3 Popular Architecture Styles in Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a city of artists, innovators, entertainers and inventors who have made the city as diverse and fantastic as its history suggests. 

Since its humble beginnings as a pueblo in the late 1700s, Los Angeles has been home to people from all over the world who brought with them the art and architecture of their time and place of origin. We can see the influence of these people and these times by the structures that still stand today, such as the Mission Revival-style homes inspired by Franciscan missions, or the Chateauesque mansions that were inspired by the countryside chateaus in 1920s France. 

Bright colors and neon lights of the Googie style highlighted the post-World War II era of futurism, and the classical arches and columns of the Beaux Arts style adorn facades in the financial district. Even the fish-scaled exteriors of historic neighborhood mansions harken back to the city’s Victorian era days. 

There are a lot of architectural styles in Los Angeles (like, a lot), but here are just three of them that made their mark over the past century or so. We also included some existing structures that we feel best exemplify those architectural styles, so check them out next time you drive around your neighborhood! 

Googie, Art Deco and Victorian Styles in LA 

Art Deco

We all know that Miami is the center of the Art Deco architectural style in the United States, but Los Angeles has its own collection of Art Deco structures that harken back to the days of glitz and glamor in the heart of the 1920s. 

Art Deco architecture, also known as Deco, emerged in Europe following the rising popularity of Cubism, French Art Deco, Expressionism and German Bauhaus in the early 1920s. These art movements also coincided with the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Luxor, Egypt, bringing about major interest in the ancient world. 

Modern art’s focus on color and shape, combined with ancient patterns and symbolism from the ancient world, resulted in a style of art and archeology that emphasizes strong lines, bright colors, geometric patterns and strong, solid materials. 

You can find Art Deco style architecture in Los Angeles by checking out these famous places:

• Bay Cities Guaranty Building just north of Marina Del Rey
• The Griffith Observatory in Glendale
• The Warner Grand Theatre in Long Beach
• The Los Angeles Central Public Library

Googie

Googie architecture is the unofficial-official architectural style of Los Angeles, signified by its futurist-style colors, patterns and geometric shapes. Think upswept roofs, boomerang shapes, flying saucers and desert motels. 

The Googie style, which was most popular from 1945 to the 1970s, originated in Southern California as a branch of the Streamline Moderne style of the 1930s. Los Angeles' strong car culture was in full swing at the time, and a series of political and technological events such as the rise of jet transportation, the Space Age and the Atomic Age, heavily influenced the symbolism, patterns and shapes used in the style.

A great example of this style is the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign in Las Vegas, which includes characteristics like starbursts, illuminated paneling and neon lights. On Googie structures in Los Angeles, cantilevered roofs were built angled upwards, neon lights highlighted boomerang-shaped signs and bright colors created eye-catching designs that were meant to attract people driving by.

Another thing to note about Googie style is that even at its most popular, it was never intended to decorate the homes of the wealthy. The style was almost exclusively used for coffee shops, gas stations, soda fountains, banks and other everyday buildings that people could enjoy. 

There aren’t too many Googie buildings left in Los Angeles now, as most of them have been destroyed in the ruthless march of modernity, but a few structures still stand today that keep the Googie style alive. 

Check out these still-standing Googie structures in Los Angeles today:

• Algemac’s Coffee Shop in Glendale
• Driftwood Dairy in El Monte
• Chips in Hawthorne
• Covina Bowl in Covina
• Five Points Car Wash in Whittier

Victorian

We wouldn’t think that the modern, bohemian, bustling city of Los Angeles would ever be considered Victorian, but it just so happens that the Victorian Era brought about much of the change that turned this little settlement into the booming city it is today. Houses started popping up everywhere to house the wave of newcomers to the city, and many wealthy families resided in grand Victorian mansions that were already popular on the East Coast. 

The Victorian Era spanned from about 1837 to 1901,  which was the time during which Queen Victoria sat on England’s throne. This period of time covered a wide variety of styles that contain similar design elements such as decorative trim, gabled roofs, rounded rooms, turrets or towers and fish-scale siding.

The Queen-Anne-style-homes are the large, asymmetrical Victorian mansions we might see in horror movies or as settings for a great romance novel. Large towers, decorative trim, grand porches and elaborate masonry are marks of this style, which can be seen in historic neighborhoods in Glendale and Pasadena. 

Here are a few places to see the Victorian mansions that still stand in Los Angeles today!

• Andrew McNally House in Altadena
• The Bembridge House in Long Beach
• The Doheny Mansion in Central Los Angeles
• The Wright-Mooers House in Central Los Angeles
• Baldwin’s Belvedere in Arcadia

If you live in any of our Southern California apartments, you’re probably just a block or two away from some of these architectural wonders in Los Angeles. Check them out, next time you have a chance, and see for yourself how history has left its mark on our vibrant, bustling city.

Enjoy!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/12019