“The staircases themselves are historical reminders of a time when Los Angeles was not a city of cars.”
high residential hills, while on the surface streets below, innovative chefs create gastronomical curiosities inspired by far-flung corners of the world.
Discover Silver Lake’s Hidden Painted Stairways
Silver Lake
Nowhere is this truer than on a short stretch of iconic Sunset Boulevard, the main artery of Silver Lake. Here you can explore four famous staircases in a single afternoon, while also enjoying some of Southern California’s cutting-edge culinary delights.
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Before starting your climb, you may want to pre-order the famous gyoza and ramen from Silverlake Ramen. Pick it up, and enjoy a meal in the tiny triangular Laurel and Hardy Park at 3016 Del Monte Drive. After sunning in the park you will find your first staircase, the Music Box Steps, right across the street.
The Music Box Steps also mark Silver Lake’s legacy as a pioneering hub of early film production. In the famous Hal Roach-produced 1932 short “The Music Box,” Laurel and Hardy themselves try in vain to carry a piano up the 133 steps, with disastrous results.
Today, a plaque and sign commemorate the film, which won the first-ever Oscar for best live-action short. There’s also an annual “Music Box Steps Day” at the adjacent park, which includes multiple screenings, magicians, and Laurel and Hardy look-alikes.
The artful stairs are a relic of LA’s building boom of the 1920s, which radically transformed Silver Lake into a hip residential neighborhood. As historian Charles Fleming writes in Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles...
According to Fleming, it was those responsible for building the city—planners, real estate developers, and construction firms—who built the stairs. Los Angeles in the 20s had one of the best public transit systems in the world, and the stairs tended to serve as conduits from neighborhoods to trolley and streetcar lines. They also took those less likely to drive (particularly stay-at-home moms and kids) directly to shopping hubs like the stretch of Sunset running through Silver Lake.
Some homes were quite literally off the beaten path and only accessible by the staircases, their garages located blocks away. Often these staircase-adjacent homes were little more than vacation cottages—a place to escape in the sunny hills that made Los Angeles famous.
Unlike many neighborhoods in LA, Silver Lake has retained much of its 20th-century character, thanks in part to the stunning Neutra VDL Studio and Residences, landmark homes designed by pioneering Black architect Paul Williams, and the imposing Garbutt House. It has also retained many examples of city-owned pedestrian staircases—more than 60 still exist by Fleming’s count.
Over the decades, the stairs have become magnets for curious hikers, exercise fanatics and history nuts like Fleming and Dan Koeppel, who devised elaborate walks that will tire out even the most in-shape athlete. The stairs have also inspired artists, who have painted many in vibrant colors reminiscent of the neighborhood itself.
Music Box Steps
Descanso Stairway
After you climb up the steps, you’ll arrive on Descanso Drive. Walk west and you’ll discover the gritty, urban Descanso Stairway, which on a clear day offers a lovely view of Silver Lake, and occasionally even the Silver Lake Reservoir. But you may want to run up quickly and hurry down, because right below, at the intersection of Descanso and Sunset, are some of the area’s most adventurous flavors. . Murals dot the short walk to sizzling Filipino family recipes and fresh ceviche.
Across the street is Playita Mariscos, a new seafood stand from the celebrated De La Torre family, owners of Guisados, LA’s beloved taco chain. At Playita, you can chow down on ceviche, beer-battered fish tacos, and shrimp aguachile.
Next door, check out Spoon & Pork, where childhood friends Raymond Yaptinchay and Jay Tugas serve modern Filipino comfort food. Specialties include their version of the Filipino dish sisig, a sizzling dish of slow-cooked pork cheeks, ears, jowl, and belly topped with pickled red onions and onsen egg over rice. For dessert, there’s the delectable “Food for the Gods,” date and walnut bars made from a family recipe.
Murray Stairs
A short walk west on Sunset Boulevard is the 90-step Murray Stairs, also known as the Piano Stairs because of artist Corinne Carrey, who painted the steps like the keys of a piano. On your way up the staircase, make sure to take in the impressive outdoor living room and garden of the home on the right, which epitomizes Silver Lake’s easy outdoor style.
After a sprint up and down, or once you’ve gotten a few scales in while pretending to play the stairs, à la the movie “Big,” cross the street and open your DoorDash app because you’ll want to skip the line at Night + Market Song.
Chef Kris Yenbamroong mastered Thai cooking at his parents’ neighborhood restaurant Talesai, and in 2016 opened the restaurant, serving old-school Thai with ’90s Asian influences, and known for its crispy rice salad, fried chicken sandwich, and sweet potato massaman curry.
Micheltorena Stairs
The legendary Micheltorena Stairs, built by contractor George Nichols in 1925, are just down the street at 3400 Sunset Blvd. Hidden behind a large new apartment complex, the staircase features the work of artists Corinne Carrey, Carla O’Brien, and Mandon Bossi.
“Stair Candy” is the final flight of this section of steps and was painted with the artists’ iconic hearts stealthily at night in 2015, without a permit. It wasn’t until 2019 that the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission retroactively approved both the Micheltorena Stairs mural and Carrey’s Murray Stairs mural as legal public art.
If this stretch of stairs doesn’t leave you winded, hilly Silver Lake has over 50 more to explore. These hidden flights of concrete art are worth the effort of 10,000 steps to taste a bit of this Los Angeles neighborhood. Keep your phone charged and your DoorDash app handy to explore whichever part of Silver Lake you find yourself in as you uncover the winding stairs of Silver Lake!
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Words by HADLEY MEARES
Photography by ANNIE GREGORY
Words by HADLEY MEARES
Photography by ANNIE GREGORY
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ilver Lake, an Eastside neighborhood in the heart of Los Angeles, has always had an air of elusive elegance and daring intrigue. Concrete pedestrian staircases, almost a century old, climb into the
ilver Lake, an Eastside neighborhood in the heart of Los Angeles, has always had an air of elusive elegance and daring intrigue. Concrete pedestrian staircases, almost a century old, climb into the high residential hills, while on the surface streets below, innovative chefs create gastronomical curiosities inspired by far-flung corners of the world.