IN THE MILLION-DOLLAR ATMOSPHERE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 430, 11 August 1928, Page 26

IN THE MILLION-DOLLAR ATMOSPHERE

ssssss There's No “Can't be Done" Rule in sssss* $ $ $ $ Los Angeles... Hundred Per $ * _ Cent Efficiency Adds 9 * * * to California's 5 $ $ Joy of Living $ (WRITTEN for THE SUN t>y HELENE GREENWOOD.)

■ N point of size Los Angeles easily outstrips San Francisco. I hasten to write this very day my impressions of the size and newness of some of its streets, of the beautiful residences by the hundred which meet the eye everywhere one goes. I hasten to do it to-day, for to-morrow, I truly believe, there will be twice as many. Ten years ago, the land where these magnificent residences now stand was empty ground. Five years ago, in the heart of the fashionable west-end there were farms and fields. And to-morrow, where there are now farms and fields there will be more residences, more mansions, more palaces. It is unbelievable even to the residents themselves, and if they can scarcely credit this growth, what can one expect strangers to think of it all? Up on the hills of Los Angeles—mountains” they are called, the new roads turn and twist, perfectly graded, perfectly planned, smooth as marble, flat as a billiards table. So where the wonderfully-engineered roads are put, there the houses will follow. What matters it to be “out-of-town” when half an hour or an hour’s easy drive will let you descend from magnificent heights with lovely views right into the heart of the city? Roads gently climb hills fifteen hundred feet high, and at the top of them are palaces. The owners have wellknown names, too—names we have seen in every advertisement and on every hoarding. Names of purveyors of all kinds of goods that we use in everyday life! Well, these lavish homes, though on mountain-tops or by far seashores, are not really far away from the centres of things considering the smooth reads and gentle slopes along which the owners bowl their automobiles. Good roads mean easy wear in cars, and much less consumption of petrol. So what is an expense in one way is economy in another. My American hosts agreed with me that there is no such expression in their vocabulary as “can’t be done.” What is wanted is done, no matter

how apparently impossible. Roads are wanted in seemingly Inaccessible places. The hillside is in the way, or a river crosses the route. Away goes the hillside, levelled and smooth, and across the river a bridge is thrown. And there are more ways than one of levelling a hill. In Los Angeles they take a huge hose, attach one end to the ocean and the business end to the hill, and—presto! the hill swishes into a sea of mud and is no more. In its place comes a level road with building lots on either side of it. Where these roads are being made one passes lines of cars parked by the wayside. They belong to the workmen making the roads. Every working man comes to his job in his own car. The numbers on automobiles extend over seven figures. Significant enough, surely? The new Los Angeles City Hall, which was dedicated on April 26 of this year, is a magnificent structure. Buildipgs are as a rule not allowed to be more than 150 ft high, but the central tower of the City Hall is an exception. It is 43 storeys high, and from its summit the Lindbergh beacon-light ever sends its roving eye around for the benefit and guidance of aircraft. The site of the City Hall was formerly surrounded by skyscrapers. That didn’t influence Los Angeles. Here were plans for a magnificent building that had to be seen from all directions. Down come the skyscrapers, like houses of cards, and to clear the way for a vista from this beautiful edifice. A fine spot in Los Angeles is the Memorial Park. To use a plainer term it is the cemetery, but to see it with its noble trees, stately walks and statuary of Italian marble. it could never he supposed to be a place of gloom. Headstones for graves have been done away with, and in their place, on the ground, are brass plates, let in, with the name of the dead, and a vase for flowers. Everywhere are striking plants and beautiful trees. There is, too, a pond with white ducks swimming on it, and a fountain playing in the sunlight. The whole idea of the park is to show the bereaved that death is merely a step-

ping-stone to a new life, that It is «£, longer the King of Terrors, but a gentle friend. The little chapel oe the grounds is an exact replica of Stoke Poges Church, and so beautiful are the surroundings that weddian take place in the church as often!* funerals. The perfect statue of th« Christ, brooding over all, with hand* outstretched, gives a feeling of ya. feet sincerity and peace. We are all familiar, through onr knowledge of picture plavs, with tie architecture of private dwellings in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Pasadena and Hollywood. There are miles of them, some of them actually palaces. The Spanish style of architecture made by architects especially im! ported from Madrid, is very' fine. Every detail is superbly carried out in the old style, but with all modem improvements. As may be supposed in a huge and opulent city, Clubland is a dream of luxury for the wealthy—but more-* is a dream of elegance and fastidiousness. There are men's clubs, women's clubs, and mixed clubs. Among the two latter kinds, those which stand out, if any can be said to be better than their fellows, are, for women, the “Ebell Club,” and for both sexes the beach club, Casa del Mar. The EbeH Club has just been completed. Its architecture is superb, and its furnishings are regal. It contains its own theatre, and its cost was abont two million dollars. The Casa del Mar, facing the sea beach at Santa Monica, a seaside resort, would take a whole article in itself to describe. Suffice it to say that its cost was a million and a-half dollars and it looks worth the money. There is, of course, a magnificent swimming bath for members, and every conceivable luxury. Los Angeles at the present moment is, and for many years to come, will be the paradise for architects. The best men from all countries, especially Spain and Italy, must gravitate there, to judge by their handiwork. And what priceless treasures from European palaces must have been taken across the seas to find new abodes in that golden city of Southern California.