Giant Moai along Mulholland Drive, , CA (other)

Name:Mulholland Drive
Type:other
Street:
City:
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
SoccerTiki and I were taking a Sunday Drive along Mulholland Drive and came across this Giant Moai. Has anyone every seen this before or know any information about it?
This picture is the backside of the Giant Moai

[ Edited by: WooHooWahine 2007-09-03 19:51 ]

That would be this one :) :

He is in the elaborate backyard of a private home. A film business friend of mine new the guy who was renting the house, and the Moai had already been there. Somewhere I have a wider shot of the yard, the water from the Moai's mouth actually ran down a waterfall, under a bridge and into the pool. Unfortunately I have forgotten any additional info on that house, the slide is dated June '92, that was the very first year I started actively photographing examples of L.A. Tiki culture! Good to know the Moai is still there!

The backyards of Los Angeles must hide unimaginable Tiki treasures. I was just alerted to this house that just got sold in the Burbank hills:

Complete lava rock walls around, not only was the bedroom still fully decked out in bamboo and rattan and Tapa, all still in excellent condition, but the backyard and pool were lovingly landscaped.

Example of pool terrace wall

This amazing stone Tiki, undoubtedly from Mike Gildea's shop, was one of a couple of feather stone carvings still extant on the site. http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22886&forum=2&vpost=284481
In the background of the Tiki we see one of TWO waterfalls that emptied into the pool, note the dragon fins:

This one had a SEA SERPENT concept!:

No head, just the body of the serpent sculpted from lava rock ondulating down the terraced hillside. There are colored lights BEHIND the water fall (to the left and right of the body) to back-light it at night.

The price for this Tiki time capsule was of course way too outrageous to even think of ever owning it. NOT because of its Tikiness, which was downplayed by the realtors, but because L.A. homeprices are still ridiculously high.

The sad thing is there is no way of ascertaining what is still out there (and what gets destroyed by new owners), it is just a lucky number game to stumble across these havens. Well, at least this one was documented in time.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2007-09-07 09:30 ]

Thanks for the info Sven! Next time we locate another wayside tiki find we'll contact you first!

Now that is a cool bit of the Tiki culture!! It's so cool to see a question come up or an image where someone needs help finding info. and then someone (Sven) fills in the holes!
Awesome photos of the Moai and that home that sold in LA!

That waterfall and landscape is awesome and very original. Hard to say, not knowing the buyer, but it is more than likely that it will be destroyed. SO many people are re-doing the old places with all the character now. Well, maybe that yard will get lucky and someone will fix it up a little and restore it.
Imagine that place for pool parties!! Unreal!!

Wow....great pictures and nice history about an LA backyard. That pool sculpture reminds me of the Les Baxter Sacred Idol album cover. Looks much more intriguing than the new infinity edge pools. :)