Franklin Park

Elite '09

1751

1364

Joan S.

Los Angeles, CA

6/22/2008 12 photos

This is a great neighborhood park.  It's about 3 acres, and occupies the former grounds of a grade school.  The school buildings are now used for a community center and for the Redondo Beach Playhouse, a youth facility that offers drama camps.

The park itself has kids' play equipment and picnic areas, and a basketball court.  There was a kiddie birthday party in progress in one of the picnic spots yesterday morning (Saturday).  A clown was entertaining, very cute.

My fave thing about this park is that it's not flat....it has knolls.  I guess it was built in the days when even some backyards were designed to include knolls, for the sake of adding interest and visual appeal.
I feel a story coming on......haha......
So:  when I lived in Woodland Hills, there was a house across the street from me that I always admired.  It was up on a hill, a cute 50's house in great condition.  It was the house I should have bought instead of the one I did buy, which turned out to be the money pit from hell.  Sadly, the house on the hill came on the market too late for me....I had already closed the purchase of my creepy fixer house.
The cool house would have cost less money, too.....alas!  
The best part about the cool house, other than a bathroom with emerald green tile, was that the back yard had knolls.  And even small trees that had been carefully positioned within the original vintage landscape design to enhance the gentle little hills.
It was a beautiful sight from inside the house, one that I enjoyed when I visited my neighbors who were the lucky new owners of that property.
And what did they do?  They had the yard flattened.
They wanted a flat area for their kid to play on.
OMG I nearly cried.  People do the dumbest things.

So I appreciate grassy knolls wherever I find them & I hope people have the good sense to leave them be.

I posted a dozen photos of the park & facilities.

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