Urban Archaeology
 

A friend of mine has a fun blog on silent film and other Hollywood oddities. This week's blog is pretty cool about the strangest house in Hollywood.

Before you click the link, some of the photos are NSFW

The Silent Movie Blog - story of the spiderpool

Makes me want to hiking to find the spiderpool, uh in 90+ degrees, not so much.

The link he referenced at the bottom did not work for me. I need to email him about it, or I typed it wrong.

boobies! ;)

Neat find. And very cool that it's still right there!

Mmmm - tasty cheesecake. (Tura Satana!) Oh, and I would love to visit this site myself. If anyone does go, take lots of pictures.

I got it to work: http://www.backdrop.net/sm-201/index...tle=Spiderpool

Golden Era Hollywood History: Check.
Cool Art Deco site: Check
History of risque behavior: Check
Abandoned property: Check
Hard to find: Check
Multiple "No Trespassing" signs: Double Check.

You know, A visit to the spider pool could be the PERFECT LoT Swanking.

So who'd like to do some pin-up modeling?

I will !!

No no. Pick Me! Pick Me!

Looks like I will be shooting "The Men of LoT" calendar for 2010

First, I love that the blog contains one of Harold Lloyd's pin-ups. Hurrah!

This absolutely demands a LoT swanking of some kind.

Visible mojo for this super awesome post.

(And, L'Hédoniste, I'm sure some of us lady folk would participate with a little persuasion and maybe some booze. And NM does have a portable martini set....)

They would be - of course - for my private collection...

Oh thank God!

One of our VIP guides has some pictures taken there fairly recently

For your private collection?

I returned from my first explorations. You can read about them here

Way to go €! Although for some reason only one photo shows up. Were you a loan archaeologist? Did you wear a leather jack and a fedora? Carry a whip?

Bah, you're the second person who can only view one pic - something must be amiss, but I see all of them so troubleshooting isn't working for me. In the meantime here's the link to the Picasa album where they all should be.

Oh, and I did wear a fedora of sorts - but more bowling shirt than leather jacket...

Count me as #3. Although, I found that if I right-clicked on the images (or more specifically, the blue question mark where the photo should be), I was able to open each photo in a new window or tab. This allowed me to view the photos in context.

Me 4

Me also.

The problems with the photos seem to be in capitalization in the file names (for a couple chaing .JPG to .jpg worked fine) in another changing "Pool" to "pool" seemed to work.

Interesting, I made those changes and now I can't see the pictures - I guess this may be a fatal flaw in my Picasa experiment

Way to go €!

Hope the next adventure proves fruitful in the discovery of the location of the Spider Pool.

This first adventure was cool, though, I can't wait to read further installments and to see photographic evidence of the continued existance of the Spider Pool.

Original Article on House with the Spider Pool
 

The magazine article my friend referenced in his blog, can be had here on ebay. 1924 issue of Picture Play. In case anyone needs the historical reference.

And they now show up for me. Weird

Tooling around in Google earth, I found a site that might be worth checking out. ;)

PM me if you want the location. (Just in case I actually found the place....)

Bitter East Coaster strikes again! ;)

Nope I guess not.

Here is the location I was guessing....



It's close but no cigar.

Well, I wasn't saying you weren't correct. There is still a possibilty. But guessing from the photos of those who have already found the site, I don't think so.

Unless of course, you flew out here and went to the spot since our conversation.

even if you are correct, I will still tell you that you were wrong.

Yeah, but that's only because you don't know the difference.

I see so few instances where you are right, that they are hard to recognize.

Ahh I see. No problem. Here is a little check list for you to follow...

If Moonliner says yes, and you say no, the correct answer is yes.

If Moonliner says no and you say yes, the correct answer is no.

If Moonliner says yes and you say yes, well sometimes you get lucky

If Moonliner says no and you say no, see above.

It's simple.

So, as near as I can tell, Moony and Kevy are working off-board to find the spider pool so they can sneak in and "take photos for their own private collection", as the kids call it these days.

Rabbit Season!

Duck Season!

Don't you know it's a clear violation of message board etiquette to read a message in small print? There is a clear expectation of privacy.

Reading some other blog posts I think I have a good idea of the relative location. The trick is identifying some of the landmarks from the ground and then figuring out how to access the place. According to one person who went there, the place could not be identified from the air as the poll has been filled in and the brush and cacti has reclaimed much of the site. The Spider remains, but is vertical.

From one account, it appears there is an approach from the road below up some steep and overgrown terrain. On the other hand the Spider Pool itself is supposedly within 50 feet of one of the neighboring houses. So any visit would require some stealth and possibly multiple trespass violations.

My next goal is to see if I can view any of the spider wall from public locations. Apparently a portion is visible from above the reservoir, but it seems I require a clearer day to spot that.

I'm also continuing the research to see if I can turn up any other first hand accounts as to how the property is accessed to minimize my legal exposure.

Night Vision.

Oh ye of little faith. I shall wait until your triumphant return to send you my pick for the location as well as the pick of that looser Kevy. Then we can discuss what can and cannot be identified from the air and by whom. :p

Oh Yes!

Ooh, paging Snowflake! Among the tons of other amazing movie connections...

Bad news, €.

Even if part of it still exists, it's locked away from public streets.

A friend of mine on LJ had an interesting post involving urban archaeology today. Her mother has had a history of mental issues and when my friend was a teenager spent much time in a London institution that is now abandoned and the subject of many trespassing arty photo sessions to be found on the web as she found today.

It was interesting to read her mix of intellectual understanding of the art of it and the emotional "**** off" feeling that the pain the place represents to her and so many people isn't properly being respected.

But there's another more recent blog that has pictures of the pool remains. They removed the details of it's location, but there's enough information to get an approximate idea - unfortunately the foliage seems to have covered the view from Google maps to pinpoint it, meaning some exploratory trespass would be required to find it.

That link contains the street address.

Sort of - unless I missed it. There's the 3100 Goodview which gets you to the neighborhood as it seems part of that street was taken out so you have a North and South stretch, with a nice expanse in the middle prime for hiding a spider pool - so access is probably up from either Woodrow Wilson, or Pacific View or Valevista. More reconnaissance is required to find the right approach with minimal criminal activity.

Yes, that was the address I was thinking of.

I still want to find it. And I am willing to risk a little trespassing.

After all; it ain't illegal if you don't get caught!

Just carry a clipboard with you. It's amazing what you can get away with if you are seen carrying a clipboard...

Of course it's not an issue since you can't read a map anyways...

For some reason, Moonliner seems to think he is closer to 3100 Goodview by being a few hundred yards southeast of 3100 Goodview. Can't quite figure out his logic.

Has anyone thought of going to the county recorder's office and trying to determine the property lines of the site (not to mention figuring out who the owner is?)

The exact location of the site is (at least as far as everything I have read) is still unknown - it still requires some on-location reconnaissance.

That's been done - problem is the original property was a hodgepodge of lots and the structure(s) were ultimately condemned, and the original "road" or access no longer exists - at least at that part, so really that leaves poking around to find what part of the property the spider pool (or the remaining mosaic) rests on. Reports from other blogs state parts are visible from the opposite side of the Hollywood Freeway, which means up from Pacific or Woodrow Wilson. Other reports state that when there you are near someone's driveway - so a good day in that neighborhood, you'd probably locate it. Hillside is steep and covered in cactus, so no easy going - not to mention there is probably fencing of some sort. Still, a doable quest that remains on my to do list.

Well, I was thinking that if we know the general location, there might be some assistance in the form of viewing a plat map of that neighborhood.

Go on a weekday so that no one's home

Not to mention the need to bring along a nude model for the evidencery photo shoot

OOHHH!!!

Pick Me! Pick Me!

That's what I was afraid of

On the other hand, being found naked almost always raises suspicions. Even if you are carrying a clipboard.

I was just talking with someone about the Spider Pool and ran across this anonymous post from May of last year:

I'm not sure the original poster understands the meaning of the phrase "without an invitation"

I ran across a fun site: WebUrbanist

Hidden Inner Beauty of Abandoned Hospitals & Theaters
Play Dead: 6 Creepy Abandoned Amusement Parks