Common all over Japan, kōbans are small community police boxes, and now one is guarding one of L.A.’s megamalls.

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

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

Giant origami crease patterns engraved in Santa Monica intersections may even be visible from space.

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

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

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

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

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 lonely Gondola stuck on a traffic circle sits in a spot where it once would have floated down the Grand Canal.

Legendary frontman of the Doors looms in this giant mural by famed Venice muralist, Rip Cronk.

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

60 feet of towering steel balances gracefully.

From pre-war whiskey cocktails to prohibition-era speakeasy secrecy, this bar has seen it all.

A bright California graveyard with a decidedly dark side.

This quirky UFO-shaped curiosity is often mistaken for the airport’s control tower.

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

Dodge prohibitionists and slide through the telephone booth in Crif Dogs.

There must be a pun in this haystack somewhere...

The highest point in New Jersey is marked by a massive, if simply named, obelisk.

This old-fashioned candy shop, ice cream parlor, and diner served as the setting for one of TV's most controversial series finales.

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

This concrete tangle of square pipes has stood as a proud thorn in the city's side since the '70s.