Sunday, February 6, 2011

Phineas Banning Residence

After all these years of living in Palos Verdes, we finally took a tour of the Banning Residence which is about 5 miles away from us. The building is considered the finest exisitng example of residental Greek Revival architecture in Southern California. (The grounds are being renovated, and an unsightly fence got in the way of showing the whole building.) Banning contributed a lot to development of the LA basin, from seting in motion the creation of Port of Los Angeles, and opening stage coach routes, to (along with other entrepeneurs) creating a railway connection from Los Angeles to San Pedro From the upper deck of the 24-room house, Banning was able to see the Pacific Ocean, ranch lands, and the LA river. Below is a photo of the back stairway (which was taken before I was told that photography is not allowed inside.)

11 comments:

Pat said...

Darn, too bad you couldn't take photos inside, but I get the idea. What a gorgeous place.

brattcat said...

So glad you got that one shot in before the ban. Mr. Brattcat and I have been wallpaper shopping and this shot is so helpful. If this is the back stairway, I can only imagine the grandness of the front one.

Cezar and Léia said...

It's a very charming house!
Beautiful pictures and details!
Léia

Wanda said...

So glad you got that one shot... hard to tell fromt the outside.

Wow, that is an ornate wall by the staircase.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thanks, Tash. I love the historical posts. Is he the guy Banning, CA was named for?

Jack said...

I am surprised there are ANY Greek Revival buildings left in California. Interesting.

Anonymous said...

Ok, I'll look him up. I'm wondering if he had any connection to the Southern Pacific Railway.

These guys fascinate me.

WV: Curiest. I wonder an am most curiest.

Pasadena Adjacent said...

I did research at this place for a public art project. Whoever was running it then was really tedious. I take it things haven't changed. Although it was here that I was introduced to my first example of hair art. Women would use their own hair and crochet these amazing frames and such. Gorgeous and creepy.

TheChieftess said...

Wow!!! Didn't know about this house!!! Looks like an interesting place to visit! Love the curiosity that this has promoted!!!

Jack said...

Come on back, Tash. All is forgiven.

jennyfreckles said...

I'd love to explore there - it looks a most gracious old house.