Was "Citizen Kane" Born Here?

I came upon the Green Spot Motel in Victorville, California when my wife, in a weak moment, indulged my obsession with driving old Route 66 bit by bit, and agreed to head east from Los Angeles into the Mojave desert.  We had driven a good stretch of the old highway in Texas and New Mexico, but had seen no more of it in California than Santa Monica Boulevard, which hardly seems to count.  We were in LA for a week and I wanted to see the "real thing"...the old part of Route 66 that had not been swallowed up by that great city.

 

When we drove into Victorville, the Green Spot motel caught my eye right away.  This was the kind of place I was looking for!  It appeared to be a true remnant of the heyday of Route 66.  A little research confirmed the motel was built in 1937 (or thereabouts) by John Roy to capitalize on the highway's tourist trade.  The Green Spot thrived into the 1950s until the Freeway bypassed Victorville in 1959. 

 

 

It is in sad shape today.  But there is real history here.  The Route 66 Encyclopedia cites Hollywood legend that the first draft of "Citizen Kane" was written here.  Orson Welles had banished writers John Houseman and Herman J. Mankiewicz to Victorville to shield them from Hollywood distractions.  This old post card shows what a different place the Green Spot motel was in those days.

 

 

Here's another post card advertising the motel as "Southern California's finest auto court-- truly deluxe."  There you have it. 

 

 

With "running ice water" in each of the 21 units, air conditioning by Frigidaire, and, in later years, a pool in the courtyard, this must truly have seemed an oasis in the desert.

 

Just across the street, the Green Spot Cafe was a good place for a meal.  There were plenty of customers as the bus station was right next door.

Today, the swimming pool is filled in and covered up, the cafe is long gone, and the Green Spot is not quite as inviting as it once was.

 

The Green Spot now appears to be the kind of place that rents by the hour. What do you think?  Should we check in for the night?  The office is open.

 

 

We have to approach places like the Green Point motel with a little (or maybe a lot of) imagination if we want to recapture the vibe of the glory days of Route 66.

 

 

There are Green Spot motels in every town that was ever bypassed by an interstate.  Many have been torn down; others hang on somehow, waiting for what?  Someone to infuse them with money and bring them back?  It can happen.  Some of the old motels on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami that became crack-houses, centers for prostitution, and flop houses in the latter decades of the 20th century are actually receiving face-lifts and becoming what the investors like to call "boutique" properties.

 

 

Could it happen at the Green Spot motel?  I would never say never.  After all, how many motels can claim a spot on the timeline of "Citizen Kane" as a selling point? 





A Country Church in the City

I drive by this beautiful historic church every day on the way to work.  It always strikes a chord with me and makes me feel, for just a moment, as if I've been transported to a scenic setting in rural Georgia.  Actually, Sardis United Methodist Church is in the heart of the Buckhead section of Atlanta.    

This lovely church has been used in movie and television shoots.  A scene in the recent cable remake of Steel Magnolias was set here.

There's a bell tower, but no steeple.

This historic marker tells the story of the congregation which dates to the 1830's.

Historic Sardis Cemetery next to the church was established in 1869.

In this view you get a better idea of the setting.  Some of the highrises near Lenox Square in Buckhead are visible in the distance.

Sardis United Methodist Church is located on Powers Ferry Road near the intersection of Roswell Road in Buckhead.

"Gone With the Wind" Burned Here

The Della-Manta Apartments (now the One South Prado condominiums) in Atlanta's historic Ansley Park neighborhood were designed by celebrated Atlanta architect Neel Reed and constructed in 1920.  This vintage apartment house was the home of "Gone With The Wind" author Margaret Mitchell from 1939 until her death in 1949. 

There are two buildings, the main building and an annex, and several entrances.  The Della-Manta or One South Prado contains 22 apartments, most 2 bedroom, 2 bath, but some larger.

The building is stately and traditional with few decorations.

This is the entrance on the Piedmont Avenue side of the building.

The building's original name remains visible above the entrance.

A realtor who was leaving the building as I shot these pictures told me this first floor 3-bedroom unit is the apartment Margaret Mitchell lived in.  I wonder if every unit that comes up for sale is marketed with the line "Margaret Mitchell lived here."

The apartment the realtor pointed out to me wraps around the building with multiple exposures.

Whether that really is the apartment where Mitchell lived, there's no question she made her home in this historic building for ten years.  A plaque on the building tells the story.  Her secretary and the building custodian burned the manuscript for "Gone With The Wind" in the boiler room after a car hit and killed Mitchell on Peachtree Street in 1939.  She and her husband were on the way to a movie.

This entrance on the South Prado side leads to the annex building which originally contained servants' quarters. 

Elsewhere in the building, many styles of windows enhance the appearance of this classic apartment house.

Atlanta's hilly topography is on full display here.  The building is perched on a ridge above the road.  Be prepared to walk up a flight of stairs, no matter which entrance you choose.

The building is located in midtown Atlanta within walking distance of many interesting places.

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Piedmont Park are right across Piedmont Avenue.

Architect Neel Reid was considered Atlanta's premier residential architect for many years; there was (and is) prestige in owning a Reid-designed home.  He died at the young age of 41, but left a legacy with memorable homes and buildings such as the Della-Manta Apartments.

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

An Art Moderne Exception

I call this apartment house an exception because an Art Moderne building in a neighborhood packed with Mediterranean Revivals is exactly that.  2951 Lydia Street is also very striking.  This type of architecture was common in the 1930s and '40s. My guess is that this eight apartment building at the corner of Lydia Street and Willow Branch Avenue in Jacksonville's historic Riverside dates to the 1940s.

Many of the common elements of Art Moderne buildings show up here.  Glass blocks frame the entrance doors.

Glass block can be found elsewhere on the facade along with horizontal grooves, another hallmark of the style.

The round port-hole windows on the Lydia Street side of the building are absent on the Willow Branch Avenue elevation. 

Another Art Moderne feature: windows that wrap around the corners.  The originals were almost certainly metal casement windows, which have a cleaner, crisper appearance.  However, the replacement windows are an indication that the building is well cared for. 

The Willow Branch Avenue side of the apartment house is asymmetrical, and, as noted above, does not feature the round windows. 

It does have this, tucked away in the corner...

A rounded balcony and planter sets off the right angle turn in the building.

A wrought-iron railing follows the curve of the balcony.  You can see the door with jalousie windows that leads to one of the apartments.  These windows were popular in Florida in the 1940s and '50s.

I found some interior shots of the building in a recent on-line advertisement for apartments for rent.  It appears the kitchens have the original cabinetry.  The eight apartments are two-bedroom units.

 

In this view of a bathroom you can see the porthole window.

I found it difficult to get a picture that shows the entire building to its full advantage on the corner of Lydia and Willow Branch Avenue.  A big oak tree puts most of the side on the right in shadows.  A more skilled photographer could figure this out.  But you get the idea.

The building is in a nice location.  Willow Branch Park is across the street.  The King Street shopping district is just a few blocks away and the St. Johns River is an easy walk.

There are a few Art Moderne buildings in the Riverside and Avondale historic districts, but they are vastly outnumbered by the more common Mediterranean Revivals and more traditional turn of the century buildings.  They stand out for this reason, and by their own virtues.

The Charron

Here's a nice building that makes me happy enough to go around the block to take another look.  It's the Charron, a Mediterranean Revival style building that likely dates from the 1920's.

The name is visible over the entrance as you approach the building in the historic Riverside neighborhood.   The Charron, 2016-18 Herschel Street, Jacksonville, Florida.

This little building has simple, but elegant features...

...and an eye-catching lion's head centered over its name.

There are four one-bedroom apartments, each 900 square feet.  The building was renovated in 2003.  According to the owner, the apartments feature vintage elements such as original hardwood floors and unique built-in banquettes in the kitchen with under seat storage.  Here's a peak inside the front door.

The building is not heavily decorated.  There is brick trim around the windows...

Up top, a shaped parapet sets off the front of the building.

Here's another vintage feature that is seen in many similar buildings in the neighborhood-- window boxes.  As you can see from the Poinsettias, the building was decorated for Christmas when I took this picture last year.

Each of the units has a garage in the back of the building.  There is also a garage apartment.



Some of the simplest buildings are the most pleasing.  This one definitely works for me.

 

 



The Charron is just around the corner from the center of the 5-Points shopping district and may stores and restaurants.  Memorial Park and the St. Johns River are a pleasant two-block walk away.