This serene oasis in an affluent Los Angeles neighborhood holds some of Gandhi's ashes and got Elvis into Eastern Philosophy.

An historic and oft-filmed spot for musclebound iron pumpers on the Pacific coast.

Apartment building was once posh playground to the Hollywood elite.

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

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

A sign at the end of the Santa Monica Pier marks the traditional end of the legendary American highway.

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

"The Star Factory" cranked out Hollywood stars like nobody's business.

America's most famous piece of self-built architecture.

One of Hollywood’s favorite government buildings.

The simple auditorium that launched a pop icon's career into the stratosphere.

Santa Monica's oldest restaurant, decorated with set pieces from the Mutiny on the Bounty.

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

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.

A bright California graveyard with a decidedly dark side.

World's largest collection of serial killer artwork and other macabre exhibits.

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

Once strictly off-limits, this lower level housing curious and priceless vehicles of the Petersen Automotive Museum is now open to the public.

These delicate buggers are some of the rarest fossils that have bubbled up from the Tar Pits.

World-famous, Pink's still manages to keep its prized cult fetish status.

Medical and zoological curiosities for sale.

A stellar example of Art & Crafts architecture, and a movie set to boot.

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

This ultra-modern home clings to the slope of the Hollywood Hills on a precarious stilt.