Tiki Central / General Tiki / Tiki in The South Bay - The ISLANDER Apts and some new discoveries
Post #8432 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Mon, Sep 16, 2002 4:41 PM
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
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Mon, Sep 16, 2002 4:41 PM
Lately I’m amazed at how many Tiki Apartments I’ve been finding that aren’t listed in any of the local phonebooks. It gives me hope that there might still be some more unappreciated gems out there, waiting to be found accidentally or by word-of-mouth. This last weekend was another great example. I went exploring in North Torrance, based on a vague memory I had of seeing a tiki-named apartment complex somewhere on Artesia Blvd. several years ago. It didn’t take me long to find it. The apartments are called the "Tiki Aloha" and are at 3505 Artesia Blvd. The nearest cross-street is Yukon. Fairly low-key as far as the Polynesian architecture goes - the façade has two small A-frame arches with woven matting against the walls inside the arches. The entrance columns have bamboo-and-rope sheathing, similar to the ones at the Islander at the start of this thread. I didn’t have much hope to find tikis inside but had to check to be sure. Unfortunately, getting inside the Tiki Aloha was going to be tougher than getting into Fort Knox. There was a security door at the front and it was locked. The walls surrounding the whole complex were high, with chainlink added to make them higher, and rolls of razor-wire topping off the chainlink. Every metal gate was topped with iron spikes. Peering through the mesh of the front security gate, I could see the garden courtyard within and suddenly felt like Harold Carter peering for the first time into the sealed tomb of King Tut and exclaiming "Wonderful things!" Everywhere I looked I could catch glimpses of primal faces peering at me from totems and from among the greenery. There were Tikis here! I had to get inside and take some pictures. This was a small apartment building though, with not much traffic in and out. I waited a while then decided to dial the manager from the front phone. I got through and told him I was a visitor who was interested in looking at the apartments. He told me gruffly that there were no vacancies. I explained a bit about why I was interested in Tiki architecture here in Los Angeles and would it be all right if I took a few pictures of the tikis inside. I’d even let him hold my wallet while I was looking if that made him feel any better. He said, "Sorry. We don’t allow strangers of any kind." And hung up. Yea verily, this was going to be a tough one. I decided to hang out near the electronic gate leading to the garages in back. Sure enough, about ten minutes later a car drove out and I slipped in before the gate closed, feeling acutely suspicious and criminal. But at least I was inside! My hopes were dashed though when I found another security door leading from the car-port area to the inner sanctum. It was, of course, locked. The afternoon was getting late and I didn’t have much good light left for photographs, but I opted to sit by the back door and wait. Twenty minutes later a man came out with a load of clothes for the laundry room. I asked him if he’d let me in and he said "No problem". I was finally inside! Avoiding the manager’s apartment, because his door was wide open and the sound of television was coming from within, I quietly darted here and there, photographing everything I could. Less than two minutes later I was exiting through the front door. I think my long wait was worth it though, and here are some of the pictures from inside the Tiki Aloha, which I have now named "The Tiki Fortress"
This is only a small, garden-apartment with no swimming pool, so the number of tikis is actually pretty good for a building this small, and I didn’t photograph all of the columns either. I’d hesitate to put this building on your itinary of Los Angeles tiki sites though, because of the difficulty of getting inside. Sabu P.S. Bonus. Whaddya think, Smogbreather? Should we try to rent this sucker for the Tiki Bash? I think it would make a swell security vehicle. Sabu [ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2002-09-16 17:16 ] |
