Sometimes the outside appearance of a building gives no clue to what the inside looks like. The Villa Elaine on Vine Street was not only an example of this but also a serious case of false advertising. From the outside it looked (and still does look) like a sleazy set for some old film noir movie. It stubbornly stood on Vine Street, right in between Fountain and La Mirada Avenues, an apartment building of dubious repute for many decades. I was nothing short of astounded when I’d heard it survived the Northridge quake back in ’94.