Visiting the Heritage Square Museum of Los Angeles
If you’ve been following me for a while or know me personally, then you know that history, and more specifically historical buildings/architecture, are kind of my thing.
It’s almost comical that I am from (and still live in Los Angeles), a place that does a sloppy job of preserving its history.
That’s where the Heritage Square Museum comes in. This little-known place in Monteico Heights houses eight Victorian-era buildings from around Los Angeles that were saved from demolition.
I visited the museum this past weekend with my BFF Jenny and we took a walking tour of the grounds. Thus, I will be sharing with you the experience and how you can visit as well!
Let me start off by giving some background information on the Heritage Square Museum itself. According to their website, during the industrial revolution, Los Angeles flourished, which resulted in an architecture boom throughout the city.
By the 1960s however, urban development was well underway which resulted in Victorian-era buildings being demolished. That is when the founders of the Heritage Square Museum decided something had to be done.
By creating a non-profit organization, they were able to acquire the appropriate funds to relocate buildings on the verge of being destroyed, to their new home in East Los Angeles.
As they put it, their mission is “To Preserve, Collect, and Interpret the architecture, physical environment, and culture of Southern California during the first 100 years of statehood, (1850 to 1950)”.
Now that you guys know a little more about the museum, let me get into some of the buildings you can find here! As a side note, I liken this museum to a park. It’s grassy, green, and spacious.
Due to the pandemic, you cannot currently tour the inside of the homes but I spoke to a museum employee who said they were working on reopening sooner than later.
The house above is known as the Longfellow-Hastings Octagon House. As you can see, it’s incredibly beautiful and unique. I’m not going to bore you with too much information but what I will tell you is that this home is one of less than 500 octagon homes left in the United States!
The photo above is of the Lincoln Avenue Methodist Church (originally located in Pasadena). Built in 1897, it was saved from demolition in 1981. Unfortunately, the stained glass windows and pews were stolen before the church was moved to the museum
As I wrote earlier, you are currently not allowed in the buildings. I was able to take this photo by pressing my iPhone into a glass window.
Lastly, this the Perry mansion. It’s quite large (actually the largest on the museum grounds) and I was unable to get a decent photo of the entire thing. This home was built in 1876 by Lumbar magnate William Hayes Perry. In other words, Perry was rich rich and his home reflected that.
The public bathrooms are located in the back of the house and I was honestly quite impressed. As you can see, you flush the toilet by pulling on the lever. Overall, it gives you an authentic historical experience.
The walking tour I mentioned earlier is pretty short and gives you facts about each building as well as Victorian-era life.
Something I found impressive is that they encourage you to bring food and have picnics on the grounds. They have benches and tables (as seen above), as well as plenty of open grassy areas.
They have a garden where they grow food and they also have chickens! Not sure why or what they do with the food, but I wanted to throw that in there.
How you can visit The Heritage Square Museum:
The museum is located at 3800 Homer St in Los Angeles
It’s open from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays
Admission for adults is $10 (Jenny and I were charged $7 but we’re not sure why as the price listed on the site is $10)
The walking tour is included with admission and is every hour between 12-3 pm
Parking is free but the lot is essentially a gravel road and can be a little rough-just keep that in mind
