Landmarks

Two of Malibu's most prominent and beloved landmarks -- one a palace of secular dreams and the other a center of religious devotion -- were destroyed Sunday. Lost to the flames was the Castle Kashan, the fairy-tale-like structure that stood for 30 years atop a Malibu hill, recognizable from below by its turrets and round towers.

There's so much to praise in the blissful Broadway revival of "Follies," which opened Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre on the heels of its numerous Tony nominations, but let's pay homage first to the sheer sophistication of the show itself. After experiencing "Follies" again - an adult entertainment if ever there was one - I flat-out refuse to accept any more jukebox substitutes. One doesn't often talk about architecture when writing about musicals, but the most impressive thing about "Follies," beyond Stephen Sondheim's bejeweled score, is the ingenious way it is constructed.

The man whose fanciful visions helped bring to life the exteriors of such Los Angeles landmarks as the El Capitan, Mayan and Wiltern theaters was more modest, but no less meticulous, when it came to designing his own home. The Spanish Colonial Revival house that Octavius Weller Morgan built in 1929 on a double lot in the Beverly Grove neighborhood is exemplary of this quintessentially Southern California style and a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument. Morgan's home -- restored by the current owner -- showcases his penchant for classical design, high-end materials and whimsical flourishes.

Manuel Vega was in the courtroom when the Los Angeles Archdiocese agreed to pay clergy abuse victims a landmark $660-million settlement. The bailiff had to whisk some of the victims out to make room for all the high-fiving lawyers filing in for their payday, he says. "Some were even chest-bumping," recalls the retired police officer. "To me, it looked like a frat party. " Vega, who says he was molested as a boy by a priest in Oxnard, went along with the settlement only because his attorneys assured him the church would turn over confidential personnel files that would reveal the truth about priest abusers, and those who shielded them, including Cardinal Roger M. Mahony.

Generations of dreamers have had grand plans for the place. So why is it that Lake Enchanto remains an enigma for nearly everyone who touches it? For 16 years the oak- and sycamore-shaded glen next to Triunfo Creek in Agoura has been a 64-acre federal park called the Peter Strauss Ranch. But it is one of the National Park Service's least-used California treasures. And least understood. Only one visitor was there last Saturday afternoon.

The lights went out overnight at some of Japan's best-known landmarks in an effort to save electricity and acknowledge the dead following the country's worst earthquake to date. The Tokyo Tower and Yokohama's Bay Bridge were among the sites that chose to shut off power after Friday's massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, according to Kyodo News Agency. The operators of the Tokyo Tower told the news agency that the shutdown was also an effort to express condolences to relatives of those who died in the disaster.

There's so much to praise in the blissful Broadway revival of "Follies," which opened Wednesday at the Ahmanson Theatre on the heels of its numerous Tony nominations, but let's pay homage first to the sheer sophistication of the show itself. After experiencing "Follies" again - an adult entertainment if ever there was one - I flat-out refuse to accept any more jukebox substitutes. One doesn't often talk about architecture when writing about musicals, but the most impressive thing about "Follies," beyond Stephen Sondheim's bejeweled score, is the ingenious way it is constructed.

Few people outside of the San Fernando Valley came to Northridge Fashion Center to shop. Few outside of South Central prayed at Southern Missionary Baptist Church and unless you lived on the Westside, you probably hardly took notice of Saint John's Hospital. But these structures--along with dozens of others severely damaged in the earthquake and aftershocks--were vital parts of their neighborhoods.

Pinocchio danced on the table and wise-cracking Fred Mingo sat on it Thursday as they helped convince Los Angeles officials to consider making a marionette theater near downtown an official city cultural site. Fans of longtime puppeteer Bob Baker pleaded for his puppet stage and workshop at 1345 W. 1st St. to be protected with the landmark designation as they struggle to keep the Bob Baker Marionette Theater afloat.

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine was formally declared a New York City landmark. The action culminates a 37-year effort by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to preserve the neo-Gothic edifice in Manhattan. Commission Chairman Robert Tierney called the cathedral, the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, "a building with a unique place in the architectural, social and cultural history of the city."

A spectacular stretch of Northern California coastline that includes ocean-side bluffs, beaches, rolling hills and redwood groves will be permanently protected from development under a landmark deal approved by the state Coastal Commission. Nearly 10 square miles of untouched shoreline, wooded glens, streams and farmland in northern Santa Cruz County, extending several miles inland, will be transferred to the state and federal governments, which will operate it as open space and preserve portions for agriculture.

Robert R. Beezer, a federal judge on the nation's busiest court for the last 28 years and author of landmark decisions on judicial authority, digital media sharing and capital punishment, has died of lung cancer. He was 83. Beezer's death Friday at a Seattle hospital was the sixth among U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges in little more than a year, dealing yet another blow to the overwhelmed bench that hears cases from nine Western states and two Pacific territories. Four of the 9th Circuit's 29 authorized active judgeships are vacant due to partisan wrangling in the U.S. Senate over nominees of President Obama, and Beezer's death now drops to 18 the number of semi-retired senior judges who help shoulder caseloads twice that of the other 12 federal appeals courts.

Mojave Desert school officials are expected to settle weeks of controversy Wednesday over what could be the first successful effort by California parents to petition for dramatic changes in their failing school under a landmark but still largely untested state law. Parents at Desert Trails Elementary in Adelanto, where fewer than half the students are proficient in reading and math, called Tuesday for school board officials to approve their petition...

It appears the historic blade sign hanging in front of the Rialto Theatre in South Pasadena will survive a safety scare that arose this month, but preservationists and city officials are worried about more than just the sign. They are concerned their efforts to revitalize the moribund 87-year-old theater may crumble like the exterior of the building, which is held together in places by wire mesh. Last week, representatives of leaseholder Landmark Theatres said they have decided to repair the sign and are in the process of hiring a contractor.

The first Catholic Church official to go on trial for allegedly covering up sexual abuse of children by predator priests was described by prosecutors Monday as more concerned with protecting the church than children. Prosecutors in Philadelphia told jurors in opening statements that Monsignor William J. Lynn, who was in charge of reviewing complaints about abusive priests, tried to save the church from scandal by covering up child sexual abuse. "You can't protect the church without keeping the allegations in the dark," said Assistant Dist.

The parking lot behind Hollywood landmark restaurant Musso & Frank Grill was purchased by a Los Angeles developer who intends to build a mixed-use complex on the site. Champion Real Estate Co. bought the paved 1.1-acre site behind the Hollywood Boulevard restaurant and between Cherokee and Las Palmas avenues from Common Fund. The price was not disclosed, but Hollywood real estate experts familiar with the property valued it at nearly $10 million. Last year, Champion paid $20 million for a 2.76-acre property at the northeast corner of Highland and Selma avenues, which it also intends to develop.

I was very sad to read that the famous Chasen's restaurant is closing. How we can let this legendary Hollywood landmark fall prey to a cheap shopping mall is beyond my comprehension. Chasen's is our link to the past and one of the few institutions that symbolized Hollywood as the movie capital of the world. We are losing our heritage. Does anybody care? DAVE FISHER Hollywood Hills

The final resting place of Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and other cinematic greats could soon become Los Angeles' next historical-cultural monument. The Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission has recommended that Westwood Village Memorial Park join more than 700 monuments designated citywide over the last 40 years. They include churches, homes, the Hollywood sign and a few other cemeteries. The recommendation is going to the City Council for approval.

When Rick Caruso bought Montecito's Miramar Hotel in 2007, it was a long-vacant, fenced-off, dilapidated eyesore. Five years later, the fences are still up, the windows boarded, the paint peeling. In a community of sky-high hedges and imposing gates, it's still an eyesore. "I'm embarrassed we haven't been able to get it built," Caruso told Santa Barbara County supervisors at a meeting last week, "but it hasn't been for lack of trying. " Caruso, a celebrity developer who is considering a run for mayor of Los Angeles, was asking for a $15-million tax break that he said can speed transformation of the beachfront property into a new five-star hotel.

Construction is underway on a potential Hollywood landmark, a high-rise college on Sunset Boulevard where students will live and study the arts. Boston-based Emerson College, which has trained many in the entertainment field, is erecting a striking see-through building that will be its new West Coast campus. The $85-million tower, designed by Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne, is intended to make a statement to the community and the entertainment industry, President Lee Pelton said.