On a foggy morning, I head out from Hollywood with Laura Massino of Architecture Tours L.A. to sample the city's architectural diversity, from Hollywood-inspired period revivals to works by such modern masters as Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler. Massino, an East Coast native, has been in L.A. for 18 years, during which time she became intrigued by the city and eventually went on to get a master's in architectural history.

"You have to look at L.A. as this fragmented place," she says. "It's an enormous city that takes a long time to get to know. I get a lot of foreigners on my tours, and they tend to be fascinated by it. To them, L.A. is big and out there, with no constraints. Architects here have always been free to experiment."

She drives a black 1962 Series 62 Cadillac, a vehicle as horizontal as the city itself. We pass an assortment of buildings that reflect the ongoing revitalization of Hollywood: the restored 1930 Pantages Theatre, the 1922 Grauman's Egyptian Theatre (now a state-of-the-art film center owned and run by American Cinematheque), and, next to the Egyptian, the Pig'n Whistle, a 1927 restaurant that for decades functioned as a pizzeria and even a clothing store before being returned to its glory days.

Just south of Hollywood Boulevard, on Highland Avenue, the pink-and-white Max Factor Building now houses the new Hollywood Museum. It has a big collection of costumes and props, as well as an assortment of surprises that includes a reassembled bathroom from actor Roddy McDowall's house. He was notable for his parties, and the bathroom was a virtual museum, with signed photos from stars like Elizabeth Taylor and a Christmas card from Noel Coward.

David Zaitz
Elephant on parade at Hollywood + Highland

On the museum's main floor, you can visit the technicolored rooms where Factor worked his makeup magic, one each for "brownettes," brunettes, blonds, and redheads. And via an elevator shaft topped by a chandelier from Tony Curtis's house, you descend past the Eiffel Tower model used in 2001's Moulin Rouge and into a basement where the original jail-cell set from The Silence of the Lambs has been reconstructed, proving that cannibalism and cosmetics are not mutually exclusive.

Surreal juxtaposition is a time-honored L.A. tradition, of course, and at the Hollywood + Highland Shopping and Entertainment Center, Assyrian idols meet American Idol, creating the unlikely tag team of film pioneer D.W. Griffith and TV host Ryan Seacrest. The center's Babylon Court incorporates giant, rearing elephants atop columns as well as other elements from the set of Griffith's silent-film epic Intolerance, which stood for years in Hollywood, while Seacrest has taped American Idol finals at the center's Kodak Theatre.

Eventually, Massino and I find ourselves in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It's both the most predictable destination in town and the best, because it delivers exactly what it's supposed to. There's an immediacy and intimacy to seeing the hand- and footprints of screen legends: petroglyphs, Hollywood-style.

Massino's Caddy grabs the crowd's attention, and they look over, trying to figure out just who is inside. The gaggle of celebrity look-alikes and costumed cartoon characters stop and appraise the car as well. Marilyn Monroe seems unimpressed, while SpongeBob SquarePants points and claps. The Johnny Depp look-alike dressed as Pirates of the Caribbean's captain Jack Sparrow nods slowly and salutes us by raising his sword to the brim of his hat.

It just goes to show that some myths die harder than others. L.A. is awash with history and culture. It's one of the country's leading centers for architecture. There's even a subway. But apparently, you are still what you drive.

David Zaitz
Left: Egyptian Theatre; right: Lucky Strike Lanes