Storybook cottage in Beverly Hills was once the site of 1920s silent film studio, affectionately known as "The Witch's House."

California's own majestic geyser is powered by a subterranean volcano.

Another of California's unused Cold War missile defense complexes has become a graffiti gallery.

The awe-inspiring ship from the golden era of cruising has an incomparable history and a reputation as one of the world’s most haunted places.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

L. Frank Baum wrote part of the "Wizard of Oz" series in this wooden Victorian beach resort.

The haunting ruins of Jack London's dream house.

A popular tourist cave with a dark past.

A fake town founded by Western movie stars is now becoming a hip desert community.

A large instrument played by the wind.

The fossilized remains of ancient California redwoods.

The lighthouse central to the 1980s horror classic "The Fog" is, in fact, located in one of the foggiest areas of the Pacific Coast.

The liveliest ghost town in the state.

Named after a bandit and the star of several Hollywood prehistoric landscapes, these sandstone formations are a historical part of the Los Angeles natural landscape.

A former utopian healing center created by a huckster and built by derelicts.

One of the oldest reform schools in the United States, home to wayward boys such as Merle Haggard, now abandoned.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

This “living museum” at UCLA exhibits thousands of plant species from all over the world.

A bigger-than-life pun that has become a beacon of altruism.

Commonly referred to as the most photographed Victorian home in the United States.

Life in this isolated, hilltop lighthouse was lonely, but it sure was lovely.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

This private residence was the template for one of the most beloved television homes of all time.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.