Mobile architecture

A 1941 Richard Neutra house was recently moved from Brentwood to Angelino Heights. Photographer Brian Thomas Jones has a slide show up at LATimes.com. Though it's rarely seen now now, moving houses at night used to be relatively common in Los Angeles. As Wilshire Boulevard evolved from mansions to hotels and commercial buildings, for instance, several of the grand old homes were rolled to new locations. A gorgeous 1909 Greene and Greene built by neon-sign pioneer Earle C. Anthony — who also drove the first automobile through L.A. streets — was moved in 1923 from Wilshire and Berendo to Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills. That's where it remains. The same year, the beautiful Colonial Revival Higgins mansion at 637 S. Lucerne Boulevard in Windsor Square was cut into three pieces and rolled west from Wilshire and Rampart, while the owners partied in one of the sections in transit. That home was designed by John Austin, the architect who later designed Shrine Auditorium, Griffith Observatory and was part of the City Hall team.