Los Angeles' wildfires are taking down storied architectural gems

To live in Los Angeles is to be regularly reminded that much of what surrounds its residents is fleeting. That pertains, most essentially, to human life and the natural world, as the deadly fires have reminded people.

- Sam Lubell

But it also pertains to both the vital everyday structures and the cultural monuments that helped mark this place's stunning achievements, told its citizens' stories and embodied its startling confluence of talent, originality and freedom.

Several cherished landmarks, ranging from the city's early history to its experimental mid-century modern period to its contemporary era, have fallen victim to the deadly wildfires that have ravaged the region.

News arrived on Jan 8 of the loss of the historic ranch house that once belonged to beloved Hollywood cowboy and comedian Will Rogers, who in the 1920s bought many hectares in the foothills of the Pacific Palisades. This land, now a California State Park, is a place where you can hop on a trail and find a glowing, majestic overlook of the ocean in about 10 minutes.

Rogers' rustic clapboard home from 1926, with its wide porch and open courtyard standing on a slight rise, was like a walk into a rural time warp; a hybrid of authentic country life and LA-style enhancement.

There was the wagon wheel chandelier, the barn-like rafters, the heavy stone fireplace with a mounted prize longhorn head and endless western paraphernalia, including saddles, Navajo rugs and sepia family photos.

Rogers hosted entrepreneur Walt Disney here, along with actors Clark Gable and Charles Lindbergh.