So, the Echo Park Historical Society features architectural photographer Maynard Parker in its newsletter, and then what does the Huntington do several months later? Feature Maynard Parker in their newsletter. Don’t ask who slipped me a copy of Huntington Frontiers, I’ll never tell. Once upon a time, Parker lived at 1600 Lucretia at the top of the Delta steps, and later he lived on Lemoyne near the water tower. Did the longtime Echo Park denizen ever dream of the hipsters and the immigrants who would dwell and pass the time on the hill below his house? Did he have any idea that a home he built from a doubled-up Sears garage kit one day would be featured in the EPHS home tour?* Or that his Lucretia bungalow would disappear in an act of banditry? There's no way of knowing -- unless you have a phone line to the afterlife, because, lovely as they are, the photos aren't telling.

The Huntington's short (and well-written) article, written by Daniel P. Gregory, Ph.D, is concerned with Parker’s photography, not the places he called his own home.

As Gregory explains:

The American public first glimpsed the romance, practicality, innovation and easy indoor-outdoor flow of Cliff May's ranch house designs through Maynard L. Parker's glossy, evocative, and highly informative photographs of May's own house at Riviera Ranch in Brentwood, Calif. ... May's houses were novel in the way they combined history with modernity, and Parker captured that duality perfectly.

So, bringing it on. A dueling quote from the EPHS newsletter, in which Parker's daughter is quoted:

"[Parker] enjoyed making a room look better than it was," recalled his daughter, Ann Carawan. "By the time he had lighted (a room) for a photo, rearranged the photos and tweaked everything a little bit, the house looked like a million dollars."

Are there any ranch houses in Echo Park? I haven't noticed any. Different kind of vibe.

The Huntington photo archives house approximately 65,000 of Parker's images -- mostly negatives and transparencies.

The Echo Park home tour will take place this Sunday. Click here for more info.