by Kim Cooper | May 13, 2022 | The Esotouric Blog
In the central quad of Rancho Los Amigos South Campus in Downey stand two majestic ornamental Australian Bunya Bunya (Araucaria bidwillii) trees that date back to the founding of the County Poor Farm in the late 19th century. Recently, the taller of the two trees (tag...
by Kim Cooper | Dec 10, 2021 | The Esotouric Blog
In October, we shared the thrilling news that the almost completely empty Barclay Hotel had been sold to the Healthy Housing Foundation and would be immediately returned to use as affordable housing, instead of being converted into a boutique hotel at some unspecified...
by Kim Cooper | Oct 15, 2021 | The Esotouric Blog
In 2018, we celebrated the return of two treasures of Downtown Los Angeles to useful service as residential buildings, when the Healthy Housing Foundation purchased the largely vacant King Edward and Baltimore hotels from developer Izek Shomof. Although a binding...
by Kim Cooper | Jul 15, 2020 | The Esotouric Blog
Richard Schave looks on The Eagle Tree, November 2019 It’s always unpleasant to break the news that a significant cultural landmark is in trouble. During a pandemic, it feels cruel. But we can’t sit on this information any longer: Compton’s landmark...
by Kim Cooper | Jun 19, 2020 | The Esotouric Blog
A SOLUTION FOR HOMELESSNESS: A NEW LOS ANGELES COUNTY “POOR” FARM By Colleen Adair Fliedner Author of the Rancho Los Amigos Centennial History Book The words “poor farm” generally conjure up images of Oliver Twist and filthy almshouses, where half-starved men, women...