Once upon a time—and by that I mean the late 1800s—downtown Los Angeles—in other words “Los Angeles” because that’s all there was—became dotted with magnificent homes. This particular one was known as the Rose mansion, named after J.L. Rose, whose 1,900 acre property in Pasadena became famous for its vineyards whose vines were imported from Spain, Italy and Peru. Rose’s enormous success made him a very wealthy man, hence his mansion on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and 4th Street. It cost $50,000 to build in 1888, which is when this photo was taken.

The mansion had fallen into disrepair by the 1930s and was gone in 1950s. These days, that corner no longer even exists. 4th Street is now an underpass. Here’s what it looks like nowadays. This image is from March 2021.