The first-ever Design Caravan led by Los Angeles magazine’s urban booster and man-about-town Chris Nichols went off swimmingly this past weekend. A near brush with the law (aka Disney security) just added a bit of adventure to the trek.
The guided caravan that included a party bus and several Lyft cars descended from the Griffith Park Observatory to explore hidden spots in the Valley that belie Burbank/Glendale’s rich design history.
First stop: Barris Kustom Industries. Known world-wide as the “‘original’ King of Kustomizers,” George Barris’ collection of custom cars was drool-inducing for the gear heads among us. From KITT of Knight Rider fame to the Batmobile, the Beverly Hillbillies wagon to the Munster Koach, Barris built them all. In a back room of the garage, boxes line the walls representing over sixty years of custom projects; a practical and impressive monument to this octogenarian’s amazing talent. The names on the boxes read like the cast of an amazing movie; Burt Reynolds, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Liberace, and even Hoffa (the TV show, not Jimmy).
After leaving the car shop, the tour made a quick stop at Barrel on Vineland Ave. This hidden gem is tucked between neighboring businesses, but its exterior has made a name for itself all on its own. Constructed in 1941, the Barrel is also known as Idle Hour Café, and Nichols says: “Their plans for a full restoration of the place are amazing and wonderful and I’ll meet you all there for a drink when it reopens sometime next year as the Idle Hour Cafe.” The restoration was recommended and commissioned after it was established as one of LA’s last Programmatic buildings, or buildings resembling an object.
The Design Caravan also made a stop at History for Hire, a huge historic prop house deep in the Valley. From Dorothy’s red slippers from the Wizard of Oz, to musical instruments, military garb, and toys, this prop house has it all. We were lucky enough to meet with the graphic design guru whose specialty lies in making old things look new and new things look old. His breadth of historical knowledge combined with his skill for reverse engineering gave us all a new appreciation for the level of detail that goes into telling a story and making a movie. From making 1970s era Coppertone sunblock bottles look real to creating the only Prohibition-era beer bottles known to man, History for Hire is the place to go one needs historically accurate (or imaginative) accoutrement.
From there, we went to the Disney Interactive Studio in Glendale to check out the Disney Studio Fountain which is essentially an artfully deconstructed Mickey Mouse, a tangle of colorful metal spouting water. In the short span of time that we were there, at least two security guards stopped the Caravan which added a bit of adventure to the whole escapade.
After our brush with the law, we continued on to check out the Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale. Completed in 1929, Grand Central was Los Angeles’ first airport, and it was responsible for the first air service between Southern California and New York. Currently in disrepair, the airport is owned by Disney and is about to undergo extensive historic renovation. In 2014, Grand Central will once again open its doors as a new office building, the newest addition to Disney’s Glendale campus.
The last stop on the Design Caravan was Forest Lawn Memorial. From Elizabeth Taylor’s memorial to the museum which now features feats in Lego, the visit gave us all a peek at why Forest Lawn is the preferred final resting place for so many famous and powerful Angelinos.
Concluding our tour, Design Caravan participants rallied at the Griffith Observatory over box lunches straight from Italy by mom-n-pop shop I Panini di Ambra.
Huge thanks go to Chris Nichols and his wife Charlene for curating such an eclectic and fascinating tour. Big grazie as well to I Panini di Ambra for our delicious lunches. And to our amazing drivers from Lyft. By the end of the day, everyone was on a first-name basis and exchanging recipes and words of wisdom. There really is nothing like being stuck in a car for a few hours to bring people closer together! Lastly, thank you to Alova for proving cold, refreshing, and tasty beverages for the road trip.
Also, congratulations to Liz Nurenberg for winning the instagram competition.
For more photos, check out our Flickr stream or #designcaravan on Instagram.