Concrete strongholds stand guard over the Golden Gate.

The beauty and the beast of hydraulic mining is on full display at this California Historic State Park.

27-room home built with the fortune of a sugar magnate.

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

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

Once the largest windmill outside of Holland, with enormous 114 foot sails.

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

This giant temperature attraction created some giant electric bills.

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

The hundreds of movies and television shows shot in this high desert town are commemorated in a unique museum.

Outposts of this restaurant chain were shaped like jaunty chapeaus.

Four hundred granite steps were built into this massive rock by the National Park Service.

This former stomping grounds of the most eminent astronomers of the early 20th century.

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.

A music-filled, booze-soaked oasis in the desert.

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

Millions of years of oxidation make a drive down this winding Death Valley road surprisingly colorful.

From the sky, a kaleidoscope of color brightens the grey landscape of the San Francisco Bay.

A carousel trades in its classic horses and calliope for endangered species, native flora and fauna, and a modern soundtrack.

The interior of the Overlook Hotel in "The Shining" was based on this Yosemite original.

A giant donut stands as a popular symbol of Los Angeles iconography.

Ten 25-foot-tall, beehive-shaped kilns, abandoned in Death Valley.

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

The site of a classic series of Laurel and Hardy pratfalls.