Author: Ed Baran
The Sowden House: When Architecture Becomes a Real Estate Category
The Sowden House in Los Feliz, designed by Lloyd Wright in 1926, is one of Los Angeles’s most striking examples of Mayan Revival architecture. Its geometric concrete blocks, dramatic courtyard, and long cultural shadow have made it a landmark of Hollywood mystique, architectural experimentation, and enduring speculation.
Castillo del Lago: When Story, Scale, and Setting Drive Value
Castillo del Lago is one of the most recognizable homes in the Hollywood Hills, a 1926 Spanish-Moorish landmark built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall’s circle and later transformed into a bold, colorful showpiece by Madonna in the 1990s. With its tower, terraces, and dramatic hillside presence, the house reflects a century of Hollywood glamour, reinvention,…
Moorcrest: How Architecture, Scarcity, and Story Create Lasting Value in Beachwood Canyon
Moorcrest is one of the most imaginative and theatrical homes in the Hollywood Hills, designed in 1921 for the Krotona Colony and later home to icons like Charlie Chaplin and Mary Astor. With its stained glass, domed ceilings, Art Nouveau detailing, and mystical Theosophical symbolism, the house stands as a rare fusion of spiritual idealism…