A 6-Point Route For the Curious Venice Runner
On the Run: Los Angeles

The run begins at Venice Boulevard, just northwest of four short canals that connect to the long Grand Canal running to the Pacific. They’re all that remains of the original canals dug by city founder Abbot Kinney, who envisioned residents traveling by boat or gondola, like in Venice, Italy. But with the rise of the automobile, the city government considered the canals obstacles to “progress,” and a long legal fight eventually ended with most of the canals being filled in 1929. The remaining ones fell into disrepair for decades until their renovation in 1991. These days, the canal gates open only twice a week in conjunction with ocean tides to keep the water fresh, which means the water level could be quite low when you visit. Even though they’re the most famous novelty in a city full of quirks, the canals are the strongest link to Venice’s founding.

Cross Venice Boulevard, take a left on Mildred toward Pacific Avenue and down 18th Place toward the beach, and you’ll encounter one of the many murals painted in Venice by local artist Rip Cronk. It depicts one of the city’s most notorious legends, Jim Morrison, the iconic frontman of seminal ‘60s band the Doors. Not far from the mural, Morrison and Ray Manzarek famously started the Doors on the beach in July 1965. Before that, Morrison slept on a nearby roof and wrote the poetry that would become his earliest lyrics. Morrison landmarks dot the city—various places he lived, the band’s rehearsal space, the site of their first show—though this particular building counts among them only because of the mural. But it’s fitting that, from here, Morrison looks out over the beaches he roamed.

Follow Morrison’s gaze down the beach to the heart of the Venice Beach Boardwalk to what look like restrooms and a police substation. OK, they are those things, but only in Venice Beach would the exterior walls be inscribed with verses from local poets. The Venice Beach Poet’s Monument begins here but stretches across four locations along the beach, featuring words by Jim Morrison, Charles Bukowski, Exene Cervenka (of the iconic LA punk band X), Manazar Gamboa, Linda Albertano, Philomene Long, Viggo Mortensen, Tony Scibella, and many others. Also only in Venice: When the monument debuted in January 2001, local chainsaw juggler “Mad Chad” Taylor cut a red wooden ribbon with one of his signature tools.

Proceed up the boardwalk a bit further, and make a right on Westminster Avenue. One block from the beach is a house that goes by El Bordello Alexandra, and you’ll know it when you see it. To describe it as “garish” is to understate things. On the roof loom hulking sculptures, gargoyles lurk everywhere, black and gold wrought iron wraps around the property and windows, a stone sculpture of a Roman soldier rocks a silver tiara—it goes on and on. As unhinged as it seems, El Bordello Alexandra is an otherwise simple seven-unit apartment building, albeit one catering to the creative people who keep Venice weird. The building dates back to 1906, and owners Tony Wells and Brittany Stevenson claim it served as a bordello at one point. When the duo renovated the building, they went wild decorating and have never stopped. With no guiding theme, it’s creativity for creativity’s sake. The Venice way.

Continue up Westminster and make a left on Main Street—which was once Coral Canal—up to a peculiar work by a superstar architect. Frank Gehry, who lives in neighboring Santa Monica, has designed numerous whimsical, iconic buildings like the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown LA, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and many more. He also created a building with a giant pair of binoculars you drive through to park your car. To be fair, the binoculars are the work of artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen—known for their giant sculptures of everyday objects—but the rest of the building is pure Gehry. Its three different facades make it look like separate buildings with a giant pair of binoculars at the center. Originally the West Coast HQ of the TBWA\Chiat\Day advertising agency, the building’s latest tenant suits those giant binoculars: Google.

After a long stretch northwest up Main Street, a right on Colorado, a left on Fifth Street, a right on California, and another long stretch, you’ll end up at California Avenue and 26th Street. Like El Bordello Alexandra before it, you can’t miss Farnam House. Although it officially lies in Santa Monica, the intricate mosaics that cover the entire place make it an honorary Venice landmark. Owners Aziz and Louise Farnam are originally from Iran, where similarly complex mosaics can be found in mosques and other important places, but their decision to decorate their house like that is a fairly recent one. It started around 2001 with a retaining wall in front of their 1930s bungalow, then spread to the sidewalk, then the whole house—including parts of the inside. Tiles of all sizes, shapes, and designs—some in fragments, some intact—form complex patterns with family references like Aziz’s name, their pet bird, a menorah, the word Hollywood, and others. Appreciate it from a distance, though, as the Farnams still live there.