Silver Lake

Silver Lake has retained the bohemian flair that marked its rise as a residential neighborhood near downtown a century ago. Also unchanged are the views of the Silver Lake Reservoir and the hills that surround it. Beginnings Silver Lake, named for Herman Silver, a member of the city's first Board of Water Commissioners, is sandwiched between Sunset Boulevard, Interstate 5, the Glendale Freeway and Hyperion Avenue.

Motion picture executive Brad Kembel and his partner Jimmy Ferrareze have bought the landmark James Eads How House in Silver Lake for $1.3 million. Designed by modern architect Rudolph Schindler in 1925, the restored and updated International Modern-style house had been priced at $4.995 million when movie producer and prolific renovator Michael LaFetra first listed it in 2008. The 2,426-square-foot home, a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, is considered a triumph of Schindler's early career and was influenced by his apprenticeship under Frank Lloyd Wright.

In a city that contains hundreds of miles of recreational walks, routes and trails, the opening of a new jogging path sounds about as noteworthy as a Pinkberry christening or another starlet DUI. But the new scenic path that opened in December along the east side of Silver Lake Reservoir is no ordinary playground for fitness nuts and leisure strollers. Several tortured years in the making, the path represents the latest leg in L.A.'

I'm crazy for oysters, always have been. At Hog Island Oysters near Bodega Bay, I've been known to down three or four dozen at a time, all shucked, slowly, by me. Wherever I'm headed, you can be sure I've got the oyster bars mapped out ahead of time. So when news came that a new oyster bar was about to open across from LA Mill in Silver Lake, I was thrilled. Even sweeter, the partners in the new spot are Dustin Lancaster and Matthew Kaner, the duo that brought Los Feliz the quality wine bar Covell.

When the lush coffeehouse LA Mill opened blocks from the Silver Lake Reservoir, with its menu by Michael Cimarusti of Providence and its far-out caffeinated creations, Silver Lake officially crossed over from hipster haunt to artsy haven of health-conscious professionals. Next to take up residence on Silver Lake Boulevard's burgeoning stretch of Larchmont by the lake was Gloria Felix's Reservoir.

What began as a communal living experiment in postwar California would become a model for low-cost urban housing and the innovative use of small spaces. Gregory Ain's historic Avenel Cooperative Housing Project in Silver Lake today has a corner unit for sale. Ain, the notable Modernist architect, completed the 10-unit complex in 1947 for 10 couples who each chipped in about $11,000 to build a housing project that would promote communal living.

Community volunteer David Nott had taken middle school students on an urban hike through Silver Lake before, but they stumbled across something unexpected during a recent excursion - a roughly 11,000-square-foot area designed just for people on foot. "Look!" Nott said to the handful of 11- and 12-year-old students, pointing to the newly built pedestrian- and bike-only Sunset Triangle Plaza. "This has become a social environment," he said. Billed as Los Angeles' first "street-to-plaza" conversion, much of the new park originally was a two-lane swath of pavement that carried motorists along Griffith Park Boulevard.

Contradictions fly along Hyperion Avenue when the Birdman of Silver Lake takes wing. Rik Martino rolls his wobbly cart with two mismatched wheels to the corner of Tracy Street and stops at Baller Hardware to buy two 20-pound bags of True Value Wild Bird Food. More than 30 years after arriving from his native Italy, the 58-year-old actor is still looking for his big-screen break. Square-jawed and body-builder muscular, Martino views himself as more Al Pacino than Jean-Claude Van Damme.

In Silver Lake, the crafty crow evidently trumps the skunk. The neighborhood's defunct watering hole Stinkers may still be stuck in some barflies' noses, but the skunk-inspired homage to canned beers, truck stops and white-trash Americana has been closed since February. Having undergone a face-lift, the joint officially reopens Friday as the Thirsty Crow. It's a well-manicured whiskey bar suited to a more refined demographic that the 1933 Group (the company that also owns Bigfoot Lodge, the Little Cave and Saints and Sinners)

Marc Abrams, a physician whose epic (and shirtless) daily walks through Silver Lake inspired documentaries, murals and magazine profiles, died Wednesday. He was 58. His wife, Cindy, found him dead in their backyard hot tub. Police initially determined that it was a suicide, although the official cause of death is pending. Abrams traversed 20 to 30 miles of pavement each day and wore out four pairs of shoes each year. He walked swiftly — often hunched over a newspaper — slowing only to shout hellos to friends or give medical advice to those who asked for it. On warm days, he wore brightly colored running shorts and nothing else.

First published on March 20, 2011. Revised and expanded in January 2012. It's not easy being the lungs of Los Angeles. But Griffith Park, the foremost green space in a city notorious for meager parkland and abundant smog, endures bravely, maybe even heroically. Venture into the park, or nearby Elysian Park, or one of the creative neighborhoods in between, and you'll find not only beloved landmarks such as Griffith Observatory and Dodger Stadium, but also happy surprises, such as the time-travel supply shop, or the cafe where cops dine daily to the sound of echoing gunfire, or the Korean greetings that echo at dawn every day atop Mt. Hollywood.

Late nights in Silver Lake belong to Los Globos. Once a rough-and-tumble haunt of gangs and local toughs, the beat-up-looking spot on Sunset Boulevard has been under new management for eight months that hopes to transform the space into a concert venue on par with the Echo and some of the area's other taste-making music joints. Since late 2011, however, it's been pulling in crowds for a different reason: Friday through Sunday, the dancing goes on until the break of dawn. There's no alcohol served between 2 and 6 a.m., but that hasn't stopped throngs from hanging out all night, as masses of people mostly in their 20s have adopted the club's downstairs room as their domain.

Community volunteer David Nott had taken middle school students on an urban hike through Silver Lake before, but they stumbled across something unexpected during a recent excursion - a roughly 11,000-square-foot area designed just for people on foot. "Look!" Nott said to the handful of 11- and 12-year-old students, pointing to the newly built pedestrian- and bike-only Sunset Triangle Plaza. "This has become a social environment," he said. Billed as Los Angeles' first "street-to-plaza" conversion, much of the new park originally was a two-lane swath of pavement that carried motorists along Griffith Park Boulevard.

Much of the real estate market is still stuck in deep winter, but Highland Park is showing signs of spring. Investors have descended on this and other communities in Northeast Los Angeles, snatching up bargain-priced Craftsman homes located within an easy distance of downtown. It's an echo of the housing boom, only this time speculators are drawn by the crash in prices. Attracted by an abundance of foreclosures and aided by interest rates near record lows, renovators are giving distressed properties a makeover.

Silver Lake residents can't wait for this construction job to bite the dust. More than two dozen residents living along the path of a $40-million water pipe project say they are suffering respiratory problems from particulate matter stirred up by construction trucks and heavy-duty trenching machines. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is replacing a massive neighborhood water conduit as part of a larger, federally mandated plan to retire the Silver Lake and Ivanhoe reservoirs, which are exposed to airborne contaminants.

Stacy Matulis doesn't see how one politician could represent everyone in the newly proposed 4th Los Angeles City Council District that stretches from the trendy neighborhoods northeast of downtown to the heart of the San Fernando Valley. She would know. The 33-year-old greets many of the baristas in her Silver Lake neighborhood by name, but she's also lived among the rows of strip malls in the Valley and teaches yoga to millionaires in their sprawling mansions in the Hollywood Hills.

Launched in 2001 by the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, a nonprofit organization that benefits local youths, the Silver Lake farmers market successfully serves its community. Prepared foods and crafts stands -- such as gourmet coffee, books, LPs, sunglasses and clothes -- outnumber the produce vendors, giving the venue somewhat of a flea market ambience, but that seems to suit the area, with its mix of hipster and working-class residents. Locavores may cock an eyebrow at one vendor who sells imported bananas, papaya, mangoes and pineapples ("What's up with the dude selling bananas here?

Former National Public Radio writer and producer Chumi Paul has purchased a Rudolph Schindler-designed home in the Silver Lake area for $600,000. The midcentury house, built in 1956, is known as Schindler's last commissioned home. The modernist architect died in 1953 at 65 without seeing the project completed. The two-bedroom-plus-office house is entered through a first-level foyer. Original details include wooden sconces, room dividers, pocket doors, cabinets and other built-ins.

Producer Janet Healy has sold her Silver Lake area house to actors Zach Gilford and Kiele Sanchez for $1.435 million. The Spanish-style house, built in the 1930s, features a stained-glass window in the living room, a paneled library with a bar, a media room and an office. The more than 3,900-square-foot home has three bedrooms and 31/2 bathrooms. The walled grounds includes terraces, fountains and tile murals. Zach Gilford, 29, has been a regular on "Friday Night Lights" since 2006.