The Japanese Garden of Santa Monica were a popular tourist destination in the early part of the 20th century. It was built by a German named Adolph Bernheimer. While it was a showplace of both horticultural and design proir to World War II, the Japanese Garden built by the German guy was not so popular during the war, and various reports of vandalism and theft were reported before Adolf himself - the owner not the Hitler - kicked off in 1944.

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The property's valuables were eventually auctioned, but most of it still sits open today, 60 years later, overlooking the Bay Club at the north end of the Santa Monica strand. Walking around the property doesn't seem to violate any signage, and with a bit of imagination, it's not difficult to see where all of these pictures were originally taken. Here's the big tip: the house on the hill was on Sunset Blvd, above it actually, on a hilltop which has been graded and replaced by the apartment building on the west side of the Marqueses St. stub now extending south of Sunset Boulevard.

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Image-Archeology