The legendary building that needed ghostly approval before being built.

In one Santa Monica parking lot a mushroom cloud made of chains heralds a message of peace.

A treasure hunter's tiny bar, harboring celebrities since 1959.

A second generation sun-powered marvel lights up the night.

A Looff creation in Santa Monica best described as “a California-Byzantine-Moorish-style fantasy.”

An offbeat angle on the ocean viewed through an antiquated lens.

Where a great scandal unfolded with a famous female revivalist at its center.

In a city filled with Frank Gehry buildings, one stands out as one of the architect's weirder works.

This well-traveled chess park offers scenic views of the pacific and a colorful, eclectic clientele.

One of the first skyscrapers in Santa Monica, and a famous getaway for the Hollywood elite of then and now.

Legendary prop shop filled with one man's collection of scientific curiosities.

An homage to the man who built California's version of Venice.

A lonely Gondola stuck on a traffic circle sits in a spot where it once would have floated down the Grand Canal.

A gift from Abbot Kinney and a little bit of piece of Black history in Venice Beach.

After starting as a whimsical tourist attraction that eventually found its way to ruin, these renovated canals offer a lush and exotic locale on the Pacific Coast.

The real faces of Venice beach captured on Romanesque columns.

Founded by a high school teacher, this poetry magazine became a center for all things literary.

Two men, two visionaries of Venice Beach, one little hotel that smells like cookies.

The short oil boom of Venice Beach, and its swift removal from the tourism-laden landscape.

"The only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3."

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

Perched high atop telephone poles is an uncanny outdoor art gallery that greets passersby on their commute.

Perhaps the most unique of any Frank Gehry design for one simple reason: Gehry himself actually lives here.

On a quiet suburban street stands a peculiarly decorated house covered in mosaics.