Hi again,
Since there seemed to be some interest in seeing more South Bay Tiki sites, I thought I'd post some pictures of other tiki apartments that Doctor Z and I explored last weekend.
We were out garage-saling on Saturday morning as usual, obtaining rare junk to sell on Ebay, when we found ourselves in the neighborhood of the Kona Kai apartments, which both of us have driven by on numerous occasions, but never explored. We decided a full-scale expedition was in order.
The Kona Kai Apts are at 22413 Ocean Ave., just off of Sepulveda Blvd:
(check the links below for larger pictures)
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031600356281_kk1.JPG
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031600355660_kk2.JPG
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031600354872_kk3.JPG
The architecture of the Kona Kai has the feeling of 1970s tiki. There's a nice 5-foot tall fanged tiki mask on the front.
Inside, there is only one tiki, but it is a beaut! It sits inside the locked pool area and is carved out of a very large chunk of lava rock - part of a double planter. Check out the cool hang-ten toes on this baby:
(click here for a larger photo)
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031600354279_kk4.JPG
The Kona Kai was nice, but a greater discovery awaited us just one block away. Around the corner, at 3845 226th Street lurks the Eli Kai. If Doctor Z hadn't visited these apartments years ago, we would have never known how to find it. They aren't listed in any of the phonebooks, (including the online ones). The facade is largely hidden by trees that have grown up over the years. Here's a picture:
And some links to larger pictures, including a view of the large, stone wall-pockets on the facade that in this apartment's glory days, probably held large monstera plants and were lit at night:
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031599597583_ek1.JPG
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031599596988_ek2.JPG
Doctor Z didn't recall any tikis from his last visit, but this was before he was ever interested in tiki culture, so imagine our surprise when the first thing to greet us was this large 7-8 foot Marquesan tiki pillar, holding up the roof in the entryway.
(click below for a large image):
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031599596418_ek3.JPG
Through the entryway and into the sunlit courtyard and we are presented with rank upon rank of these gorgeous, carved wooden roof-poles.
(a larger photo of the ranks):
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031599595741_ek4.JPG
There are two tiki faces carved on each post. There are eleven poles in all and no two tiki faces are alike. A lot of time and creativity went into carving these. Here is a composite photo I put together showing all eleven poles. Below it is a link to a large detailed photo. It may take a while to load based on your connection, but it is worth it:
http://images.andale.com/f2/105/115/6216253/1031599592332_ek6.JPG
The records for this building show that it was built in 1965. Do any of you tiki archeologists out there recognize the carver of these tikis, based on this date?
Walking back to the Kona Kai, then a little further around the corner to Sepulveda Blvd, you find an Irish Pub called "Killian's". Recent construction has cleared the lot next door, and now visible on the backside of Killian's is the following signage:
This was intriguing. Was this once a tiki bar?
Luckily the current owner of Killian's remembers back to the days in the 1960s when The Stowaway was a popular watering hole. It was a nautical-themed bar. No tikis, but lots of hanging nets, glass floats, bamboo and other artifacts. She showed me where a large stone fireplace once sat, right where the big-screen TV now shows football games on Sundays. The bar has gone through 2 or 3 incarnations since the original Stowaway was closed in the 1970s, but she knows the original owners and is going to try to get me photos of the Stowaway's original interior. If she's successful, I'll post them here for your perusal.
Sabu
[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-09-09 15:05 ]
