World War II-era Nazi compound nestled in the Santa Monica hills.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.

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

A historic hotel that made a cameo in Hitchcock's classic film has no intention of letting guests forget its fame.

The restored and active Victorian-era final resting place of San Francisco.

This unlicensed collection of fast-food memorabilia sits on the site of the first ever McDonald's restaurant.

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.

A storybook European village in Berkeley.

A shrine to a skeleton saint in the city of angels.

The ghost town that ended up on Ebay.

The unbelievably opulent home built for an infamous newspaperman.

San Diego's most historic and haunted home.

Standing in a state of "arrested decay," this ghost town allows for a detailed peek into Gold Rush life in an unusually harsh climate.

Finale of "William Tell Overture" can be heard as drivers pass over grooves in the road.

Beautiful Victorian buildings from L.A.'s forgotten architectural past.

An extraordinarily ornate museum in San Diego holds wondrous anthropological treasures.

The programmatic glory of LA's giant whiskey barrel building has become an upscale reminder of the city's kitschy roadside past.

This brightly made over hotel hides decades of suicide, serial killers, and mysterious deaths.

This glamorous old building is said to have inspired the Tower of Terror.

Most famous work of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's sons.

This grand mansion has starred in everything from Bones to Buffy.

Sister store to the Echo Park Time Travel Store.

The remains of the first punk club in L.A.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.