The quiet canyon has a tumultuous history involving a doomsday cult.

A Swedenborgian glass church surrounded by redwoods sits perched atop a massive landslide area.

Rainbow-hued local gem in Venice.

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

The sun acts as a key that only fits this giant keyhole twice a year.

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.

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

A three-story, three-dimensional hobo clown in a tutu welcomes CVS shoppers.

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

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

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

The show's fictional Korean medical camp was created in the Santa Monica hills.

A stranded woman lived alone on this remote island for 18 years, inspiring the great children's novel "Island of the Blue Dolphins."

Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

A collection of 20th-century automata, penny arcade games, and musical contraptions.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

A rococo retro-futurist future-rustic vernacular between yesterday’s tomorrow and the future that never was.

9,000 square feet of vintage and modern mechanical toys, dioramas & sideshow curiosities.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

An enormous artwork that colorfully celebrates over 150 years of US military achievements.

One man's prolific, decade-long quest to turn trash into artistic treasure.

A playground built by the kids that is a child's wonderland, and a helicopter parent's nightmare.

A private home built to resemble the shape of a microscopic creature.