Tiki in The South Bay - The ISLANDER Apts and some new discoveries - General Tiki

STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Tiki Socialite Carson, California Joined: Aug 20, 2002 Posts: 2813	STCB Sabu The Coconut Boy Posted posted on Sat, Aug 24, 2002 10:03 PM Hi All, Thought this topic might be a good jumping-off point for the sharing of Tiki sites in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, whether bars, restaurants, motels, apts, etc. Doctor Z and I already know of a few but are always on the prowl for more. I'll start out with the ISLANDER apartments in Gardena. You can see its sign at the bottom of page 218 of the BOT. I stumbled upon this apartment building while searching out an estate sale in Gardena one morning. I was amazed at the pristine, original condition of it. All the waterfalls work and all the tikis are intact and in good shape. The owners must take great pride in their building because it is kept immaculately clean and the gardens are well-tended. Its most impressive feature, in my opinion is an amazing horizontal waterfall that shoots in an arc from a slit high up in the rock wall of the front of the building, into a rock pool. The water then runs under the front walkway and forms a second waterfall on the other side that runs into a lower pool at street level. You can hear the running water for blocks around and it adds a soothing, tropical air to the surrounding neighborhood. A view from the street, showing the lower waterfall. Nice use of bamboo to sheath the wooden posts. The stunning horizontal waterfall that falls from the center of a rock wall. The Rec-Room at one end of the pool with a nice outdoor patio. Appropriately named as well. The Rec-Room (which I've never seen in use), had a nice bar, and there's a great original stone barbecue down by the pool. The grounds are lush with palms, tree ferns, banana trees and these tall black-and-white birds-of-paradise. If anyone out there is apartment hunting, a sign out front says that there are apartments for rent, and this is a very reasonable neighborhood. Around the corner, at 15515 Vermont, is the ALOHA. Nicely kept as well. No Tikis in the small courtyard, but some nice signage. Like I said, I was on my way to an estate-sale when I found THE ISLANDER. I wanted to stop, but wanted to get to the estate-sale more and so found it after a few more blocks of driving. The eighty-six year-old man who was selling the contents of his house had a pristine 1940s Rattan Sofa tucked away in a rumpus room, covered with sewing materials. I asked if it was for sale, and he said yes, but a woman had bought it and several other pieces of furniture earlier that morning. I was crestfallen. "Listen," he said. "She hasn't paid me yet, and money talks with me. If you've got cash, I'll sell it to you." I looked through my wallet. "How about ?" "Have you got on you?" he asked. "I sure do." I said. "Sold." He said. He helped me load the sofa on my truck and I got out of there as fast as I could, before the other woman should return. On my drive out, I stopped at the ISLANDER and explored for a while. It was one of the nicest days of Tiki hunting I've ever had. In conclusion, as I said before, I'd welcome more info on anyone else's favorite tiki spots in the South Bay. If there's some interest, I can even post some photographs of others myself. Sabu [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-08-26 14:03 ] [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-08-26 14:04 ] [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-09-09 15:12 ]

Hi All,

Thought this topic might be a good jumping-off point for the sharing of Tiki sites in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, whether bars, restaurants, motels, apts, etc. Doctor Z and I already know of a few but are always on the prowl for more.

I'll start out with the ISLANDER apartments in Gardena. You can see its sign at the bottom of page 218 of the BOT. I stumbled upon this apartment building while searching out an estate sale in Gardena one morning. I was amazed at the pristine, original condition of it. All the waterfalls work and all the tikis are intact and in good shape. The owners must take great pride in their building because it is kept immaculately clean and the gardens are well-tended. Its most impressive feature, in my opinion is an amazing horizontal waterfall that shoots in an arc from a slit high up in the rock wall of the front of the building, into a rock pool. The water then runs under the front walkway and forms a second waterfall on the other side that runs into a lower pool at street level. You can hear the running water for blocks around and it adds a soothing, tropical air to the surrounding neighborhood.

A view from the street, showing the lower waterfall.

Nice use of bamboo to sheath the wooden posts.

The stunning horizontal waterfall that falls from the center of a rock wall.

The Rec-Room at one end of the pool with a nice outdoor patio.

Appropriately named as well.

The Rec-Room (which I've never seen in use), had a nice bar, and there's a great original stone barbecue down by the pool.

The grounds are lush with palms, tree ferns, banana trees and these tall black-and-white birds-of-paradise. If anyone out there is apartment hunting, a sign out front says that there are apartments for rent, and this is a very reasonable neighborhood.

Around the corner, at 15515 Vermont, is the ALOHA. Nicely kept as well. No Tikis in the small courtyard, but some nice signage.

Like I said, I was on my way to an estate-sale when I found THE ISLANDER. I wanted to stop, but wanted to get to the estate-sale more and so found it after a few more blocks of driving. The eighty-six year-old man who was selling the contents of his house had a pristine 1940s Rattan Sofa tucked away in a rumpus room, covered with sewing materials. I asked if it was for sale, and he said yes, but a woman had bought it and several other pieces of furniture earlier that morning. I was crestfallen.
"Listen," he said. "She hasn't paid me yet, and money talks with me. If you've got cash, I'll sell it to you."
I looked through my wallet. "How about ?"
"Have you got on you?" he asked.
"I sure do." I said.
"Sold." He said.
He helped me load the sofa on my truck and I got out of there as fast as I could, before the other woman should return. On my drive out, I stopped at the ISLANDER and explored for a while. It was one of the nicest days of Tiki hunting I've ever had.

In conclusion, as I said before, I'd welcome more info on anyone else's favorite tiki spots in the South Bay. If there's some interest, I can even post some photographs of others myself.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-08-26 14:03 ]

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-08-26 14:04 ]

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-09-09 15:12 ]

Post #6713 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Sat, Aug 24, 2002 10:03 PM