Denny’s Adventure’s in “Willis Wonderland” – part 2

Submitted by denny July 1st, 2010
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Here is part two folks. Sorry if I happened to repeats any pics in my postings but at least I can blame that on the excitement of reliving my trip to “Willis Wonderland”. Sit back, relax and enjoy a little bit of my adventures here… Welcome to the part 2 of my adventures in “Willis Wonderland”.

I was dying over this TV. Allee made that lamp behind the computer. I actually believe she made the shade out of some sort of pipe material. Crafty little thing she is!

Here you will see another fabulous “hut” (storage shed). Who says storage sheds cant be fabulous?

The room that made me swoon. I almost took a head dive down these stairs and it even has “watch your step” in the cement.

This is a familiar sign to all of us!

Amazing fish lounge chairs! I was so distracted by these I forgot to get info on them.

The old Riverside Market sign that welcomes you to “Willis Wonderland”.

20 Responses to “Denny’s Adventure’s in “Willis Wonderland” – part 2”

  1. Allee Willis

    The two fish lounge chairs were found on eBay. They’re fiberglass, original 1950’s, and came from Florida. They’re the best fiberglass lounge chairs I’ve ever seen.

    The Riverside market sign came off of the top of an historical landmark market that they went ahead and bulldozed anyway. I had an art studio in one of the unused rooms in the market owned by four brothers who inherited it from their parents only to lose it to unscrupulous businesspeople who bought the land and heaved the wrecking ball despite promising they wouldn’t. I videoed the brothers unscrewing the sign in 1989 and carrying it down by hand with only a minute left before they officially lost the market. They walked it to one their houses and sold it to me for $50 a few months later. It’s 16 feet long and the oldest piece of neon in the San Fernando Valley. It works perfectly and casts a pink glow over the already pink Willis Wonderland at night.

    I didn’t make the lamp, the body of which is a vintage 1950’s bowling pin with an inscription painted on it, but I did make the lampshade that’s poking out in back of the computer screen. It’s made from PVC pipe that I drilled holes into and used as drain pipes (lined with corrugated metal) all over my house. This was an extra piece and I thought it would make a wonderful lampshade.

  4. Douglas Wood

    I just happened to see on PBS a documentary about famous places in L.A. that are no longer. They did a segment on the Riverside Market which I had never heard of, having moved to L.A. in 1985. It sounded like such a cool place, where one could run into someone like Bette Davis buying a loaf of bread at 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. So cool that you have the sign! And I can’t believe you only paid $50.00 for it!

    I also love the fish lounge chairs, and kudos to Denny for selecting the perfect angle and complementary shadows for the other-worldly effect of the photo.

    • Allee Willis

      I don’t know about that documentary. Would kill to see it. If you ever come across it again or think of the title let me know.

      The Riverside Market was on the corner of Laurel Canyon and Riverside, right across the street from the Gelson’s that’s still there. Gelson’s, built in 1960, was redesigned in the late 90s. I got thirteen 12 foot high Atomic metal panels, each weighing 800 pounds, when that happened. They only charged me $60 if I would just haul them away. Three of them are up in my backyard and the other 10 are stored away. You can see a shot of them, albeit from faraway, in Denny’s post, “Denny‚Äôs Adventure‚Äôs In ‚ÄúWillis Wonderland‚Äù ‚Äì part 3”. It’s the fourth photo down. What you can’t see is the incredible detail on them as each panel is filled with 4 inch round sections of pipe welded to each other so when you look at it all you see are hundreds of circles. https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2010/07/02/dennys-adventures-in-willis-wonderland-part-3/

  5. denny

    Glad you enjoyed Doug! Those fish lounge chairs are so amazing.

  6. Michael Ely

    The colors just kill me. In fact, last night I had a dream I lived in a house painted in the same colors.

    Great photos!

  7. Douglas Wood

    The show is called, “Things That Aren’t Here Anymore” and apparently there are several in the KCET series. But the bad news is, I “misremembered” (to quote W, our doofus ex-President). It wasn’t the Riverside Market, but the Hollywood Ranch Market on Vine.

    • Allee Willis

      Ohhhh, then I actually may have seen it. I really miss the Hollywood Ranch Market. That place was a trip. I used to sneak in there and shoot videos all the time.

      • Mark Blackwell

        yes they just recently premiered part three of the ‚Äúthings that aren‚Äôt here anymore‚Äù series, and in addition to the hollywood ranch market, this one had a lot of music-related stuff in it – the starwood, rodney’s english disco, etc…

        here’s the segment on the hollywood ranch market:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXWj0t-Dbrc

        • denny

          Mark, this is the Hollywood that I am absolutely in love with! Can you imagine bumping into Lucille Ball in the veggie isle or Joan Crawford in the snack isle? I mean really, makes me cringe when I think that this place is long gone.

          • Mark Blackwell

            i know! everything seems to get torn down…

  8. denny

    RODNEY’S ENGLISH DISCO? What on earth is that? Sounds amazing! Oh, there’s the link! Thanks Mark!

      • Allee Willis

        Denny, in addition to being an institutional punk DJ on KROQ, Rodney was one of Debbie Harry’s best friends. When she came over to do the “French Kissin'” video that’s came with her.

  9. denny

    Oh geezus. I’m kneeling near that wall the next time I am there.

    • Mark Blackwell

      yes, out of the ten million things i was incredibly excited to discover when i first visited allee’s place, that wall from the debbie harry video was well up towards the top!

  10. denny

    Yes Mark, for sure! I am a huge fan of Debbie’s music and this wall quickly took on an almost “religious rock feel” when I was introduced to it. You have to remember then, I was rubber necking like crazy when I first arrived. That wall is pop/art history!