Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Twin Palms Village

Twin Palms Village, Whittier, CA.



A great old set of signs (yes, there are TWO!) along Whittier Blvd. A lot of great shapes, and it still lights up at night!

Twin Palms Village
14748 Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA. 90605

Friday, January 19, 2007

Friendly Hills Bowl

Friendly Hills Bowl, Whittier, CA.



Above are both sides of Friendly Hills Bowl's beautiful marquee. The "O" has fallen off on both sides. The place certainly announces itself, from it's quiet nook across the street from Whitwood Mall. I can't believe there's a hair salon INSIDE the bowling alley.


There's this great boomerang shape that makes of the roof overhang of the entrance to the alley, and some great stonework that supports it. Oh, that Googie satisfaction of primordial man and modern technology. The perfect anachronism.


The Brush Script font which has become so cliche in today's design graces the side of the alley, with that classic Googie font spelling out "BOWL", all in lavender.

I fell in love with there light fixtures, which looked old enough in person to be original. The shape is oh so Googie, I just love it.

Friendly Hills Bowl
15545 E. Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA 90603
(562) 947-3815

Friday, January 12, 2007

La Habra Motel

La Habra Motel, La Habra, CA.

Taken from the driver's seat of my car, through the windshield, traveling east on Whittier Blvd., one more shot of some of La Habra's Googie gold. I love how all these old motels have had the "no" part of their "no vacancy" signs removed. Always a vacancy at these now-crummy places.

La Habra Motel
200 E. Whittier Blvd.
La Habra, CA 90621

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Seafare Inn

Seafare Inn, Whittier, CA.


On my recent pilgrimage into La Habra for Googie hunting, I traveled a little farther into Whittier. Another town that's dear to my heart, though technically in Los Angeles County, Whittier is filled with most of the Googie architecture that I'm familiar with.

I'm going to say that January's going to be Whittier Month around here at the OC GOogie Archive, because I can't ignore some of the great stuff I took snapshots of. It's worth posting.

The Seafare Inn opened in 1961 and is still family owned and operated. Despite driving past it hundreds of times throughout the course of my life, I have never eaten there. If I rectify the situation, I will post photos. Either way, they whole front of the structure is built from stone, there's an outdoor seashell fountain, a shipwrecked skiff, and other sea-related paraphenelia. Of note most of all though, is the beautiful sign, with a swordfish for an "S". The pylons stick through the sign and emerge out the top. Beautiful place, someday I'll explore the inside too.

Seafare Inn
16363 Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA 90603
(562) 947-6645