCM’s multi-level lot at 308 South Hill Street Los Angeles, California 90013.  The nearest Metro stations are Civic Center/Grand Park and Pershing Square. If using public transit, this link can help you plan your trip:

CONTACTING US ON OR BEFORE TOUR DAY:

Emailing is the best way to communicate with us, but after 8am on tour day you can call or text Richard on his mobile phone, 213-915-8687.

CANCELLATION / REFUND POLICY:

If you feel like you’re getting sick, if you test positive for Covid-19, or if you have knowingly been in contact with a positive case of Covid-19 in the last 7 days, please do not attend the tour. Let us know not to expect you. If notified at least 72 hours before tour departure, we can refund or reschedule your booking. If notified at least 24 hours before departure, we can honor the booking on a future date. You may also gift your ticket to someone else—we will need their name, email address and phone number to make this switch.