Thursday, August 21, 2008 – Venetian Dreamscape

The Parkhurst Building, 185 Pier Avenue, Santa Monica, California

Built: 1927

Architects: Marsh, Smith and Powell

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places since November 17, 1978

Amanda Schacter (ed.) Santa Monica Landmarks, Santa Monica Landmarks Commission, 1990 –

This fine example of the Spanish Colonial Revival style was constructed in 1927 by Clinton Gordon Parkhurst, the next to the last mayor of Venice before this city became incorporated into the City of Los Angeles. It was designed by the architectural firm of Marsh, Smith and Powell. Partner Norman F. Marsh was responsible for the design of the many prominent structures in, as well as the plan for the arcaded streets and canals of, Venice. The multi-sided tower with its intricate design formed by protruding bricks, as well as it other ornamentation, makes this one of the more visible landmarks on Main Street. This building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Also see Santa Monica Landmarks –

Abbot Kinney hired Los Angeles architects Norman Marsh and Clarence Russell to design Venice's principal buildings. Both architects were familiar with the "City Beautiful Movement," that advocated planned communities with generous public spaces, and understood Kinney's mandate that all building exteriors in the business district would be built in "Venetian Renaissance" style. Their model was Venice, Italy's Plaza San Marco, whose buildings featured enclosed colonnaded walkways.

It not Spanish Colonial Revival – it's Venetian Renaissance, as this is where Santa Monica blends into the next beach town south, Venice.  And it's scary.

If you wish to use any of these photos for commercial purposes I assume you'll discuss that with me. And should you choose to download any of these images and use them invoking the "fair use" provisions of the Copyright Act of 1976, please provide credit, and, on the web, a link back this site. 

Technical Note:

Photographs after March 3, 2008, were taken with a Nikon D200 – or a Nikon D70 when noted. All previous photographs were taken with the D70. The lenses used are (1) AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:35-4.5G ED, or (2) AF Nikkor 70-300 mm telephoto, or (3) AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 55-200 mm f/4-5.6G ED. Photography here is modified for web posting using Adobe Photoshop 7.0.  The earliest photography in the archives was done with a Sony Mavica digital still camera (MVC-FD-88) with built-in digital zoom.

All text and photos, unless otherwise noted, Copyright © 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 - Alan M. Pavlik