Theresa's Mixed Nuts: I Left My Heart at El Bordello Alexandra

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

I Left My Heart at El Bordello Alexandra

My cousin got married earlier this summer and decided to take his wife on an extended road trip of California. He was about a month ahead of us on his vacation plans, so I was pretty excited to follow along on his trip with him through his Facebook photos. It was cool seeing all of his stops because he stumbled across a few sites that I hadn't heard of before and ended up adding to our travel itinerary. When his new wife shared a photo of El Bordella Alexandra on Venice Beach, I said "That's it! If we don't do anything else on our trip to Venice Beach other than take a gander at this stunning house, I'll still have felt like the trip was a win." I have always been drawn to things others might find a bit odd, and El Bordella Alexandra was no exception. I told Jason that if we ever come across a large sum of money, we are going back to snap up this utterly fabulous dwelling.

El Bordello Alexandra

This seven-unit apartment was once a heroin den, but the new owners cleaned it up and put some pretty sweet goth touches to the building, and now it draws in a livelier crowd of renters ranging from musicians to singers to your standard American family.

El Bordello Alexandra

Located on a tiny side street right off of Venice Beach, it took us about 5 minutes of walking time to find it. I was seriously giddy with excitement as soon as I turned the corner and spotted the statues on top of the roof.

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra
El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

El Bordello Alexandra

So, yeah, it's a bit garish and kitschy and probably not everyone's cuppa tea, but for me it was love at first sight. I mean, I'd rather have this house on my block than say a huge RV blocking my street view or neighbors who don't ever clean up their yard. If I could get away with it, I'd seriously consider adding a few of these touches to our house too ;)


Do your neighbors have any interesting yard statues?


45 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Ours don't either, but we do have a historic neighborhood not too far from us where everyone has huge stone sculptures in their yard.

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  2. My neighbors should be turned into statues to get them to shut up in the middle of the night. That's one. And two, that one of the most appealing buildings I've ever seen. Of course, I'm a singer, poet and blogger artist so there's no surprise there lol.

    Excellent pics. Would love to have seen it for real.

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    1. You still having neighbor issues blue? Sorry to hear that :( Loud neighbors are the worst!

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    2. @Blue I can bet my rotten neighbors are way WORSE! I can empathize!

      Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly

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  3. sweet bejesus, that's the fugliest building I have evah seen! Don't they have laws their against ugliness? :)
    My granny used to have a glitzy crowned Snow-white and seven dwarves in her front yard, she was the queen of utter kitsch. Took us three months to get all her rubbish out of her house after she died. We haven't kept a single thing, that woman hoarded just plastic and trash

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    1. Dahlink, it's Venice Beach where half the town is covered in utter fugliness, so they aren't putting up any laws about such garishness. Wait til I show you some of the sites from the beach. It will probably make you think twice about Cali being glamourous lol.

      Where does one find one if those Snow White statues your granny had? I bet I would have loved it ;)

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    2. I think we have clay shops that make garden dwarves and such figurines mostly bought by bored grannies and peasants :)
      Down in the south of Serbia it is common to put clay swans in your garden and clay lions on your gates, they think it makes them look rich or something.

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    3. We have a historic neighborhood around the corner from us and most of the houses have those oversized clay lions. I do think they also think it makes them look fancy or rich or something.

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    4. Definitely can't wait to see more. I've never been to Cali.! I've heard about the trips though... the pleasant and the not-so-much. ;) The building is cool, but not sure I'd want it next to my house (re-sale value and all that good stuff, hahahahhaa).

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  4. Wow, it is hard to imagine that was once a heroine den. I think it is awesome - so unique. The goth kids must LOVE it. :)

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    1. It certainly is very eccentric and drew quite a crowd while we were there!

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  5. I've never seen a building with so many things on it. How cool! I love the bright, intense colors!

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  6. lmao that is one interesting building haha would guess it is right up your alley. No statues around here. No RVs either.

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    1. I figured it would be good to share during Halloween month ;)

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  7. oh my...look at all those details! Such a colorful place and just like you, I would have fallen in love in an instant! NYC is filled with many, although not as colorful as this one :), particularly in this Halloween month!

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    1. I bet there are all kinds of interesting treasures to stumble upon in NY!

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  8. None of my neighbors have anything interesting in their yards. In my neighborhood, we seem to mostly stick to window decorations.

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    1. My neighbors don't decorate at all. They are all almost elderly though, so I can't really see them messing with lawn ornaments.

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  9. El Bordello is a gorgeous place. One of my neighbors has a dog skeleton (store bought) set up in the yard for Halloween, but that's about as interesting as it gets around here.

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    1. I have a dog skeleton too, store bought as well :)

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  10. It looks scary to me. I was sitting here looking at the pictures and imagining what if one of those statues came alive? Yikes. But then, for the benefit of art, I think the building itself makes an interesting sight to see.

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    1. That sounds like the making for a horror movie lol

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  11. Wow, what a cool looking place that is. It is an art lovers dream :)

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  12. This would be like heaven for lovers of fine art, to have all those sculptures outside and on the roof. Definitely a stand out in any neighborhood.

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  13. This is really cool! I love to find interesting things like this when we are on the road. I would love to see this in person. I will have to keep it in mind for the next time I am in the area.

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    1. I also like to find odd things while we are traveling. Sure does keep things interesting!

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  14. It's really cool what they've done with this place. They've managed to find some pretty interesting statues to use!

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    1. I believe some came from Mexico, if I'm not mistake. Interesting, indeed!

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  15. That's such a cool place. I love all of the color, I would love to visit El Bordello Alexandra... lovely!

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  16. Living in Las Vegas, Venice Beach is only about four hours away and certainly holds a special place in my heart. With as quirky as it is, the El Bordella Alexandra fits right in!

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    1. You are so lucky to live so close to so many eccentric places! Nevada and Cali have all kinds of interesting finds!

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  17. That house was so cool, the statues were awesome and all so unique. I can see why you wrote a post about it and want to buy it.

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  18. So this building looks part "Carnival/Amusement Park Haunted House", part House of Blues, and is definitely 'loud/busy' - you are not going to say you passed by this building but didn't notice it!

    I thought former brother by the word bordelo, but had no idea it was a former heroine den. Sounds like the theme from last season's American Horror Story Television Show! :-)

    Tracy @ Ascending Butterfly

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  19. It's so weird and strange yet very interesting too haha.. I wonder how the renters decorate their homes inside!

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

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  20. It's a pretty cool and fun house! It's definitely captivating. I don't mind having a house like this in my neighborhood. It adds spunk and life, so why not!

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  21. That's an awesome house! I love how out of place it looks, it definitely stands out from the street. I wonder how it's like to stay there for a couple of days! It would be so much fun!

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  22. You know looking at that building it's got a good story! I would love to jump in and find out more.

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  23. What an awesome find! I'm sure it's a locals favorite. It looks like it has so much character.

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  24. Decorations here are moderated by the powers that be (condo living). I can't wait to be a home owner again. We can't even fly our Halloween flag, phft. ;)

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  25. I think it's pretty interesting! I can see why you like it.

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  26. No out of the ordinary statues on our street - only a few cute cat, kitten, or some other cute stones at the edge of the bushes.
    That is a very interesting house - not one I would personally want to own, unless it was a vacation apartment home away from home. That would be pretty sweet!!

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  27. LOL! What a delightful building. I keep telling my husband that I want to put a T-rex statue in the yard to counter all the gnomes and fairies in our neighborhood!

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