Post #184370 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Sun, Sep 4, 2005 9:51 PM

This is the sight when exploring a new neighborhood that sends a thrill up your spine:

These are the South Pacific apartments in Hawthorne. They really stand out in a parade of standard 1960s apartments on Kornblum.

Great piling & chain walkways painted in what I hope is the original red.


This neighborhood is actually quite nice. The apartments are kept in immaculate condition. The tenants were all nice and friendly. No tikis left (I'm sure they rotted away years ago). But take a look at the interior:


There's this raised grassy courtyard in the center unlike anything I've seen in any other apartments. The small "park" is completely secluded by the dense tropical foliage surrounding it. Think of the tikis and tiki torches that once completed this scene.

Nice outdoor firepit by the rec room.

And inside the rec room, this original tiki bar with the thatch missing from the overhang:

Those stools look original, my friends...

...although the table and chairs do not.

I really give the owners credit for keeping this apartment complex in tip-top shape. This would be an easy one to restore to full tiki grandeur. Just add a bunch of carved tikis to the front and the grassy courtyard, restore the gas-fed tiki torches, re-thatch the bar, and you'd be ready to host tiki events all year round. Keep it in filed away in your brain for that time when you find yourself rich and in need of a good project.

Sabu