Jan 09, 2025
Even if you’re not among the thousands of Angelenos who’ve lost their homes or evacuated due to the multiple, ongoing wildfires, you’re not alone for feeling an immense sense of grief—over the unfathomable and swift destruction, the loss of life, property and nature, and the uncertainty over what comes next. That mourning also extends to the mounting number of recognizable, historic and beloved venues that’ve been lost to the Palisades and Eaton Fires: bars we’ve raised glasses at, restaurants we pass by daily, museums we’ve moseyed around, hikes we’ve tackled and even schools we’ve attended. We’re keeping an (unfortunately running) list below of some of the most familiar spots that’ve been destroyed, ones that Angelenos and even folks outside of town are likely to recognize. It’s worth mentioning that an uncountable number of popular hiking trails have also likely been scorched: The Palisades Fire continues to burn through the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, the Eaton Fire started near the popular Eaton Canyon Nature Center and the short-lived Sunset Fire scorched the western edge of Runyon Canyon. But given the active nature of the fires and the still-climbing toll on wilderness spaces, we’ve excluded those spots for now (as well as ones that are threatened but so far still standing). PALISADES FIRE Palisades Charter High School Even if you haven’t heard of Palisades Charter High School before this week, odds are you’ve definitely seen it on TV and in movies like Carrie and Freaky Friday, as well as Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” music video. The independent charter school—regularly ranked as one of the area’s and America’s best high schools—was badly damaged in the Palisades Fire; at least 30% of its structures have burned down, largely in the back of the campus. (Two Pacific Palisades elementary schools nearby—Marquez Charter Elementary School and Palisades Charter Elementary—were unfortunately completely destroyed.) Pali High School—whose A-list alumni include director J.J. Abrams, the Bangles’ Susanna Hoffs, actresses Jennifer Jason Leigh and Katey Sagal, actor Forest Whitaker and will.i.am—was founded in 1961 and boasted an idyllic location one mile from Will Rogers State Beach, even offering a surfing class that doubled as P.E. The school’s students had not yet started back after the holidays, so it was luckily largely empty on Wednesday. A public statement promised those in charge would “provide updates regarding the start of the spring semester.”   Photograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out     Will Rogers’s Ranch House Pacific Palisades’ Will Rogers State Historic Park, centered around Rogers’s ranch house, is the starting point of many popular hikes, including Inspiration Point, and a cultural destination in its own right. The former home of Rogers—a writer, cowboy philosopher, trick-roper and the first honorary mayor of Beverly Hills—had been maintained as it was in the 1930s; it became a state park in 1944 when his widow donated it after his death. The 31-room ranch house and other historic buildings at Will Rogers State Historic Park, including the beautiful stables, were destroyed. Topanga Ranch Motel At Topanga State Park, the bungalow-style Topanga Ranch Motel, built in 1929 by William Randolph Hearst, was destroyed. Located across from Topanga Beach, the retro motel once housed PCH construction workers and was a popular filming location. State Parks had acquired the motel in 2001, and recently, plans had been in the works to restore 20 of its cabins to rent out to the public. Theatre Palisades A community theater institution since 1963, Theatre Palisades settled into its permanent home, Pierson Playhouse, in 1988. On Tuesday evening, the theater was lost to the Palisades Fire. “Our beloved Pierson Playhouse is gone but the heart of Theatre Palisades beats on,” it wrote on its Facebook page. “We will rise again.” The 125-seat theater hosted about five major productions each year, plus two family-friendly ones put on by children in its youth program. In the decades prior to the construction of the Pierson Playhouse, the TV writer-founded institution staged productions at venues around the Palisades and Santa Monica, including Palisades Park and Rustic Canyon Park.   Photograph: Michael Juliano for Time Out     Reel Inn and other PCH eateries The Palisades Fire has devastated a number of recognizable restaurants and bars along the Pacific Coast Highway: beloved takeout shack Cholada Thai Beach Cuisine, coastal drinking destination Rosenthal Wines, oceanfront terrace Moonshadows and even more spots that we’ve mentioned in a separate story. But perhaps the most recognizable one is the Reel Inn, a no-frills landmark at the bottom of Topanga Canyon that’s served fresh seafood in its restaurant and marketplace since 1986. The structure was destroyed on Tuesday, and owners Teddy and Andy Leonard have set up a GoFundMe to cover their employees’ wages and benefits. EATON FIRE Photograph: Courtesy The Bunny MuseumThe Bunny Museum The Bunny Museum The Eaton Fire claimed one of L.A.’s most delightfully quirky institutions. “Burnt to the ground,” reads the Bunny Museum’s Instagram bio. A labor of love from husband and wife Steve Lubanski and Candace Frazee, the museum housed the world’s largest collection of rabbit-related items, according to Guinness World Records—more than 40,000. After originally opening the attraction in their Pasadena home, the museum eventually needed a bigger footprint and set up shop up the road in Altadena in 2017. The 7,000-square-foot space on Lake Avenue housed not only cute bunny artifacts but also included freeze-dried remains of rabbits, a bunny library, nine Rose Parade float bunnies and a creepy room called the “Chamber of Hop Horrors”—in addition to live rabbits that could be petted. “Our museum is gone, that’ll hit me in a while…. It took my wife and I almost 40 years to put it together, but it’s the way it is, so we’ll go on,” Lubanski tearfully told KCAL News. He had fought to the end to save the museum, hosing the building down all night long, but when the building next door caught fire, it spread to the museum. Luckily the couple, their two bunnies and three cats are all okay and currently staying in a motel. They say they plan to eventually build back and are looking forward to a “hoppier” tomorrow. A fake GoFundMe account popped up to solicit donations in the aftermath, but the couple say they will set up an official page soon (we’ll link to it here once it’s live).   Photograph: Courtesy CC/Wikimedia/   Andrew McNally House Both the Palisades and Eaton fires have damaged or destroyed a still-climbing number of celebrity-owned and architecturally-notable homes. But this Queen Anne style house in Altadena, an entry on the National Register of Historic Places, stood out for its very distinctive style. Built in the late 1880s for Andrew McNally (cofounder of road atlas publisher Rand McNally), the mansion sat along Mariposa Street, right next to Christmas Tree Lane. Though it wasn’t open to the public, glimpses inside tell of an ornate 22-room house outfitted with stained glass windows, two dozen gas lamps and a lavish Turkish-inspired sitting room. According to a report in the New York Times, current owner Frank Mayor was there to watch the historic home go up in flames. “The whole thing is made out of wood. So it just went up like that,” he told the publication.
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