I have such fond memories of the Mid Century Modern library that was located in Beverly Hills It was a child's dream during the 60s and 70s. It had a state of the art screening with a step down living room environment. Every month they would invite guest speaker from a popular show or movie to read books to the kids. I remember a very well dressed Suzanne Pleshette reading Hansel and Gretel to us. Only in Hollywood, and in this case, only in Beverly Hills. The fountains were also extremely charming. The mosaic on the sides of the building depicted an abstraction of book spines. The Library opened on October 10th, on Rexford, Dr. in 1965 and was designed by Martin Stern. Stern was the designer of Mid Century Homes in Trousdale and Encino, many Las Vegas Hotels, and restaurants including all 3 "Ship's" Coffee Shops in the LA area that have sadly also been demolished.
Tragically, this Mid Century Marvel was demolished in the 1980s so a bigger library and more offices could be built in its place. The new structure looks like a generic fake Spanish style/ Moorish Revival debacle right out of MIAMI VICE. What were they thinking!
Tragically, this Mid Century Marvel was demolished in the 1980s so a bigger library and more offices could be built in its place. The new structure looks like a generic fake Spanish style/ Moorish Revival debacle right out of MIAMI VICE. What were they thinking!
The exterior of the old public library, which had featured a mosaic resembling books on a shelf, appeared in stock shots in The Brady Bunch as Mike Brady's office building.
I have NO idea why they tore this MASTERPIECE down to build that generic, unauthentic and boring replacement that stands today...but that's LA. Here today, ripped down tomorrow. I wish we could dig this back up along with fountains too!