IE MARU, Orange, CA (other)

Name:IE MARU
Type:other
Street:1855 E. Rose Street
City:Orange
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
I picked up an interesting postcard from a rental housing complex that was completely Tikified. Not sure about the name IE MARU.

Looks like there were at least three of the houses lined up.

Wonder what's there now?

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-05-25 16:46 ]

On 2011-05-14 18:11, Dustycajun wrote:

Wonder what's there now?

Nothing. :lol:

Looks like they are now the Pinewoood Villas.

Doesn't look or sound promising but I'll still go and take a peek.

Wow, that screen capture seems to be the exact same angle the postcard was taken at... just further back. It's also kind of amusing that the main tree I see in the foreground of the postcard is the pine tree branch. I guess changing the name to Pinewood Villas was an easy transition!

I did some better scans of the postcard. The main building in the photo is obviously the rec room by the pool. It looks like there were a few carved Tiki poles along the railing that went from the deck over the bridge to the pool.

It also looks like a black velvet type painting with a Hawaiian theme in the living room.

All of the houses in the complex were trimmed with the outrigger beams on the roofs.

Here is an aerial of the complex, it must have been quite a sight to see all of these houses together decked out with the Tiki finishes.

Somebody has to have some photos of this place somewhere.

DC

DC - I was able to find one news photo for you from 1962, the year it opened:

So it looks like the complex was named after a Japanese tea house. However, I'm not sure how authentically Japanese that tea-house is, no matter what the news story says, based on both your postcard and the news photo. Sure looks like some Poly-pop architecture thrown in. And those buildings in the background of your postcard are definitely Polynesian.

Sabu,

Thanks for the newspaper story, the magic research thingy is still working I see!

I agree with you, the IE Maru clubhouse way more Poly Pop style than Japanese Tea House in the postcard shot!

Maybe it grew some palm frond fur after it was built.

Now the Erawan Garden Hotel would be more along the lines of Japanese Tea house style with a Poly Pop twist.

DC

WHOSE gonna go there and check for signs of the past? :)

I found these photos on the OC Archives website of two Tikis at mystery Orange County location.

Given the look of the roof design, the outrigger beam, and the wood fence, I would say these came from the IE Maru complex.

DC

DC, that type of Japanese a-frame gable was quite common in Orange county suburbs in the midcentury. We believe this photo to be from the Hanakiki Garden Apartments:

http://ochistorical.blogspot.com/search?q=Tiki

http://tikiarchitecture.blogspot.com/2012/01/mystery-tikis-hana-kiki-apartments.html

I went and checked it out a couple of years ago. That place should be called "Quiet Village" apartments: Though completely de-tikified, is is set back from the street at the end of a little cul-de-sac, and the intact A-frame gabled bungalows are sunken in lush foliage and shady trees, it is a real island in the suburban sea.

Bigbro,

Leave it to Zulu Magoo to solve the mystery! Thanks for the clarification.

DC