Round House, Demolished circular adobe building in downtown Los Angeles, California, US
Round House was a two-story adobe landmark on the west side of Main Street below Third Street in downtown Los Angeles, built with walls 1.5 feet thick and topped by an umbrella-shaped shingle roof. Remundo Alexander modeled it on cylindrical stone houses he had seen in Africa. George Lehman later wrapped it in a ten-foot frame extension, octagonal outside and divided into extra rooms inside, and painted the names of the thirteen original States plus California above the windows.
The land was granted in 1847 to Juan Bouvette and Loreta Cota; Remundo Alexander bought it in 1854 and built the cylindrical adobe house, inspired by stone round houses he had seen in Africa. George Lehman, known as "Round House George", bought it in 1856 and turned the grounds into the Garden of Paradise pleasure resort. After foreclosure in 1879 it housed Southern California's first kindergarten, founded by Emma Marwedel, then a lodging house; it was demolished in 1889.
George Lehman, a German immigrant known as "Dutch George" or "Round House George", believed he had found the Garden of Eden and turned the grounds into a pleasure resort he called the Garden of Paradise. He charged a small admission fee, sold beer and pretzels in the shade, and stationed a band on the building's balcony.
The building no longer exists: it was torn down in 1889, so there is nothing to visit. Its site was on the west side of Main Street, 91.5 feet south of Third Street, in downtown Los Angeles. The Main Street frontage was later occupied by the Pinney Block, the Pridham Block and Turnverein Hall.
George Lehman, known as "Dutch George" or "Round House George", believed he had found the Garden of Eden and filled the grounds with cement effigies of the animals that passed before Adam to be named, plus statues of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, a serpent and golden apples.
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