Between 1898 and 1912, author, editor and activist Charles Fletcher Lummis, founder of the Southwest Museum, built this house by hand out of telephone poles and granite boulders so it would last a thousand years, he said. Anyone can write a book, he added. It takes a man to make a dovetail door. Architects Sumner Hunt and Theodore Eisen helped out on the design, which blends Mission, Pueblo and Craftsman styles and complements the natural environment. The Historical Society of Southern California currently occupies the unique structure, which is also known as El Alisal (place of the sycamores). Outside, a water-wise garden displays native and Mediterranean plants that thrive here. Though few original furnishings remain, you can see Lummis' personal collection of Native American artifacts; a window glazed with photographic plates of Indian dances; doors and built-in furniture by Maynard Dixon; and a striking Art Nouveau fireplace.