These days, Westwood Village is a little hemmed in by large buildings, but when this photo was taken, it was all open spaces, wide boulevards, and plenty of places to park. This view has us looking north up Westwood Blvd from Wilshire back in 1932, just three years after UCLA had relocated from Vermont Ave to a large plot of land to the right of this view. But even back then, Westwood had a number of striking towers. I count four in this shot alone. Or five if you include the white Janss Dome in the center. It was Westwood’s first building, which went up in 1929.
This is a recent satellite photo showing the building with the wide turret in the vintage photo is still there but is now dwarfed by modern skyscrapers.
The UCLA campus is really more towards the middle background of this photo. Westwood Blvd makes an oblique turn at the Janss Dome (maybe 45 degrees?) and continues directly through the center of campus. This is so cool to see. My grandmother took my sisters and me to get pictures taken with Santa Claus in WV at the Bullock’s a little over 20 years after this picture was taken.
It’s mind-boggling to see three vehicles at the intersection of Westwood and Wilshire. I can’t tell if there’s even a traffic signal or not!
Not that I can see!