5 ways to get inside architectural homes in Los Angeles

This incredible example of Arts and Craftsstyle architecture was designed by Pasadena architects Charles and Henry Greene in 1908. One-hour tours are available Thursday through Sunday, but a great way to get a quick glimpse is ‘Brown Bag Tuesday’, where you can lunch on the terrace and take a 20-minute docent-led tour.

The 18-acre grounds of the former Doheny Estate are now a park and open every day. The opulent mansion at its center, the former 55-room home of Edward ‘Ned’ Laurence Doheny (who was found shot dead in the house only five months after moving in) is open only for special events through the Friends of Greystone.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s first project in LA was a home built for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall and was completed in 1921. The center of the Barnsdall Art Park, the residence – named for Barnsdall’s favorite flower, a design motif incorporated into the house – is open for tours Thursday through Sunday.

Journalist Charles Fletcher Lummis, a fascinating character and the founder of the nearby Southwest Museum, built this handmade house with some help over the course of 12 years, moving in around 1896. The house, made of river rock from the nearby Arroyo Seco, and its grounds are open to the public on weekends.

Home of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, the Schindler House is open Wednesday through Sunday. Regarded as a masterpiece of modern architecture, the 1922 home was conceived by Rudolf Schindler and his wife, Pauline, as an experiment in communal living; it was the epicenter of social gatherings for many influential thinkers.