Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Paul Landacre Cabin & Grounds, Historic Landmark*

Photo: Andrew Sears, 2005.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

 

In 2005, the City declared Paul Landacre's Cabin and grounds, at 2006 El Moran, a Cultural Historic Landmark. Landacre's work was influenced by and often depicted the neighborhood in his work.

 

Paul Landacre wrote about his life in the Echo Park hills in 1958, not so different from those who live in the Semi-Tropic Spiritualists' Tract today:

"You see, art is practiced here along with various other concerns -
pruning trees, repairing the roof, watching and feeding wildlife and so
on. Of course, other artists live on wooded hillsides, too, and so do
other people, and it must be conceded that to some of us this kind of
environment is not only valuable, but absolutely necessary - a degree of
seclusion, the life of growing things, awareness that we are a part of
nature."

Photo: Andrew Sears, 2005.

 

Landacre carved a petrel, his signature bird into the roof vents on each side of his house. He used the petrel as his trademark on his work, often in place of his signature.

Landacre struggled with physical disabilities most of his life. He identified with the petrel since they learn to fly by jumping off a cliff; falling into the raging sea; hurling themselves off the peaks of waves until they learn to fly. They crash into the rocks and waves, beat up, but they learn to fly.

*This post was originally published November 7, 2007, on our short-lived sister blog, Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract.  In an effort to connect neighbors across the 2 Freeway in our shared issues & development battles, we folded the Semi Tropic blog into the Corralitas Red Car Property Blog in 2009.