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Banning Residence Museum
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
401 E M StWilmington, CA 90744
Neighborhood: Wilmington
(310) 548-7777
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
3 reviews for Banning Residence Museum
3 reviews in English
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Review from Tree S.
Long Beach, CA
11/26/2007
You know those brown signs you see along the freeways, the ones which alert you to a historical point of interest? Those are really just advertising for some wonderful museums and secret spots in So Cal. It pays off to check them out. The BRM is no exception.
While this museum is techically in Wilmington, and not Long Beach, I still consider it a perk of living in the 562. The home is an absolute must for people who love the history of L.A. I went last year at Christmas time and thoroughly enjoyed the Victorian decorations and atmosphere. It ranks right up there with the local ranchos for historical importance and WOW factor.
While Christmas is the best time of year to check out the ranchos and the BRM--what the docents do to deck the place out is magical--any time is a good time to visit. The architecture and preservation is top notch. Don't miss the ornate "corn husk" gate which surrounds the house or the nearby Civil War Barracks.
And that's why I love this place and Long Beach, which is an area rich with reminders of its history, from adobe ranchos, stately Victorians, to WWII look-outs and lighthouses.Scratch the surface of this big sprawling city and you'll find tons facinating stuff. -
Review from Sarah Q.
Bellflower, CA
12/4/2010
I wasn't very happy with there only being guided tours, I hate moving at everyone else's pace because I usually have different interests than they do... this was no exception. I was enthralled by the cases of books and the rest of the group was concerned with the windows....
Tour guide was a little....boring? Yeah, I guesss boring is the word.
No pictures are allowed in the house so I hope you have a good memory and can committ everything you see to memory.
I love history and learning about the past...but this museum just did not do it for me.
Beautiful property and beautiful house, but I really expected more. -
Review from Teej T.
Urbana, IL
10/19/2007 1 photo
I may definitely be a bit biased, but this place is an INTENSE throwback to childhood, and far too much of my adolescence.
Years before I found out that I wanted to spend the rest of my life teaching history and sharing the crazy joy of the past with people in the present, I found myself drawn to the Banning Residence Museum. The BRM is housed in a mansion built in 1864 by Phineas Banning, founder of the Port of Los Angeles, and one of the original builders of the American Los Angeles that flourished in the early twentieth century.
The mansion is a singular example of the elegance of spacious and expansive Greek Revival Architecture, and is a stark contrast of Victorian elegance in the midst of the economically depressed harbor community in Wilmington. BRM is surrounded by a massive community park, and part of me is immensely amused by the historical juxtaposition of a stately mansion surrounded by a very urban park, with men hawking ice creams and teenagers playing soccer.
Here's where the crazy nerdy side of Teej's life come into play. As an eighth grader, at the age of thirteen, I decided I wanted to be one of the many docents, or tour guides, that volunteer at the BRM. As I am not a female retired teacher over the age of 55, I immediately fell out of their demographic brackets, but the volunteer committee felt that it'd be an okay experiment to allow a thirteen year old to join the staff of volunteer tour guides.
And that's how I found myself at the age of thirteen, wearing polo shirts, khakis, and loafers, walking up and down narrow staircases, and booming information about the history of the Port of Los Angeles, in my squeaky adolescent voice telling all about the story of the building of L.A. and the intimate family matters of all the inhabitants of the mansion. I spent two weekends a month as a docent, the only young man of color in a sea of older white female retirees, dispensing information wrapped in a compelling narrative to entertain whatever people would be foolish--i mean AWESOME--enough to enter the museum.
I have countless awesome memories of this neighborhood location as I walked up and down staircases, showing someone else's home to people, telling silly anecdotes about Victorian California life, and making the overall history of the area. The Victorian Christmas every year is spectacular--imagine the three story home filled with gaudy period-appropriate decorations, Christmas carolers, a strange woman playing the harp--it's an amazing, all encompassing experience.
Finally, I left and went off to college in San Diego, saying goodbye to the South Bay and my weekends at the mansion. However, the next summer I had the opportunity to work with the Getty Museum as an intern at a local cultural site. I picked--you guessed it--the BRM, and was rewarded by working as a curatorial intern, preparing prints to be reframed, catalogued, and cleaned before being hung back in the mansion. It may not interest you, but this crazy, afro-headed intern got to blast music in an old nineteenth century bedroom, working on old photographs and mass produced print art with latex gloves. I couldn't think of a better way to spend a summer.
Today, I think fondly of the BRM, it's kitschy charm, and it's pleasantly inviting welcome from its white colonnaded porch, a historical landmark in the midst of the L.A. Harbor.Listed in: You have to hear the whole…, Hometown Haunts
