By
Marty McFly -
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
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1
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| Top image (after) taken in November 2014, bottom image (before) in 2003 courtesy LAOkay.com |
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| Famous comedian George Carlin visited this dealership sometime in the early 70's. I only wish it was showing the building. Image courtesy Pontiacsonline.com |
I somehow missed this but the former Livingston Motor Car Company dealership in Woodland Hills which is now the Keyes Buick GMC Cadillac Dealership was demolished sometime in late 2013/early 2014 and rebuilt with a new building located at 6133 Topanga Cyn Blvd. The unfortunate story here is the fact that the previous building was designed by famous African-American architect
Paul Williams who is best known for designing the LAX Theme building in addition to numerous homes and buildings in LA and the SFV which I will talk about later.
There are only two other websites that claim Paul Williams designed this building which is
LAOkay.com and
Pacific Coast Architecture Database which I am wondering if both sources are crediting a book but the
Paul Williams Project site doesnt make any mention of this building. I also believe the next door Keyes Honda dealership was a similar Paul Williams designed building but I cannot confirm and that building was also demolished a long time ago. At any rate, its gone forever.
For the Paul Williams and architecture fans, fortunately there are some examples of his work still remaining in original condition listed below:
- Dr. A.E. Abdun-Nur residence in Tarzana
- Craig Residence in West Hills
- Oakridge Estate last owned by Jack Oakie but originally built for Barbara Stanwyck
- A Toluca Lake Residence originally owned by Tex Ritter and last owned by Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli
- There are possibly others especially in the more affluent areas in particular Chatsworth, Toluca Lake, and Encino but not sure.
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| Building already demolished while construction begins in February 2014. |
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| Nearby Keyes Honda which may have previously been a Williams building but not sure. |
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| Google Street View from April 2012 |
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| Google Street View from July 2007 |
Additional pictures taken in March 2013 of awesome vehicles like the Batmobile and other exotics with the dealership in the background can be found at
- Batmobile,
- 1971 Pontiac LeMans GTO Wagon
- Mosler MT900S
- Custom Hotrod
- Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4
- Ferrari F355 Spider
You can view more SFV Architecture and R.E.
here.
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Marty Mcfly
Anything and everything about the San Fernando Valley. This blog will take you back in time when the valley was covered with dirt and orange groves to a leader in the space race to its current status as America's suburb. Come along and join me on this adventure, I guarantee you have been influenced/impacted by the San Fernando Valley in one form or another even if you have never visited or heard of the SFV.
I wanted to thank you for this great read!! I definitely enjoying every little bit of it I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
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