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Makeovers

Luxurious Rustic Canyon log cabin with wild past lists for $7.995M

Once home to Supreme Court justice Earl Warren, then Darryl Hannah, the log cabin was made over in 2012, but the architect and interior designer preserved furniture and other elements, including a mural and double Dutch front door.

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Once-neglected Palm Springs hacienda by Wallace Neff is now a knockout

The property—which holds 10 bedrooms and features a pool, guest house, and fruit orchard—had fallen into such a shabby state, locals referred to it as "Grey Gardens."

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Pretty, pedestrian-friendly upgrades are coming to Los Angeles Street

A stretch of Los Angeles Street between 7th and Olympic is getting some work done. The city’s bumping out the curbs, improving sidewalks, and adding more trees.

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Work starting soon to turn gay countercultural landmark in WeHo into boutique hotel

Work is set to begin on a major overhaul for the San Vicente Inn that will transform the remnant of West Hollywood’s wilder past into a more straight-laced (and upscale) boutique hotel.

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From 'nasty' to beautiful: the impact of turning a giant landfill into a park

The Puente Hills landfill-to-park conversion was just approved, and, in a new video, a neighbor says it's "a great opportunity for us to turn something that was so ugly and nasty to one that is beautiful."

Giant landfill with 500-foot tall trash hill might morph into a park

The Puente Hills Landfill has been closed since 2013, but lately there's been a push to transform it into a space that's useful: a park. The views from the top of the 500-foot-tall "trash hill" are said to be great.

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Recycled sewage is helping the grass grow at Cornfield Park

Opening the revamped Los Angeles State Historic Park hinges on having mature grass, so park officials have been trucking in at least 60,000 gallons of recycled water daily.

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Another LAX terminal gets a flashy makeover

Passengers flying with Alaska, Allegiant, Frontier, Horizon, and United will find a totally redone terminal with gleaming terrazzo floors and 21 new eateries and shops. The remodel cost $70.5 million.

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Fancy Proper hotel will open in Santa Monica

The 271-room hotel will be a combination of adaptive reuse and new construction in and around the Santa Monica Professional Building on Wilshire and Seventh. Construction is already underway with an opening set for late 2018 to early 2019.

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Tour a resurrected Schindler in Laurel Canyon

See how Pamela Shamshiri of Commune Design, which gave the Ace Hotel in Downtown its look, revived a Modernist gem.

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Cornfield Park not opening this year after all

The reopening of the under-renovation Los Angeles State Historic Park has been pushed back a number of times, so it's no surprise that it's being delayed once more. Now, the park is expected to open in January 2017. The holdup? Slow-growing grass.

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First look at Queen Mary makeover that will polish up its Art Deco glam

New renderings for the revamp of the 1930s ocean liner show polished Art Deco interiors. But spruced-up rooms are just the beginning. The reboot could put a live music club or a bar in the boiler room and bring more amenities.

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The awesome view from the roof of the Broadway Trade Center

Downtown's Broadway Trade Center is slated for a huge makeover that will fill its floors with a hotel, office space, and a food hall, but it's the roof—where there will be a public plaza, a restaurant, bars, and a pool—that might be the coolest part.

A new look at the big revamp coming to the soon-to-be former Ikea

Sure, we're losing the Ikea, but we're gaining a rehabbed mall with an open-air plaza with space for events like farmers markets. Plus, the biggest-ever-in-the-U.S. Ikea is under construction just down the road.

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LA Times complex in DTLA could give way to apartments

The pending sale of the Los Angeles Times complex in Downtown to Canadian developer Onni could lead to huge changes for the prominent complex and propel an equally big transformation of the neighborhood itself.

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Check Out New Airy, Open Look of 'The Bloc' in DTLA

The Bloc is an open-air reboot of the Macy's retail hub that was famous for being almost hermetically sealed off from the surrounding streets and sidewalks. Now it's on its way to becoming a hip hang-out spot.

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A dramatic makeover of downtown Pacific Palisades

The developer of The Grove won final approval to transform downtown Pacific Palisades into an outdoor shopping center with a park, renovated movie theater, and restaurants. Construction is imminent.

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Stylishly Revamped Ranch in Altadena

Sited on a 16,257-square-foot lot, this 1948 traditional has been transformed beyond recognition into a glamorous modern. Featuring three bedrooms, three baths, an updated kitchen, and a heated swimming pool, it's asking $1.45 million.

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Inside the $100M Overhaul at DTLA's Cecil Hotel

The mega-renovation of the once seamy Cecil will not only bring a boutiquey hotel to the building but also just over 300 micro units. The residential portion will include lots of shared amenities for the small apartments.

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Downtown's Nightmare Cecil Hotel to Be Gutted

The first stop on the road to becoming a fancier, hipper hotel/apartment building is going to be a total wipe of the interiors of the once nightmarish Cecil. Once the deep renovations are done, it's basically going to be a new building inside.

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Notoriously Creepy Cecil Hotel Now a Hot Commodity

The Cecil, known as a hideaway for murderers and the destitute, was purchased for $30 million in 2014, and has now been leased to a fancy New York developer who's planning hip rentals and hotel rooms.

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Former Midcentury Mod Looks Like a Fancy Rehab Now

"Expanded from the original" house, this one-time gem by Gregory Ain now looks like any other abode for a person with $17 million to blow, though it does have a lot of fun features (patios, a bonkers master suite) because that money buys nice things.

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Big Plans to Redevelop the Burbank Ikea Site

Once the Ikea moves to a new spot in Burbank, what will happen to its old site and the shopping center around it? Developers want to overhaul the property to add an open-air plaza, 40,000 square feet for "fresh retail tenants," and lots of housing.

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Here is the New Design For Hated Pershing Square

The Paris-based firm Agence Ter beat out three other finalists, winning the competition to redesign the unbeloved Pershing Square. The design will flatten out the park and include a huge, solar-powered, light-up canopy.

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Inside the Beautifully Restored Highland Park Bowl

The gleaming, freshly refurbished bowling alley was hidden under drop ceilings, false walls, and a lot of old trash and treasure. Using tons of vintage and original items from the space's past, the new proprietors revealed what's always been there.

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LA Cultural Institutions Undergoing Renovations

From theaters to museums to theme parks, take a look at some of the LA sites now getting updates. Some renovations are minor and some will be transformative, reinventing familiar LA landmarks for a new generation of visitors.

Renderings Revealed For New Rooftop Scene in DTLA

The Banco Popular building in Downtown's Historic Core is being converted into high-end apartments and will get a rooftop addition with a restaurant, pool, gym, and more.

Visiting the Sixth Street Bridge Mid-Demolition

After the bridge's February closure and a weekend-long shutdown of the 101 Freeway, the Sixth Street Viaduct's demolition has steadily continued. We checked in on the progress and got an up-close look at the concrete carnage.

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How LA Got a Pershing Square Everyone Hates

Pershing Square today is the result of a 1993 redesign that had careful nods to the rich history of Los Angeles, but was also too harsh, too shadeless, and eventually neglected. Now the city's on the verge of another complete makeover.

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New Look at Downtown Pac Pal's Grove-Style Makeover

Rick Caruso adds to his empire of malls that look like nostalgic Main Streets with Palisades Village in Pacific Palisades. He envisions turning the posh neighborhood's sleepy main drag into a fully Grovey retail heaven, as seen in new renderings.

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First Look at the Beverly Center's Huge Makeover

The much-hated behemoth of a mall is hoping to change its identity.

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Westside Pavilion Planning to Tear Down Its Walls

The aging mall is looking to rebrand itself with open walls and potentially a Whole Foods.

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