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Residences 1913 - 1959
 
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Where Raymond Chandler lived in Los Angeles & Southern California 1913-1959

Thirty-six (plus five possible) residences from 1913 - 1959 by date, address, zip code, Thomas Guide by page and grid coordinates, GPS coordinates, and multiple confirmations -- see the "KEY" below (not counting where he lived when traveling and/or abroad):

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SO why, you ask, bother with all the places Raymond Chandler lived?

Billy Wilder said in an interview: “... I read two or three of his novels. They were no great structural things. They had nothing to do with the Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie type of superb plotting. They weren't even as well plotted as Dashiel Hammett; but, by God, a kind of lightning struck on every page. How often do you read a description of a character who says that he had hair growing out of his ear long enough to catch a moth? Not many people write like that; and the dialogue was good, and the dialogue was sharp.”

“Cain didn't have that kind of sting in his dialogue. Also I must say that Chandler’s great strength was a descriptive one. There are very few people who can get the flavor of California. It’s very peculiar, you know, that the only person who caught the Californian atmosphere is prose was an Englishman – Chandler. And the only person who caught it on canvas was also an Englishman by the name of Hockney. No one else can paint California: he can.”

Of course Chandler was an American educated in England - but thoroughly English by the time he returned to the U.S. Why did Chandler catch the Californian atmosphere like no other writer of detective fiction before or since? His unique creative genius, and because he lived in so many places in and around Los Angeles, absorbing the flavor of each unique neighborhood.

Symbol KEY:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(*C) = address confirmed by a CITY Directory and/or Phone Book (they are different. City Directories existed until 1943)
(*B) = address confirmed by a MacShane BIOGRAPHY (some known errors)
(*D) = address confirmed by another DOCUMENT
(*L) = address confirmed by a Chandler LETTER
(*N) = location NO longer as it was in Chandler's day (not photographed)
(*P) = PHOTOGRAPH taken
(*U) = site largely UNCHANGED since Chandler's stay
(*E) = address from Biography in ERROR or in question
(*Q) = address in question -- possibly a different Chandler lived in the location
(#  ) = address chronology 1913 to 1959
(#a) = possible addresses chronology 1913 to 1959
  √ = 2005 Thomas Map (page and grid confirmed)

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1888
The row house Ray was born in, according to his birth certificate:
3918 S Langley Ave
Chicago, Il, USA
Built in 1886, it is 125 years old, and just two years old when Ray was born there.
The photo is from the Cook County Assessor's office.

1913 (1)
Listed w/ Dulwich College in UK
c/o Mrs. Warren E. Lloyd
713 S. Bonnie Brae (*B)(*N)
Los Angeles 90057
(634-C3) √
34.05501°
-118.27481°

No listings for Chandler in the City Directories of 1913 or 1914.

A word about the City Directories: The Los Angeles Directory Company, 711 McComas Bldg., 120 East 8th Street in downtown Los Angeles was probably responsible for all the City Directories in the Los Angeles area. I say probably because I haven't checked each and every one. I can say that they produced the Los Angeles Directory as well as the Bay Cities Directory, so it is reasonable to assume they did all the directories. They published the first directory in 1878, The 1931 directory pegged the population at 1,231,830. The 1930 census gave Los Angeles a population of 1,233,561. The first name in the directory was one Carlo Aaba, an actor living at 1711 North Alexandria. Manuel Zyzz, also an actor residing at 1819 North Kingsley was the last name. There were 7488 Smiths in the directory. The directory also had Paines , Aches, Joys and Howells. Petroleum was the principal product with motion pictures next. The directory weighed twelve pounds.

As you might imagine, it took time to produce a twelve pound directory of 1,231,830. Unlike a phone book, where people get listed when they subscribe to telephone service, the city directories had to go out and find people, like the census. Doors had to be knocked on, people questioned, type set, pages laid out, plates made and printing done. The directory company worked a year ahead. Some directories were biannual, most annual.

What that means to the search for Raymond Chandler is the following: When you see a listing for him in 1915, he had to have been at that address sometime in 1914. In fact, when I mention that someone is at an address in any given year, what it really means is that they were counted at that address some time during the previous year. Little wonder he wasn't in the 1913 Directory since it was researched in 1912 and he didn't arrive in Los Angeles until early 1913. This only applies to addresses confirmed by a city directory.

In 1912, when the Lloyds returned from Europe they moved to Bonnie Brea. In 1914 (sometime in 1913) the Lloyds, who seemed to be almost as rootless as Chandler, were living at 1614 South Oxford. In 1915, and through 1917 (1914-1916), the Lloyds were living at 1157 South Hoover. The Pascals moved around as well. Not until 1915 (1914) did they move to 127 South Vendome.

This section of Bonnie Brae, between 7th and 8th streets is very close to Mac Arthur Park and is much changed from Chandler's day! Gentrification is closing in on the area again, but it is part of "Pico-Union," an area just West of downtown bursting at the seems with immigrants, the poor, homeless, gangs and high crime. Langer's Restaurant Delicatessen at 704 S. Alvarado Street (on the corner of 7th & Alvarado), offers curb side service so patron's won't have to park and walk to the restaurant. However, in Chandler's day, the area around Westlake/McArthur Park was one of the nicest in Los Angeles, and the park and lake had much more flora and fauna.

1915 (2)
311 Loma Drive (*C)(*P)(*N)
Los Angeles 90017
(634-D3) √
34° 03.583´
-118° 15.947´

Living at 311 Loma and working for the Los Angeles Creamery. He was listed in the 1915 City Directory "R T Chandler, bkpr LA Creamery," but he actually had to be living there sometime in 1914. The address is near 3rd and Loma, across the street from the Mary Andrews Clark Memorial Home at 306-336 S. Loma Dr. The home, built in 1912 of Concrete, Brick, Terra Cotta, Slate and Copper is in the "French Chateauesque" style and designed by George H. Whyte. It is listed In The National Register of Historic Places, and was one year old when Chandler arrived in Los Angeles, and four years old when he lived across the street (311 is the site of a LA Unified school today). The Los Angeles Times has called the home "architecturally one of the most imposing structures in this city." The home also happens to serve as a 153-unit single-room occupancy (SRO) affordable housing development.

In 1913 the Creamery was at 1120-1198 Towne Ave. By 1914 the Creamery was at 1112-1198 Towne with locations at 686 San Julian, 6675 Santa Monica Blvd (Hollywood), and 2552 W. Pico. The Butter Department was at 501 E 7th.

1916 (2)
311 Loma Drive (*C)(*P)(*N)
Los Angeles 90017
(634-D3) √
34° 03.583´
-118° 15.947´

Still living at 311 Loma in 1915-1916 but now listed in the City Directory as "Raymond T bkpr L A Creamery Co."

1917 (3)
100 S. Olive (*C)
Los Angeles 90012
(634-F3) √

"Florence D Mrs" still listed 311 Loma, while "Raymond T bkpr L A Creamery Co" is at this address on Bunker Hill, which has changed drastically. Of course, Ray and his mother lived together, so this is a case of the City Directory showing them at two different residences in one year - that year being 1916.

In 1901, when Angels Flight opened, Bunker Hill was home to the power elite of Los Angeles. When Chandler lived on Bunker hill in 1917 it probably was still fairly fashionable. However, when he and Cissy lived there in 1938 it was past shabby genteel -- and fodder for his short stories. Starting in 1955 the Community Redevelopment Agency got involved. The old mansions and apartment buildings were leveled, the top of the hill cut down and development began. Today Bunker Hill is the home of the Music Center, Disney Hall, numerous high rise office buildings, and a different kind of crime.

8/19/1917 (4) (*C) (*D)
1419 De La Vina
Santa Barbara, CA

Sometime in 1916 Ray and his mother headed North to Santa Barbara, where they lived and he worked as the manager of the Los Angeles Creamery branch. He was listed in the 1917 Santa Barbara City Directory as such, but without a home address. To be listed in the 1917 directory he had to have lived there sometime in 1916. In August he enlisted in the Canadian Army and his registration card gave the address on De La Vina. He took his mother back to Los Angeles and went off to fight in WWI. His mother probably stayed with the Pascals, which is why he gave their address at 127 S. Vendome as his. The Pascal's rented wooden craftsman style bungalow fell prey to the Los Angeles equivalent of the Aluminum Siding Salesman - the (cover your home) Stucco salesmen.

1918-20 (5)
1507a S. Figueroa
Los Angeles 90015
(634-D5) √

Florence didn't live with the Pascals for long, a few weeks or months at most, since she is listed in the 1919 City directory as "Florence D Mrs" living at 1507a S. Figueroa (where the South Hall of LA Convention Center is today). In order to be in the 1919 directory she had to have lived at 1507a sometime during 1918. We know this is Ray's mother because her Death Certificate lists her as Florence D Chandler. "Florence D Mrs" is how she was listed on Loma in 1917. Furthermore, the 1920 Census, completed for this location on the 16th and 17th of January 1920, places them at this location, with Florence listed as the head of household and Raymond as son.

1919
Raymond returns to U.S. and again lives with his mother at at 1507a South Figueroa.

1919-20 (5a)
2204 Wall St. (*C)(*Q)
Los Angeles 90011
(634-E7) √
34° 01.596´
-118° 15.722´

There was a "Raymond clk" listed at 2204 Wall Street, but he was not Raymond T. While the MacShane Biography states that Chandler worked for the Los Angeles Creamery next to the Bank of Italy Building, where the Dabney Oil Syndicate was, the Los Angeles Creamery had no listing on South Olive (the entrance to the bank building) or West 7th. The Creamery had three locations, with the main one at 1112-1198 Towne Ave. The Creamery had a restaurant at 120 W. 6th, between Spring and Main. Also too far away to be "next door" to 7th & Olive. Also, it is unlikely that the Creamery had their accounting department so far away from their operating locations. The third location was in Hollywood.

2204 Wall is 4 blocks west of Towne and 10 blocks south - just over a mile and an ideal residential location for Ray. It is also close to 1507a S. Figueroa, but since Ray lived with his mother as usual, this has to be the home of another Raymond Chandler. Also, some listings are for a "Raymond clk," others for a "Raymond T bkpr," etc. Obviously the Raymond T is the budding author. Since Raymond T was very careful to tell the directory company his exact title, and he wasn't a "clk," we can rule out this address. Finally, in order to be listed in the 1919 directory, Ray would have had to live at this address during 1918, and he was fighting in France. I included this charming house because it was built in 1895 and is still standing!

1920      -  No City Directory Published.

1920 (5b)
1718 1/2 South Berendo (*D)
Los Angeles 90006
(634-A5) √
34.04223°
-11829341°

The 6th of January 1920 U.S. Census finds Cissy Pascal living here alone, listed as head of household and divorced. Built in 1906, the bungalow in the Ross and Dixon Tract (lot 20) is little changed from when Cissy lived there.

1921 (5c)
325 E. 9th St. (*C)(*Q)
Los Angeles 90015
(634-F5) √

A Raymond Chandler lived here, but there is no way to know if it was Raymond T. This address, at 9th & Maple, is about six blocks away from the Creamery.

Julian Pascal was living at 1343 South Westlake, (North 34.04606° & West -118.28257°) along with a Kathleen Pascal (a daughter, or a new wife even though the divorce wouldn't be final for nine months), and three borders according to the 1920 Census. The house, built in 1906 is little changed except for an ugly addition to the front. It is in the Alvarado Terrace Tract.

1922     -  No listing for Raymond T but there was by this time a "Ray H shade" hanger, and a "Raymond E" salesman in Los Angeles.

1919-1924 (5d)
224 S Catalina Ave (*B)(*P)(*U)(*E)(*Q)
Redondo Beach 90277
(762-H7) √

The picture is of a bungalow court one block East of 224 S Catalina on Broadway in Redondo Beach, which was built in 1923. However, there was no listing in Redondo Beach for a Raymond Chandler, Raymond T Chandler, Raymond Thornton Chandler, Florence Chandler, Florence D Chandler, or Florence Dart Chandler at any time during 1919, 1920, 1921, 1922 or 1923. No listing either in Hermosa Beach for a Pearl or Cissy Pascal, etc., during the same period. Of course they were living in Los Angeles during 1919 and early 1920. In in summer of 1923 Ray and his mother moved to Menlo with Cissy just a few block away on San Marino.

They may have vacationed in Redondo/Hermosa Beaches, but they probably didn't live there, because if that is what Chandler did, then the man who honored his mother so much that he put off marriage for four years, took her and his fiancée to different beach towns, left them there, and went off to work each day. He had to either commute by car or streetcar. It would have taken over an hour each way. So both women would have been away from their normal social circle and friends, in different towns and alone. Yes, Huntington and the PE made Redondo a destination, and there were things to do, but alone and miles away from familiar territory?

Also, the beach towns and the outer edges of Los Angeles in those days were mostly wide open spaces with fields of crops or oil derricks. Redondo and Hermosa were connected to downtown Los Angeles by the Red Car and narrow roads. Driving meant getting around tractors pulling crops, trucks moving oil equipment or oil, dodging street cars and other cars. There were no left turn lanes. Just a few cars and someone making a turn could create a jam. It took time to get downtown. Commuting wasn't done back then like it is now. You lived and worked in close proximity.

Finally, Florence was already sick, with her doctor, Frank E. Smith, at 523 W. 6th. (room 1135 - the Pacific Mutual Building at 6th and Olive - a block away from Ray's office) in downtown Los Angeles.

So Raymond leaves her alone, an hour away from his work location and her doctor? In an emergency it would have taken him 2 hours to get to his mother and then get her to Dr. Smith's office or the hospital where Smith had privileges - in this case, California Lutheran Hospital which was at 1414 South Hope Street.

No way! Especially not in 1923 when she was dying. Not even close enough for a cigar. Maybe they spent a week or two vacation at the beach each year, but no more.

Also, while there were no listings in the Los Angeles City Directory for Ray or his mother during those years, neither were there any listings in Redondo or Hermosa as stated above. That is very important because the City Directory in small towns like Redondo Beach or Hermosa Beach would have listed the Chandlers sometime during that period, especially with Flo and Cissy at home most of the time and available when the directory company visited.

Finally, Flo probably wouldn't have put up with the arrangement. Why do feel that way? My mother, widowed and alone in Oregon refused to move back to Los Angeles because she didn't want to move away from her doctors. I've seen the same behavior in many seniors, and I don't believe that Flo would have agreed to such a move. Probably, as always, the three of them, Ray and his mother living together and Cissy a short walk or drive away, were living near Westlake Park between 1920-1923. After all, we know where they were in early 1920 and in mid 1923, and it was near Westlake Park as always. And, to add some gratuitous controversy, there is a 224 South Catalina street in Los Angeles, which is also near the Westlake Park area.

1923-4 (6)
933 Menlo St. (*C)(*N)(*D)(*P)
Los Angeles 90006
(Between Olympic Blvd and San Marino, East of Vermont and West of Hoover in the "Korea Town" area)
634-A5) √
34° 03.276´
-118° 17.421´

Listed in the 1924 City Directory as "Mrs. Florence Chandler." The actual address is now a parking lot for a Korean Church. The picture is of the house next door, typical of the area and period. They move in sometime during July or August. Florence was under under her doctor's care from 8/30/1923 until 9/26/1923 when she died at California Lutheran Hospital, 1414 South Hope St. The Death Certificate lists 933 Menlo as her address and Raymond T as the informant. According to the information Ray provided, they lived on Menlo for one month, and Ray then moved to Stewart Street sometime in late 1923. Florence was cremated at the Angelus-Rosedale Crematory on 9/27/1923 (the cemetery founded on 6/9/1884 and was one of the first cemeteries in Los Angeles). A service was held for her on 10/8/1923. The mystery regarding Florence's remains is who removed them from Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery in 1940 (duh, Raymond) and where did they go? The crematory is visible from the Venice Blvd. side of the cemetery grounds.

The Frank MacShane Biography was in error about Florence Chandler' death, which I stumbled upon, in relation to Ray and Cissy's marriage. Florence died on 9/26/23 (not "the end of January 1924") and the marriage took place on 2/6/24 - just over a four month wait, not two weeks as stated in the biography.

I stumbled upon the second error in the Frank MacShane Biography as well. I live near Stewart Street in Santa Monica. When I started taking pictures I drove to Stewart and looked for 723. There is no 723 Stewart in Santa Monica, and there never was. Stewart runs from Pico North to Colorado today. However, before WWII it stopped short of what would become the final leg of Olympic Blvd and the Pacific Electric private right-of-way just South of current day Olympic. If there wasn't any 723 Stewart in Santa Monica, where was the address? I requested copies of Flo's death certificate and Ray's marriage certificate. Imagine my surprise when they arrived and I saw the date of Flo's death. The marriage certificate told me that there was a 723 Stewart Street in Los Angeles in 1924, but there is no Stewart in Los Angeles today. I then looked at a 1924 Los Angeles map and found it just West of downtown - see below.

1923-4 (7)
723 Stewart St. (*D)(*N)(*P)
Los Angeles 90006
(634-D4) √
34° 03.110´
-118° 16.087´
(3rd Q) - 1/1924

Stewart Street in Los Angeles no longer exists. In 1923, and as late as June 1932, it ran North and South from 8th to 6th, connecting to Witmer, which still exists today. On 5/5/1932 Stewart Street was gone, renamed to Witmer with the stroke of a bureaucratic pen. The lot that 723 occupied was combined with the 715 Witmer lot in 1927 when the current building at 715 Witmer was built (the building has been used by movie companies hence the brightly colored exterior). A few years after Chandler moved on a hotel was built at 7th and Witmer, The Mayfair Hotel. Yes, the same hotel Chandler would check into, drink and call fiends and associated and threaten to jump out a window. During this period (until he was a successful author) he always lived around downtown Los Angeles or Westlake Park. He only lived here a short time however.

1923-4 (7a)
"Pascal, Pearl C wid Julian"
3206 San Marino (*C)(*N)(*P)
(between Normandie & Irolo, North of Olympic Blvd and South of 8th Street)
Los Angeles 90006
(633-H3) √
34° 03.267´
-118° 18.034´

Listed as "Raymond T acct Dabney Oil Syndicate Inc" w/ no residence.

The abbreviation "wid" in the City Directory of the time means widow. However, Julian Pascal was listed as late as 1930 in the Los Angeles Directory, so Cissy wasn't a widow in the real sense. Probably in that day, being listed as widow was better than being divorced. The picture is of a little house across the street from where 3206 would be today, and is typical of the period. Cissy lived here before they were married.

1924-5 (8)
2863 Leeward Ave (*C)(*P)(*B)(*U)
Los Angeles 90057
(634-A3) √
34° 03.531´
-118° 17.168´
1st Q

Listed as “Raymond T asst aud” The wooden bungalows were built in 1921 and would have been three years old when Cissy, then Raymond, moved in. Another attack of the Stucco Monster!

1926 (9)
700 South Gramercy Place (*C)(*B)(*?)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90038
(633-H3) √
34° 03.574´
-118° 18.791´

Not off Melrose! If you visit the building on Melrose at North Gramercy you will see that the entrance is on Melrose. Hence a Melrose address. Thus, it can't be 700 South Gramercy Pl. In fact, the address of that building, built in 1928, is 5139 Melrose. The place the Chandlers lived is West of Western Avenue & and South of Wilshire, in view of the Wiltern Theater building.

1926 (9a)
2112 Yosemite Dr. (*C)(*Q)(*P)(*U)
Eagle Rock
Los Angeles 90041
(565-A6) √
34° 08.085´
-118° 12.816´

Was there another Raymond T Chandler living in Los Angeles in 1926? Probably, because this address is too far away from where the Chandlers usually lived at the time.

1927 (10)
1200 Meadowbrooke Ave (*C)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90019
(633-D4) √
34° 03.201´
-118° 20.899´

This Multi-Family residence, built in 1923, is a classic duplex. During this period Chandler frequently went on drinking binges, checked into the Mayfair Hotel on 7th Street at Stewart, now Witmer, called his friends and co-workers and threatened to jump out of a window. He was ignored. Chandler knew of the hotel having lived in the area since 1916, and probably saw its construction in 1926. Plus, it was close to his work place at 7th & Olive.

1928 (11)
2315 W 12 St. (*C)(*N) (*Q)
Los Angeles 90021
(634-B4) √
34° 02.948´
-118° 17.058´

Probably where the church is today on the corner of W. 12th Street & Hoover in the Pico-Union area. The house in the picture, built in the early 1900s is typical of the area. Owners often took in lodgers, and by the late 1920s many houses were divided into apartments, a condition many of them are in to this day. The Chandlers had a phone now, DUnkirk 5961.

1929 (12)
1024 South Highland Avenue (*C)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90019.
(633-E3) √
34° 03.386´
-118° 20.411´

The upper unit of a duplex built in 1926. Listed as "Raymond T (Pearl) v-pres South Basin Oil Co Dabney Johnston Oil Corp and Herndon Petroleum Corp." Still listed in the City Directory on 2315 W 12th as well. Their phone number was ORegon-1008.

1931 (13)
6536 Hayes Dr. (*C)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90048
(633-A3) √
34° 03.669´
-118° 22.332´

1932 (14)
1104 S Longwood Ave (*C)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90019
(633-E3) √
34° 03.327´
-118° 20.338´

A classic Spanish Colonial Revival duplex built in 1929. Two three bedroom two bath units of about 2100 square feet each.

1932 (15)
1642 Redesdale (*C)(*U)(*P)
Los Angeles 90026
(594-D5) √
34.08846°
-118.27135°

At some point in 1932, after Chandler was fired from his oil company job, he went to Seattle. When Cissy fell ill he returned, and they lived for two months with his sister-in-law Lavinia and her husband Archie Brown at this address on Redesdale, across the street and two doors down from where he and Cissy would live two years later at 1639 Redesdale. The city directory had a bit of trouble with Lavinia's name, listing her a Lavonia, Levinia and Vinnie. The Browns were a bit more stable, living on Resdesdale for two years and then nearby at 3034 Berkeley Circle in 1934.

1932-3 (16)
4616 Greenwood Place (*C)(*U)(*P)
Los Angeles 90027
(594-A3) √
34.10851°
-118.29099°

Phone number was Olympia 1251.

1934 (17)
1639 Redesdale Ave (*C)(*U)(*P)
Los Angeles 90026
(594-D5) √
34.08846°
-118.27135°

Has a great view of Silver Lake, which appears in Chandler's fiction as Grey Lake. There is a bit of a discrepancy with this duplex address. The MacShane Biography states that Chandler lived in the 1637 side while the 1934 Los Angeles City Directory states it was the 1639 side. MacShane and his team got address information from the city directories and phone books. It's possible that an error was made. In 1933 someone from the Los Angeles Directory Company visited the address and gathered information. It is possible that the directory is in error, but until I see some corroborating evidence for 1637, I'll go with the directory's address of 1639.

1935-1937??? (18)

No listings for Raymond Chandler in the Los Angeles City Directory or extended phone book. However, it seems to be a well known fact in Pacific Palisades that the Chandlers were living at 943 Hartzel Street, Pacific Palisades, in the mid to late 1930s. Philip Durham in "Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go," states on page 29: "In the late 1930's the Chandlers lived for a year or two on Hartzel Avenue in the Pacific Palisades." The MacShane biography also mentions their living in Pacific Palisades prior to living on Iliff, and of buying land, but doesn't give an address or sources. Judith Freeman in her book "The Long Embrace," lists the address but not the actual time period, and none of them give a source of their information. To date I've been unable to find any documentation confirming the address or the time frame. Ms. Freeman also found evidence that the Chandler's lived in Santa Barbara during this period, however, I checked the Santa Barbara City Directory for the 1930s, and if they lived there, they went undetected.

943 Hartzel
Los Angeles 90272
(631-B5)√
34.04628°
-118.51996°

1938 (19)
625 W 4th St. (*Q)(*C)
Los Angeles 90071
(634-F4) √

Listed under Mrs. Pearl Chandler. How many Mrs. Pearl Chandlers could there have been in 1938 Los Angeles? This address, the Palm Terrace, was on Bunker Hill, across from the Bronx Apt. at 624, and no longer exits. However, take a close look at this 1933 AP Photo of Downtown Los Angeles. Not much visible earth quake damage - Long Beach however, was hard hit. In the lower right corner is the peaked and tiled roof of the Central Library, not quite ten years old. Just above the roof is the construction site of the Edison Building at 601 West Fifth street. To the left of the construction is the Engstrum Apartment Hotel on a street, above 5th, that slopes East and down from Hope, and ends at Grand Avenue and 5th. This picture of a LA Electric Railway Trolley ("Red Car") gives a different view of the street, showing a portion of the Southern California Edison Building entrance, the steps from Hope to 5th, the Touraine Apartments and the SunKist Building. Now look about half way up the picture on the left edge. That street, hidden by a building on the left edge, but visible where it crosses Hope, is W. 4th Street. The building on the North side of the the street is probably 625 W. 4th, the Palm Terrace Apartments where the Chandlers lived. On this day in 1933, on Grand Avenue near 4th, you can see a grand Victorian mansion, one of the few left on Bunker Hill even then. In 1901, when Angels Flight was opened, Bunker Hill was where the rich, famous, powerful - Los Angeles elite - lived. In 1933, Bunker Hill was the stuff of Chandler fiction:

"Bunker Hill is old town, lost town, shabby town, crook town. Once, very long ago, it was the choice residential district of the city, and there are still standing a few of the jigsaw Gothic mansions with wide porches and walls covered with round-end shingles and full corner bay windows with spindle turrets. They are all rooming houses now, their parquetry floors are scratched and worn through the once glossy finish and the wide sweeping staircases are dark with time and with cheap varnish laid on over generations of dirt. In the tall rooms haggard landladies bicker with shifty tenants. On the wide cool front porches, reaching their cracked shoes into the sun, and staring at nothing, sit the old men with faces like lost battles."

In the early 1950s, my father would drive down Hope to where it made the 90º turn and double park. I would jump out of the car, run down the stairs, dash across 5th, into the Central Library, return a stack of books and return to the car. Little did we know that Chandler and lived near-by.

1939:

02/39 (20)
Route 1, Box 421 (*L)
Riverside, CA

8 - 10/17/39 (21)
Box 481 (*L)
Big Bear Lake, CA

12/39 (22)
1265 Park Row (*L)
LA Jolla, CA

May -- The Chandlers rent a cabin near Big Bear Lake and move between Big Bear Lake, La Jolla, Cathedral City and Riverside. December -- Moves to La Jolla, California, for the winter

1940:
1/40 (23)
818 W. Duarte Rd (*L)(*N)
Monrovia, CA
(567-E6) √

6/40 (24)
1155 Arcadia Ave (*L)
Arcadia, CA 91007
(566-J7) √

10/40 (25)
449 San Vicente Blvd. (*B)(*L)(*P)(*U)
Santa Monica 90402
(631-C7) √
34.03032°
-118.50994°

Leaves La Jolla, settles in Monrovia. Then moved to Arcadia for 5 months. Finally lands in Santa Monica (first and only time).

1941 (26)
857 Iliff St. (*B)(*L)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90272
(631-B5) √
34.04514°
-118.51858°

Pacific Palisades

1942
3/42 (27)
12216 Shetland Ln. (*B)(*L)(*P)(*U)
Brentwood Heights 90049
(631-G4) √
34.05511°
-118.47785°

Idyllwild in the Summer (*L) (28)

Cathedral City in August (*L) (29)

3/1944 (30)
1040 Havenhurst Dr (*L)(*P)(*U)
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(593-A6) √
34.08998°
-118.36700°

10/1944 - 46 (31)
6520 Drexel Avenue (*B)(*L)(*P)(*U)
Los Angeles 90048
(633-A1) √
34° 04.152´
-118° 22.208´

1946 - 1955 (32)
6005 Camino de la Costa (*B)(*L)
Mystery writer Mark Coggins' (his PI protagonist is August Riordan) blog about his pilgrimage to the
Chandler house and grave site. Scroll down to Friday, November 03, 2006

La Jolla
Buys home San Diego Union - A PDF file of the Tribune 2004 article about the fate of the Chandler house.

1955 (33)
March--Sells house

Stays at Del Charro Motel
2380 Torrey Pines Rd.

(" ... where Hoover vacationed annually free of charge, to oil-gas interests ...") Visits friends in Chicago and New York. In April sails to England on the Mauritania.

June 1956 (34)
6925 Neptune Pl (*B)(*L)
La Jolla
Returns to La Jolla, takes apartment

1958 (35)
824 Prospect St (*L)
La Jolla

1959 (36)
524 Prospect St (*L)
La Jolla

February--Proposes marriage to Helga Greene. March--Travels to New York to accept presidency of Mystery Writers of America.

Falls ill with pneumonia. 26 March--Dies in the Scripps Clinic, La Jolla

Sleeping "The Big Sleep" in San Diego's Mt. Hope Cemetery.

   
         

    © 2007 Loren Latker

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