Urban Archaeology

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

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.

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.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Eliza Hodgkins 1812

Night Vision.

Oh Yes!

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

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.

http://www.backdrop.net/sm-201/index...=Spiderpool-01

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by DreadPirateRoberts

http://www.backdrop.net/sm-201/index...=Spiderpool-01

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

It is made of studio props!
...
A fence was plucked from the scraps of Rudolph Valentino's THE EAGLE.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Bad news, €.

Information published in 1962 suggests that the old castle was on its last legs:

“Weeds, brush, and neighborhood vandals took their toll of the rambling structure. Even the tiled swimming pool on the hilltop above fell into disrepair. Eventually teenagers [shudder] discovered the house. Their wild parties brought the wrath of both neighbors and police.”

Darrell Gregory, a 28-year old studio policeman, purchased the property in 1958, and “his quick handling of the continuing juvenile invasions earned the admiration of the neighbors”. Unfortunately, his grateful neighbors’ earlier complaints had attracted the attention of the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. In response to LADB&S demands, Gregory “tore down most of the outside house, most of the terrace walls, the archway and a utility porch as ordered.” He was granted a delay during which he worked desperately to meet the inspectors’ demands, but ultimately the decision was handed down to raze the house. To make matters worse, the “road below, over which McDermott had brought building supplies, had long since been abandoned and sold to neighbors”. Gregory’s home was landlocked. Even with help from neighbors, perhaps guilt-ridden neighbors, Gregory was unable to bring the building up to code. During a series of inspections, delays, and more inspections, the city passed an ordinance that would prevent division of property in such a way as to deprive a landowner of access. This “Spiderpool” ordnance was too late to help Mr. Gregory. The final decision came in the fall of 1962. Gregory abandoned the property and not long afterwards the house and pool were bulldozed.

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

[Alex]

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.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

Bad news, €.



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

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.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

That link contains the street address.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by DreadPirateRoberts

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.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

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.