Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of the exterior of the Gilmore adobe at Rancho La Brea, [s.d.]. The simple building has wooden shingles and a brick chimney on its roof. Most of the front side is hidden from view by a group of young trees, but there is a single window with open shutters visible on the wall. It was built by John Thompson in 1852 and expanded and renovated by Arthur Gilmore around 1900. Later, it was marked on June 28, 1930 by the Native Daughters of the Golden West Parlor #247. "From humble origins it became the seat of a gas and oil empire whose idiosyncratic promotional images dotted the Western landscape. But while the kingdom has been downsized, the Gilmore Adobe endures in modest anonymity, an idyllic vestige of another time. Nestled between Farmers Market and CBS studios, shielded from public view by a fortress of foliage, the Gilmore Adobe dates back to 1852. Originally called the Rancho La Brea Adobe, it eventually became the home of rancher-turned-oilman Arthur F. Gilmore, whose brilliantly eccentric son Earl turned the Gilmore Oil Company into a legendary part of America's burgeoning car culture. Today [2002], the adobe--which now serves as headquarters for the A.F. Gilmore Company, owner and operator of Farmers Market (as well as the adjacent Gilmore Bank)--stands as a bucolic island of tranquility in the heart of the city. The building is an elegant hybrid of California Mission and Spanish Colonial, reflecting a series of renovations over the past century. While modern amenities have been added, original features such as the wood-and-clay-brick ceiling have been preserved. Earl Gilmore's bedroom--remarkably small for a titan of modern capitalism--remains frozen in time, complete with his extensive pipe collection and elaborately designed horse saddle. Outside, terracotta tiles adorn a courtyard where Rudolph Valentino once preened for the camera in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Chickens roam the northern side of the property, while on the eastern edge a pair of towering Mexican fan palms keep watch over the adobe (which is closed to the general public). From inside the grounds, one can almost envision 19th century Los Angeles--a city without cars or freeways or smog, awaiting men like Earl Gilmore and the onslaught of the future." -- Danny Feingold.
Type
image
Format
1 photograph : photonegative, b&w 21 x 26 cm. negatives (photographic) photographs
Dwellings Architecture, Domestic Adobe houses Gilmore, Arthur Thompson, John Native Daughters of the Golden West Los Angeles--Architecture--Domestic--Adobes Residential sites
Place
California Los Angeles USA
Source
1-33- [Microfiche number] 10070 [Accession number] CHS-10070 [Call number] California Historical Society [Contributing entity]
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