WALKING THE WALK L.A. GUIDEBOOK OFFERS A DIFFERENT VIEW OF LOS FELIZ.

Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer

Ironically, you'll need a car to take a walk in L.A.

There are three dozen tours in Erin Mahoney's ``Walking L.A.,'' the guidebook that has had me trudging and occasionally panting my way around Venice, Woodbridge Park, the Miracle Mile and points in between. Not one of those 36 walks comes within 10 miles of my home in Reseda.

Not surprising, my neighborhood isn't exactly overflowing with historically interesting architecture or the landmarks that Mahoney's book favors. Unless, that is, you count Home Plate Burger, which figures prominently in the ``Stole P's HD Cart'' episode of ``My Name Is Earl.''

Still, if you learn one thing from ``Walking L.A.,'' it's that a neighborhood doesn't have to be ritzy or a tourist hub to merit the expenditure of shoe leather and a leisurely hour or two.

In the future, I'll be creating and writing about my own walks in the Valley, but until then, I'll try out Walk No. 25 in ``Walking L.A.'' It guides pedestrians through the neighborhoods above Los Feliz Boulevard, down through the village, across Hollywood Boulevard and into Barnsdall Park. Subtitled ``Wright's Architectural Gems and `Swingers'' Favorite Night Spots,'' the expedition can be anywhere between 1.5 and 3.5 miles. The hills and stairway climbs earn Mahoney's ``strenuous'' designation.

This was the first of the eight ``Walking L.A.'' treks I have undertaken so far, and among the best blends of neighborhood and urban. Indeed, the Los Feliz jaunt actually encompasses a pair of separate and distinct experiences: one with views, stairs and homes over which to salivate; the second offering the off-Hollywood chic that infused Doug Liman's film ``Swingers'' with Vince Vaughn. If you go the full 3.5 miles and schedule a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, your walk can easily kill a day.

On a lazy Thursday afternoon with about two hours to spend, I split the difference. My walk included no clubs, meals or tours, but plenty of exploring:

2:15 p.m.: The walk begins at Los Feliz Boulevard and Catalina Street. My fiancee and I head north, toward the hills, which periodically affords us a view of Griffith Observatory. Two minutes in, we reach the first guidebook landmark: a metal outdoor sculpture of a Native American.

At least I presume the statue is a landmark. The book calls attention to it, but says nothing else about it.

Herein lies the conundrum -- unless you knock on that expensive-looking front door, get the owner's permission and some relevant details about the statue's history or creator, you're left thinking, ``Cool-looking? Right, onward and upward.''

2:20 p.m.: And I do mean upward. For, behind a small lion face on a stone column masquerading as a dormant fountain sits the steep Berendo Stairway, the first of the walk's significant climbs.

2:23 p.m.: (pant! pant!) Almost ... (gasp!) ... there. A few (wheeze!) steps more ... And we reach a landing area with resting benches. Amid the shady bougainvillea, you get a feeling of seclusion, but a smattering of graffiti along the walls and bench tell another story. There's a peek of a view from here. An even better one awaits at the top ...

2:30 p.m.: ... which (whew!) we reach a few minutes later. We're now on Bonvue Avenue, which will turn into Glendower Avenue shortly. The street thins out, but continues to climb.

2:40 p.m.: First view of Wright's Ennis-Brown House, a monolithic concrete structure from 1924 that history -- as well as our fabulous earthquakes and the heavy rains of 2004 -- has not treated with kindness. The inside was featured in ``Blade Runner'' and ``The House on Haunted Hill.'' Since it's in the first phase of a necessary $10 million renovation, the outside is all you can see.

2:55 p.m.: For the best overlook of the L.A. Basin, you'll need a bit of extra height. Peer over the wall directly across the street from 2684 Glendower and check it out. A few feet down the street, a sign on a wall obscuring some very choice-looking property says that the home has been sold by Sotheby's. The Realtor's name is Low. The selling price, I bet, isn't.

3:00 p.m.: At 2763 Glendower, a sign reads Public Walk and the stairway leads -- mercifully -- down. The view before we descend reveals an expanse of downtown that makes the city seem remarkably green.

3:02 p.m.: At the cul-de-sac at the bottom of the stairs, Bryn Mawr Road, an Akita named Hunter turns his sleepy and sorrowful gaze in our direction. We each get a hand lick.

3:08 p.m.: Another downward stairway, this one back to Bonvue Avenue, which leads downhill and turns into Glendower Avenue again. We pass more homes (which most of us will never be able to afford) and merge with Vermont Avenue. Vermont would lead up to the Greek Theatre, but we're heading south for the village.

Part 1 of the guidebook walk has ended. ``Walking L.A.'' gives the option of turning onto Los Feliz Boulevard and proceeding back to your car or forging ahead.

3:15 p.m.: We continue down Vermont, past a series of rather funky-looking apartment buildings. A placard in front of 1935 N. Vermont informs us that we are looking at the ``Via di Feliza, home to the first motion picture studio.'' A bit farther is a parked black Honda sporting the bumper sticker ``Zeus is God. Read the Iliad.''

3:25 p.m.: The walk's single refreshment break for a caffeine and bottled water pick-me-up at Psychobabble Coffeehouse (1866 N. Vermont), where the number of patrons staring at laptops significantly tops the number of customers who are hardware-free.

3:40 p.m.: Halfway up the entrance to Barnsdall Park, we turn for another view, this one encompassing the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood sign. Mike Eramdjian of Glendale is enjoying it as well. In fact, he's preserving it for posterity on a watercolor landscape he says he's been working on since 9 a.m.

``I just like the location,'' he says, ``the way the street goes up, and part of the parking lot. The shadows have been changing all day.''

Will he sell the painting? ``Sure,'' replies Eramdjian, ``if someone wants to buy it.''

3:50 p.m.: In Barnsdall Park, a couple of production assistants are laying decorative pillows, long, flowing ground cloths and dining implements for a potential segment of the MTV speed-dating show, ``Next.'' The premise: Someone goes on a bunch of dates. If, in mid-date, he gets bored or annoyed, he declares ``Next'' and moves on to an encounter with contestant No. 2. The unfortunate ``Next''-ed rejectees get money based on how many minutes the date lasts.

4 p.m.: We reach impressive Frank Lloyd Wright building No. 2. The last tour of the Hollyhock House -- Wright's first L.A. project -- was at 3 p.m. Unlike the Ennis-Brown House, at least this one is actually in consistent viewable shape.

4:10 p.m.: Breaking the route for the journey back, we take residential New Hampshire Avenue instead of the business-y Hillhurst. So, although we miss the Derby (site of Jon Favreau's swing-dance encounter with Heather Graham in ``Swingers''), we do see the enormous urn outside the Los Feliz Club apartments.

4:20 p.m.: Back at the car, and wishing ``Walking L.A.'' had a foot route that steers me around the traffic back to the Valley.

Evan Henerson, [phone]

[e-mail]

Author wants you on your feet

`Nobody walks in L.A.,'' says the well-known Missing Persons song.

Well, Erin Mahoney thinks people do -- and should -- even if traveling by foot doesn't necessarily take them anywhere except around a cool neighborhood they never knew existed.

``I really enjoy getting to know my city,'' says Mahoney, a search engine optimization editor at Los Angeles Citysearch. ``In a city as large and diverse as Los Angeles, there's so much to see, and it can be pretty overwhelming.

``I'm the kind of person who likes to be able to share information with people,'' she continues. ``In order to do that effectively, you really have to explore.''

Not only does Mahoney herself walk in and around Los Angeles, she has created a resource for Angelenos and visitors to do the same.

``Walking L.A.,'' published by Wilderness Press ($17.95), offers 36 guided walks around the city -- both scenic and urban. Concentrating heavily on the Westside, the book takes walkers through the canals of Venice, across the Ballona Wetlands, in and around the campuses at UCLA and USC, and all over downtown. There are two walks in the Valley: the NoHo Arts District and the Woodbridge Park area of Studio City.

Walks vary in length from 1/4 mile to 3.5 miles and are designated easy, moderate or strenuous. The appendix offers calorie-burning counts and points of interest.

As a guide, Mahoney favors hidden stairways, people-watching spots and unique or famous architecture. Restaurants and points of interest are highlighted along the way (with the caveat that merchants regularly come and go in this city faster than any book can keep pace with), but ``Walking L.A.'' doesn't purport to be either a dining guide or the ultimate historical resource.

Primarily, ``Walking L.A.'' is a tool for exploration, and maybe a little bit of exercise along the way.

``I want people to use my walks as general guidelines and make their own discoveries,'' she says. ``Maybe they'll see something I didn't mention that they think is very cool. Or maybe they'll say, `That's of no interest to me.' It's really to get people there to make discoveries for themselves, and give them some indication of what they may want to look out for while they're there.''

-- E.H.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos, box, map

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Walk on!

Our new series offers a unique perspective on L.A. neighborhoods

(2 -- 3 -- color) Views of the Hollywood sign and Griffith Observatory await walkers making their way up to the entrance of Barnsdall Park.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(4 -- 6) Sights seen on Walk No. 25 in the ``Walking L.A.'' guidebook include, clockwise from near right, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House, the Via di Feliza and a most unusual-looking tree.

Box:

Author wants you on your feet (see text)

Map:

Walking in L.A. Tour - Los Feliz

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist