California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Adobe courtyard at the Rancho La Brea, later known as Gilmore Ranch, [s.d.]

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Adobe courtyard at the Rancho La Brea, later known as Gilmore Ranch, [s.d.]

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Photograph of an adobe courtyard at the Rancho La Brea, later known as Gilmore Ranch, [s.d.]. The walls of the adobe form a U-shaped enclosure around the courtyard, and there are two doors visible: a screen door on the back wall and a wooden one on the left wall. In the foreground on the right is an overhang with a straw roof supported by wooden posts over an adobe brick floor. The roof is made of terra cotta tiles. Around the edge of the courtyard are benches, shelves and racks which hold assorted pots and blankets. There are several chickens running around in the middle of the courtyard. The original adobe was built by James Thompson in 1851. Arthur Gilmore began expanding and renovating the home around 1900.; "From humble origins it became the seat of a gas and oil empire whose idiosyncratic promotional images dotted the Western landscape. But while the kingdom has been downsized, the Gilmore Adobe endures in modest anonymity, an idyllic vestige of another time. Nestled between Farmers Market and CBS studios, shielded from public view by a fortress of foliage, the Gilmore Adobe dates back to 1852. Originally called the Rancho La Brea Adobe, it eventually became the home of rancher-turned-oilman Arthur F. Gilmore, whose brilliantly eccentric son Earl turned the Gilmore Oil Company into a legendary part of America's burgeoning car culture. Today [2002], the adobe--which now serves as headquarters for the A.F. Gilmore Company, owner and operator of Farmers Market (as well as the adjacent Gilmore Bank)--stands as a bucolic island of tranquility in the heart of the city. The building is an elegant hybrid of California Mission and Spanish Colonial, reflecting a series of renovations over the past century. While modern amenities have been added, original features such as the wood-and-clay-brick ceiling have been preserved. Earl Gilmore's bedroom--remarkably small for a titan of modern capitalism--remains frozen in time, complete with his extensive pipe collection and elaborately designed horse saddle. Outside, terracotta tiles adorn a courtyard where Rudolph Valentino once preened for the camera in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Chickens roam the northern side of the property, while on the eastern edge a pair of towering Mexican fan palms keep watch over the adobe (which is closed to the general public). From inside the grounds, one can almost envision 19th century Los Angeles--a city without cars or freeways or smog, awaiting men like Earl Gilmore and the onslaught of the future." -- Danny Feingold.

Asset Metadata

Title Adobe courtyard at the Rancho La Brea, later known as Gilmore Ranch, [s.d.]

Subject Adobe houses (lcsh), Architecture, Domestic (lcsh), Dwellings (lcsh), Gilmore, Arthur (subject), Los Angeles -- Architecture -- Domestic -- Adobes (file heading), residential sites (adlf), Thompson, John (subject)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place California (states), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Type images

Format 1 photograph : photonegative, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm. (aacr2), negatives (photographic) (aat), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m1767

Identifier 10071 (accession number), CHS-10071 (call number), CHS-10071 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-2624 (legacy record id), chs-m1767 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-1819 (legacy record id), 1-33- (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 2624

Unique identifier UC116528

Legacy Identifier CHS-10071.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 17.0 in × 13.7 in at 300dpi
43.1 cm × 35.0 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

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Exterior view of the Gilmore adobe at Rancho La Brea, [s.d.]

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