Places Edited by Sandi Hemmerlein

Historic house-museum dedicated to the revolutionary gay graphic artist Tom of Finland.

The Mighty Wurlitzer organ continues to belt out the tunes at downtown El Segundo's historic home for silent and classic movies.

There are lots of hands and feet stamped in the cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, but Mel left behind something extra.

Manhattan’s Battery Park has a whimsical carousel full of spinning, glowing fish.

From Japan to Italy, this California park explores the world's cultures through their gardens.

Somewhere between an art studio and a print shop, this artists storefront is a house of worship devoted to type.

The art and history of the velvet painting are on full display in this Los Angeles museum.

This Taoist temple is the oldest continuously used Chinese temple in California.

This graveyard is the eternal home of the residents of a vanished California town.

Once a place of peaceful repose, this sanitarium now faces an uncertain future.

What began with a single, 357-pound chunk of the Canyon Diablo meteorite grew to be an impressive collection. 

This hilltop park offers magnificent views and a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece.

Explore an early California pioneer's rancho hidden in LA's manufacturing hinterland.

This old mining town, deep in the California desert, has a year-round population of one.

A small sculpture garden that provides a microcosmic representation of California.

It should come as no surprise that the world's largest artichoke lies in the town that calls itself the "Artichoke Center of the World."

In terms of history and architecture, this is one of the most remarkable cemeteries in the world.

The remnants of a failed socialist commune can still be found just off a California highway.

Costumed elves and mountain bikers co-exist peacefully at this abandoned Christmas-themed adventure park.

Graffiti, cars, and religion combine to create this jungle of scrap in the Nevada desert.

A desert ghost town—occupied for only 12 years—was once home to more than 500 silver mines.

This massive redwood tree has a hole in the base big enough to drive through.

Swarms of butterflies cannot compare to the awe inspired by the publicly-funded nakedness once displayed in this sunken garden.

This concrete ship has had four careers - World War I tanker, floating amusement park, fishing pier, and artificial reef.