In this photo, we’re looking east along Wilshire Blvd from Westmoreland Ave in 1928, when it seems there was plenty of room for all the motorists heading into downtown Los Angeles. What makes this photo memorable is that the home on the right with the line of trees out front would soon be razed to make way for the Bullocks Wilshire department store, which opened in September 1929. At this time, Wilshire was lined with grand homes, so that house was probably quite lovely, but in its place, L.A. acquired an instant architectural icon that’s still with us today.

Susan M. says: “I remember stately homes along Wilshire in the early 30s. People thought we lived in the country being as we were above Sunset out in Beverly Hills and had stables, chickens, an orchard and large veggie garden. Both the Wilshire corridor and land above Sunset out our way and beyond out in Brentwood, began to change really fast in the 30s, despite the Depression. The real building boom in our area came in ’38-’40. The Hills became fashionable vs living in the flats. Wilshire became mostly commercial when I was a kid. I remember shopping at Bullocks Wilshire in the early 30s. Lunch with a Tues fashion show, the “by appointment” dept and the fur salon were my fav things about Bullocks. And oh yes, walking on the floors with tiles in my patent leather shoes with the taps on their soles!”

Roughly the same view in March 2021: