Flights of Fancy: The Stairway Homes of Echo Park Tour November 11, 2007

Take a step back into Los Angeles’ past by exploring some of the city’s unique and little-known network of public stairways that will be featured during the 2007 Historic Echo Park Home Tour.

"Flights of Fancy: The Stairway Homes of Echo Park," will highlight homes located on or near the public stairways that scale the hills of Echo Park, Angelino Heights and Elysian Heights. Find out what “stairway living” is all about by taking the tour on Sunday, Nov. 11 from 11 am to 4 pm. General admission is $20.

The eight properties on this year's tour range from a 1920s era Spanish-Colonial compound overlooking Echo Park Lake to a cluster of nearly century old Craftsman bungalows in this hills of Elysian Heights. For the first time, the tour features a newly constructed structure, a post-and-beam style house that is one of the few homes to be built on an Echo Park stairway in decades.

The public stairways that scale Echo Park’s sometimes ridiculously steep hills are relics of the days before the automobile began to dominate the landscape and culture of Los Angeles. They reflect a time when most residents traveled either by horse and carriage, trolley or (gasp) on foot. Watch the video.

Now in its fifth year, the Historic Echo Park Home Tour is designed to generate interest in the preservation of old and historic homes as well as raise funds to support our ongoing preservation and historic research programs.

The self-guided tour starts at Williams Hall, 2000 Stadium Way. Tour visitors will pick up tickets, a program and map at Williams Hall and can then see the homes in any order they want.

For more information about the tour, headed by Holly Hampton, please visit HistoricEchoPark.org. More maps and information on Echo Park Stairways is available in the History & Landmarks section of HistoricEchoPark.org.

A Note on Access

The nature of this year’s tour will make access extremely difficult for people with physical disabilities. In addition to being located on public stairways, some of homes also have multiple steps and stairways. Also, because of restricted parking and our narrow streets, some of the homes will be located about 1-/1/2 blocks or more from the nearest available parking space.

Official Website: http://HistoricEchoPark.org