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As a design writer, I feel lucky to get to peek inside some of Los Angeles’ most iconic homes.

This year, I visited many places, from Midcentury Modern landmarks by Edward Fickett and Raphael Soriano to humble apartments filled with Facebook Marketplace finds.

The rooms that stayed with me long after I left were not always the most luxurious or expensively furnished. Instead, they were the ones that made me smile and left a lasting impression of the person who lives there.

Here are the 14 rooms that resonated with me this year and the people who live in them who inspired me even more.

A colorful, sun-drenched kitchen in Mount Washington that connects to nature

Priced out of much of Los Angeles, architect Lindsay Sheron and her husband Daniel bought a vacant hillside lot in Mount Washington and proceeded to design and build their own home. Working over a three-year period, the couple served as general contractors and did much of the work themselves. The kitchen is a standout, featuring bright green custom kitchen cabinets painted Raw Tomatillo by Farrow & Ball, which add vitality to the single-wall layout. A custom metal hood by Practice Fabrication, powder-coated the color of a Pixie tangerine, adds a sense of fun.

“I wanted our house to feel really warm and bring nature inside,” says Lindsay, referring to the Western hemlock tongue and groove planks that she and Daniel installed on the walls and ceilings. “Wood does the heavy lifting in accomplishing that.”

Tour the custom built home here.

In Hollywood, a stunning living room that’s filled with second-hand furnishings

Caitlin Villarreal felt giddy the first time she stepped inside the Whitley Heights rental, a storied 1926 Mediterranean-style penthouse with towering ceilings, hand-carved wooden beams and a pair of arched bookcases alongside an oversize fireplace.

“It had good energy,” Villarreal said of the 1,500-square-foot apartment she rents in a historic neighborhood where Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin and Bette Davis once lived. “It’s iconic just by standing tall year after year. It has floor-to-ceiling Old Hollywood windows that blow open unexpectedly just like in the movies. It doesn’t feel like a rental. It feels like a forever home.”

Tour the Hollywood penthouse here.

A Midcentury Modern dining room in Studio City that Raphael Soriano would approve of

Architect Linda Brettler’s list of things she loves about her Raphael Soriano-designed home is long, even though the all-aluminum structure, which was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1997, was in desperate need of updating when she purchased it in 2021. “I like doing projects like this where I get to have my own hand and feel, but I’m still honoring what was here,” Brettler says. “I’m trying to create an idealized version of what the house would look like now.” In the dining room, a reproduction of a Millard Sheets painting, rendered by Cal Poly Pomona students on Tyvek, is mounted on a cork-lined wall. Above the painting, she has mounted a projector screen for movie nights and video games.

Tour the historic all-aluminum home here.

A modern West Hollywood living room decorated with pets in mind

“My original inspiration was to match the furniture to the kitties so I don’t see their cat hair,” anesthesiologist Jeffrey Hamilton says of the West Hollywood condo he shares with his boyfriend David Poli, his cats Romulus and Remus and Poli’s Husky mix, Janeway. “The cats very much informed the color scheme. I find them so handsome; it felt like having matching furniture was practical.”

In the living room, Hamilton chose a camel-colored Curvo sofa in velvet by Goop for CB2, which he found on Facebook Marketplace. Similarly, the accompanying swivel chairs from HD Buttercup and the barstool seats in the kitchen are upholstered in Bengal and Husky-durable textiles that camouflage their rescues pet hair.

“Jeffrey likes to say that everything in his apartment is a rescue, including me,” says Poli jokingly.

Tour the West Hollywood condo here.

A surprising Silver Lake kitchen that doubles as a retro video store

Chris Rose fondly remembers the days when he worked at the independent video store I Luv Video in Austin, Texas.

Now an L.A.-based writer, director and producer, Rose, 41, recalls the Austin store’s eclectic assortment of cult oddities and world cinema.

Although he can no longer visit the video store, Rose doesn’t have to go far to rent these days, as he has brought a similar yet distinctive collection to the kitchen of his one-bedroom bungalow in Silver Lake.

Tour the Silver Lake apartment here.

Two college friends transform a Glassell Park living room (and garage) into an art-filled escape

Antonio Adriano Puleo didn’t intend to renovate his traditional 1946 bungalow, but after consulting with architectural designer Ben Warwas, who told him he could transform the house into a “forever home,” the artist changed his plans.

“The living room wasn’t big enough, and it featured a huge red brick fireplace that had doors on either side of it, leading to the backyard,” said Warwas.

The living room of the main house is now open and airy, with custom cabinets and millwork by James Melinat that showcase the artwork Puleo made himself and the pieces he has collected for more than 30 years. The living room’s fireplace is gone, but the wooden mantle remains atop a console behind the sofa, graced with a series of colorful ceramic planters by Ashley Campbell and Brian Porray of Happy Hour Ceramics.

“Little tweaks totally transformed the house,” Warwas said.

Tour the house and ADU here.

A fabulous wet bar in a West Hollywood apartment that’s perfect for parties

Growing up in a small town outside of Cleveland, Tyler Piña was fascinated by Los Angeles and the glamour of Hollywood.

“My dad grew up out here, and it’s where my parents met,” says the 33-year-old screenwriter. “I remember looking at old Polaroids of them in the ‘80s and seeing how much fun they had.”

His attraction to Los Angeles, however, was more than just nostalgia. “I was mesmerized by the landscapes and architecture,” he says.

Looking back, he can’t believe he realized his dream of moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 2018 and eventually renting a Midcentury Modern penthouse by Edward Fickett steps from the Sunset Strip.

“A Midcentury Modern penthouse on Sunset Boulevard in the heart of West Hollywood, with a bar in the living room? I mean, does it get more iconic? I am, in no way, cool enough to live here,” says Piña.

Tour the Midcentury apartment here.

A bedroom in Beachwood Canyon is transformed into an art-filled office (and occasional guest room)

When Natalie Babcock and Samuel Gibson found a listing for a sunny apartment in Beachwood Canyon five years ago, they immediately fell for the two bedroom’s charming built-in bookshelves, faux fireplace, hardwood floors and formal dining room. Practical amenities such as an in-unit laundry and a garage, which are often elusive in Los Angeles rentals, didn’t hurt.

Today, however, the couple says they are most impressed by the sense of belonging they have found in the community just outside their 1928 Spanish fourplex. Here, where tourists and brides in wedding gowns often pose for photographs in the middle of the street in an effort to capture the Hollywood sign in the background, Babcock and Gibson have become part of a larger family. “Everyone knows our dogs’ names,” says Babcock.

The couple’s taste is vibrant, and the colorful interiors reflect their sense of fun and love of design. They painted one wall in Gibson’s office a dramatic Kelly green, which makes the white-trimmed windows and his extensive art collection pop.

“Art is one thing that I am always happy to spend money on,” Gibson says.

Tour the Beachwood Canyon apartment here.

A treasures-filled living room in Eagle Rock that’s a colorful showstopper

Isa Beniston and Scotty Zaletel are romantics. Not just in their love for each other, which they are as vocal about three years in as budding high school crushes, but also in the way they describe the contents of their 412-square-foot one-bedroom apartment. They can recall the season they discovered each treasure — from fruit-shaped throw pillows to more than 30 animal portraits — and the cross streets of the flea markets from which they bought them. They gush about the time they’ve spent together in fabric stores and flooring supply shops as if they were dimly lighted restaurants primed for date night.

“We both just love stuff,” the two said in near-unison.

— Lina Abascal

Tour the 412-square foot apartment here.

A tricked-out garage/ADU in Venice that serves as an office, gym and family hub

“They’re fun,” architect Aejie Rhyu says of the creative couple Will Burroughs and Frith Dabkowski, as she walked by the undulating two-story ADU she helped them realize.

Rhyu’s assessment helps to explain the joy that permeates the family compound, from the pink Los Angeles Toile wallpaper in the bedroom (humorously adorned with illustrations of L.A.’s beloved mountain lion P-22, the La Brea Tar Pits and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) to the tricked-out garage on the first floor, which includes overhead bike storage, an espresso maker, a mini-fridge and a large flat-screen TV that allows Sydney-born Burroughs to watch Formula One car races and cricket games at 4 a.m. when his family is asleep.

Burroughs even installed a subwoofer speaker beneath the sofa to give the garage the feel of a movie theater during family movie nights. “Jack went flying off the couch when we watched ‘Top Gun,’ ” he said of their son, laughing.

Tour the two-story ADU with a rooftop deck here.

A serene guest room in Mid-Wilshire that’s a light-filled studio for a textile artist

After living in her two-bedroom apartment in Los Feliz for more than a decade, Debra Weiss encountered a problem experienced by many renters in Los Angeles: She was evicted.

When her son-in-law spotted a charming two-bedroom apartment near the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Zillow, her initial reaction was, “I want this,” Weiss said of the fourplex.

The rental had high ceilings, oak floors, ample sunlight, an appealing fireplace, a garage and a washer and dryer.

In the guest room, a wall hanging composed of three separate weavings in a gingham check pattern is embroidered with a series of characters she based on her 5-year-old granddaughter’s drawings. “It’s about people coming together in chaos and supporting each other,” Weiss said.

Even though the process of having to move was stressful, Weiss is happy with her new home and neighborhood. “I take the Metro bus everywhere and hardly ever drive,” she said. “Everything worked out perfectly.”

Tour the sunny Mid-Wilshire fourplex here.

A ’70s-inspired speakeasy/lounge in Highland Park that’s hidden behind a bookcase

Standing beneath a glittering tiered chandelier in her pink “cloffice,” designer Dani Dazey shares the essence of her colorful style: “From the wallpaper to the artwork, my home is a reflection of me right now,” she explains. “It’s a personal and hip twist on traditional design.”

Rather than embrace rustic farmhouse style or minimalist Midcentury Modern design as is often the case in Los Angeles, Dazey has taken the Highland Park home she shares with husband Phillip Butler and given it an over-the-top maximalist spin.

The speakeasy lounge, accessible through a hidden door sliding bookcase, is a ‘70s-inspired sanctuary with a modular sofa, curtains and wallpaper in the same floral pattern.

Their home is proof, that our homes should make us happy by reflecting who we are. In Dazey’s case, that translates to bold color, lush textures and retro vibes.

Tour the Highland Park home here.

A memento-filled living room in Long Beach is an ode to ‘the people we love’

A sense of fun permeates the rooms of Cecilia and Abraham Beltran’s colorful one-bedroom Midcentury apartment in Long Beach.

“We both have a deep passion for Midcentury design and color,” Cecilia shares.

The Beltrans’ apartment encapsulates their design sensibility and “above all, the people we love,” Cecilia says. There’s bold, Midcentury Modern-inspired furniture the couple found on Craigslist, tongue-in-cheek smiling pillows and the “Hole to Another Universe” wall decal by Blik, which can be removed when they move. Peppered throughout the space are mementos from their travels, such as the limited-edition art print “La Famille” purchased on a trip to London in 2023.

Ultimately, Cecilia says, she wants the apartment “to feel like us. I think we pulled it off.”

Tour the Long Beach apartment here.

In Reseda, an apartment where every antique tells a story

When Evelyn Bauer, 97, downsized from her four-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks to an apartment in Reseda in 2014, the longtime collector and antiques dealer was forced to relinquish many of her personal belongings.

“Collecting is my passion, my addiction, and I’m so happy to be afflicted with it,” says Bauer, whose two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment at an independent living facility for seniors is filled with furnishings and decorative arts from her 65 years as a collector.

Step inside her living room, and the vast collection of antiques feels like entering the former Encino Antique Center, where she was once the proprietor during the 1990s. Each item has a story, a memory and a unique charm that she cherishes.

“There’s always room for one more gem,” she says.

Tour the Reseda apartment here.

Actress Roxy Shahidi’s final scenes aired earlier this year with fans heartbroken at the character’s exit, when she bid farewell to Leyla Harding after several years in the role

One Emmerdale star admits she lost her identity following her exit from the soap. Former Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi has spoken candidly about the emotional impact of leaving the ITV soap, admitting she struggled with her sense of identity after her character was written out.

Roxy played Leyla Harding, a long-standing and much-loved character on the show, first appearing in 2008 before returning full-time in 2013. After more than a decade on screen, Leyla met a tragic end earlier this year in dramatic scenes that saw several characters plunged into icy water following a limousine crash.

Although Leyla initially survived the accident, viewers later learned she died in an ambulance before reaching hospital, marking the end of Roxy’s 17-year journey on the soap.

Nearly a year on from leaving Emmerdale, Roxy has reflected on the transition and how it affected her personally. In an emotional Instagram post, she admitted stepping away from the role was far more challenging than she anticipated.

“This time last year, I was coming to terms with having to leave this lot behind. Not just colleagues, but friends and family,” she wrote.

She went on to explain how deeply intertwined her character had become with her own sense of self, adding:

“Playing Layla wasn’t just a job; she was a huge part of my identity, and some days I spent more time being her than being myself.

“Losing that sense of identity was hard, but long walks with Mr Cooper [her pet cockapoo] gave me space to breathe, reflect and stay hopeful.”

Since leaving the soap, Roxy has shifted her focus towards wellbeing and has been teaching yoga online. She revealed the practice helped her process the emotional fallout of the change.

“Yoga once again became my anchor on the hardest days, moving my body helped me move through grief, loss and uncertainty,” she continued.

Adding that her yoga platform has helped her build a new chapter in her life, she went on: “Now YogaRox has grown into a new home, a new family, and a new sense of self.

“I don’t know exactly how I’ll get there, but I know where I’m going. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me through a year of challenge, growth, and transformation; here’s to 2026.”

Her post was quickly flooded with supportive messages, including from former Emmerdale co-stars. Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Wyatt, commented: “You’re amazing. You are very missed. Sky is the limit.”

Fellow soap stars Claire Sweeney, Isobel Hodgins and Ross Adams also shared messages of love.

Fans echoed the sentiment, with one writing: “You are still so missed by us Emmerdale fans. But you are smashing it now with your new projects, you are amazing!! Xx”

Another added: “I miss seeing you shine on my screen every night but being able to see you absolutely smashing the yoga is everything, heres to an amazing 2026 and I hope the new year brings you nothing but happiness and big achievements.”

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The Ford Mustang was built in Detroit, introduced to the world in New York and, according to a new exhibit on the border of downtown and Boyle Heights, romanticized by Los Angeles.

Part advertisement, part history lesson and part playground, “American Icon: A Mustang Immersive Experience” uses theme park-inspired trappings to celebrate a work of mechanical artistry. The car — first introduced in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair as a sporty, compact coup with just a little bit of an edge — is given a hero’s treatment. Inside the warehouse-like Ace Mission Studios, “American Icon” tracks the Mustang’s evolution from the suburban garage to the race track, and uses projections and a 4D theater experience to transform what could have been a showroom experience into something built more for a video game.

With installations focused on the fabled, traffic-free, open road “freedom” that car manufacturers like to so often tout, there’s something quaintly old fashioned here. The Mustang is presented as a car for young couples on the go, optimistically envisioning an America when home and car ownership were a given.

In that sense, it’s a car enthusiast’s fantasy. But can it inspire a new generation of car dreamers, especially at a time when some data indicates younger audiences may be holding off on a car purchase?

While no cars are for sale at “American Icon” — there is an assortment of specially branded Mustang merch, however, much of it nostalgically focused on 1964 — such an immersive endeavor makes sense, says researcher Jason Jordhamo, a marketing director for Polk Automotive Solutions from S&P Global Mobility. Enticing audiences today, he says, involves a more personal touch than a big TV ad spend or a sponsorship deal.

“It’s less time in the dealership,” Jordhamo says of reaching younger consumers, especially Gen Z. “Those traditional things have to be let go of.”

Jordhamo notes that new vehicle registration among those aged 18-34 has dipped about 2% in recent years. Anecdotally, he cites a multitude of factors, ranging from growing environmental consciousness — hybrids and electric vehicles are big with the age bracket — to the ease of rideshare, especially in major cities.

But there are other causes for concern. “There’s a lot of things that are challenging in that space,” Jordhamo says. “One is affordability, which is huge. The cost for purchasing a vehicle — the monthly costs — have gone up 30% since the beginning of this decade. And the average loan payment nationally has been over $750 all calendar year.”

Immersive experiences, which typically denote either some level of participation on the part of the guest or attempt to envelope the attendee in all-encompassing imagery, are common in Hollywood and often seen as a way of reaching a younger consumer weaned on interactive entertainment. They’ve been utilized heavily by studios such as Netflix for pop-ups themed to “Arcane,” “Squid Game” and more, but brands and personalities as varied as the Catholic Church, McDonald’s and even Mariah Carey have gotten in on the experiential action. Car companies, too, have dabbled, be it partnering with video game franchises such as “Gran Turismo” or “Rocket League” or, as Ford already does, offering real-life experiences such as off-roading in a Bronco at various U.S. locales.

“It’s more than just steel and rubber,” says Ford’s communications director Mike Levine when asked why Mustang was pegged for such an experience. “Mustang’s impact on America should be appreciated like an art exhibit.”

Seated before a crisply, powdered blue 1965 Mustang on a turntable, the exhibit’s first major room comes alive to simulate movement as the surrounding four walls use projections to place us on idealized versions of Venice Beach and Route 66. The glimmering rhythm of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Nowhere to Run” sets the tone as visions of cruise culture innocence aim to make us feel as if we’re on a ride through Southern California. All that’s missing to complete the mood is someone to deliver us a milkshake.

Levine says Los Angeles rather than Detroit was chosen as the first of a planned many stops for “American Icon” in part due to the city’s iconography, pointing to historic drives such as Pacific Coast and Angeles Crest highways as scenic backdrops for our car-focused culture. While experiential marketing is all the buzz in recent years, Levine says this is the first installation of its kind for Ford.

“So far, so good,” said Enzo Sanchez, 22, when asked on a recent weekday if he was enjoying “American Icon,” which culminates in a 4D theater experience that serves as a mini motion simulator. Expect to get splashed with a drop of water as the smell of burning rubber fills the room. The mini film — about five minutes — has Mustang drivers saving a post-apocalyptic world from a rogue AI. “Terminator,” but if Mustangs came to the rescue.

Sanchez, named after famed racer and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari, comes from a car enthusiast family. His father pointed to a wall dedicated to appearances of the Mustang in popular culture, and singled out a framed portrait of Johnny Mathis’ LP “Those Were the Days,” which features the automobile, and said he would have to track down a copy.

“It just transports you,” Sanchez says of his love of the Mustang, adding that he first became aware of “American Icon” on a recent trip to mid-Wilshire’s Petersen Automotive Museum, which helped curate the exhibition. Sanchez noticed one of its famed 1967 Mustangs, the so-called “Eleanor” from “Gone in 60 Seconds,” was absent, and when Sanchez inquired as to its whereabouts, he was told that it would be popping up at “American Icon.” The vehicle shares space with Mustangs from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Kick-Ass” and “Transformers” at the exhibition.

The Mustang, says Ford’s Levine, has been among the most popular movie vehicles, adding that “Gone in 60 Seconds” showcases the car as much as it does the city of Los Angeles. He, too, has seen the headlines that proclaim Gen Z is shifting away from car ownership. For now, he says, he isn’t concerned.

“I heard the same thing about millennials, who weren’t going to buy cars,” he says. “As a parent of two Gen Z children, they love cars. Their friends have cars. They want something they can enjoy.”

And as Ford bets on with “American Icon,” they want something they can experience.

“This is a different way to reach a Gen Z customer that is very much looking for or has seen engaging content online,” he says. “And when you come in to do that experience, it’s really every sense. When you do the 4D ride, it is every sense. You smell. You feel it. You hear it. You see it. And when you’re immersed on that level, you put the phone down.”

And that, of course, is an essential rule to enjoying the road.

Like many of you, I don’t need another good Italian cookbook. Yet I’ve found Amber Guinness’ “quanto basta” or “just enough” approach in her newest book “Winter in Tuscany: Cozy Recipes and the Quanto Basta Way “ (Thames & Hudson) immensely appealing — and useful when I’m looking for dinner ideas. A vegetarian take on the Tuscan beef stew peposo? She captures the original’s hearty flavors with chestnuts, mushrooms, red wine and lots of thyme. Despite her “House of Guinness” lineage, this Guinness, who grew up in Tuscany, has an easy, approachable style. Consider “emergency rosemary and garlic spaghetti,” a 10-minute preparation from Siena that is more in the vein of the un-recipe approach that her fellow Florence-based author Faith Willinger favors. Sometimes, in the “one’s own way is usually the best” philosophy she advocates, I’ll use Guinness’ recipes as good suggestions to tinker with — as I did the other night with her orecchiette with Brussels sprouts and pancetta. Other times, I’ll relax and just follow her conversational instructions for say, “Good Time” radicchio, Gorgonzola and walnut lasagne, which includes the line, “remove any sad outer leaves from the radicchio.”

It was supposed to be a speech with a clear message of hope for survivors of the Palisades fire.

In her State of the City address in April, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called for a law exempting fire victims from construction permit fees — potentially saving them tens of thousands of dollars as they rebuild their homes.

Eight months later, the City Council is still debating how much permit relief the city can afford. Palisades residents have been left hanging, with some blaming Bass for failing to finalize a deal.

“This should have been pushed, and it wasn’t pushed,” said electrician Tom Doran, who has submitted plans to rebuild his three-bedroom home. “There was no motor on that boat. It was allowed to drift downstream.”

Since the Jan. 7 fire destroyed thousands of homes, Bass has been announcing recovery strategies with great fanfare, only for them to get bogged down in the details or abandoned altogether.

At one point, she called for the removal of traffic checkpoints around Pacific Palisades, only to reverse course after an outcry over public safety. She pushed tax relief for wildfire victims in Sacramento, only to abruptly pull the plug on her bill. Her relationship with Steve Soboroff, her first and only chief recovery officer, quickly unraveled over pay and other issues. He left after a 90-day stint.

Critics in and outside the Palisades say the mayor’s missteps have undermined public confidence in the rebuilding process. They have also made her more politically vulnerable as she ramps up her campaign for a second term.

Bass, seated in her spacious City Hall office earlier this month, said the recovery is happening at “lightning speed” compared to other devastating wildfires, in part because of her emergency orders dramatically cutting the time it takes to obtain building permits.

By mid-December, more than 2,600 permit applications had been filed for more than 1,200 addresses — about a fifth of the properties damaged or destroyed in the fire. Permits had been issued at about 600 addresses, with construction underway at nearly 400, according to city figures.

Still, Bass acknowledged that fire victims are feeling angry and frustrated as they enter the holiday season.

“I think people have a right to all of those emotions, and I wouldn’t argue with any of them,” she said.

Rebuilding a community after a natural disaster is a monumental task, one with no clear playbook. Many of the obstacles — insurance claims, mortgage relief — reach beyond the purview of a mayor.

Still, Bass has plenty of power. City agencies crucial to the rebuilding effort report to her. She works closely with the council, whose members have sharply questioned some of her recovery initiatives.

Palisades residents had reason to be skeptical of the rebuilding process, given the problems that played out on Jan. 7: the failure to pre-deploy firefighters, the chaotic evacuation and the fact that Bass was out of the country on a diplomatic mission to Ghana.

In the weeks that followed, Bass was unsteady in her public appearances and at odds with her fire chief, whom she ultimately dismissed. She struggled to give residents a sense that the recovery was in capable hands.

Perhaps the most disastrous narrative revolved around Soboroff, a longtime civic leader known for his blunt, outspoken style.

To many, the assignment made sense on paper. Soboroff had a background in home building, roots in the Palisades and extensive knowledge of City Hall.

Soboroff initially expected to receive a salary of $500,000 for three months of work as chief recovery officer, with the funds coming from philanthropy. After that figure triggered an outcry, Bass changed course, persuading him to work for free. Soon afterward, Soboroff told an audience that he had been “lied to” about whether he would be compensated. (He later apologized.)

Soboroff also voiced frustration with the job itself, saying he had been excluded from key decisions. At one point, Bass appeared to narrow his duties, telling reporters he would focus primarily on rebuilding the community’s historic business district and nearby public areas.

Bass told The Times that she does not view her selection of Soboroff as a mistake. But she acknowledged there were “challenges along the way” — and decisions where Soboroff was not included.

“In those first few months when everything was happening, I’m sure there were decisions he wanted to be in that he wasn’t in,” she said.

In April, amid Soboroff’s departure, Bass said she was searching for a new chief recovery officer. She repeated that assertion in July. Yet she never publicly announced a replacement for Soboroff, baffling some in the Palisades and providing fresh ammunition to her critics.

Real estate developer Rick Caruso, who ran against Bass in 2022 and founded the nonprofit SteadfastLA to speed the rebuilding process, said the recovery czar position is still desperately needed, given the size of the task ahead.

“You’ve got infrastructure that has to be rebuilt, undergrounding of power lines, upgrading of water mains. At the same time, you want to get people back in their homes,” said Caruso, who is weighing another run for mayor.

Behind the scenes, Bass opted not to select a single person to replace Soboroff, going instead with a trio of consultants. By then, she had confronted a spate of other crises — federal immigration raids, a $1-billion budget shortfall, a split with county officials over the region’s approach to homelessness.

Soboroff declined to comment on Bass’ handling of the recovery. Early on, he pushed the mayor’s team to hire the global engineering giant AECOM to oversee the recovery. Bass went initially with Hagerty, an Illinois-based consulting firm that specializes in emergency management.

At the time, the mayor pointed out that Hagerty was already working with county officials on the Eaton fire recovery in Altadena and Palisades fire recovery in other unincorporated areas.

The city gave Hagerty a one-year contract worth up to $10 million to provide “full project management” of the recovery, Bass said at the time.

Hagerty quickly ran into trouble. At community events, the firm’s consultants struggled to explain their role in the rebuilding.

Two months after Soboroff stepped down, Bass announced she was hiring AECOM after all to develop a plan for rebuilding city infrastructure. Hagerty ended up focusing heavily on the logistics around debris removal, helping the city coordinate with the federal Army Corps of Engineers, which spearheaded the cleanup.

Hagerty quietly finished its work earlier this month, billing the city $3.5 million — far less than the maximum spelled out in the firm’s contract.

The confusion over Hagerty’s role created a major opening for Bass’ best-known challenger in the June 2 primary election: former L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, a onetime high-level deputy mayor.

Beutner, whose home was severely damaged in the Palisades fire, called the selection of Hagerty a “fiasco,” saying it’s still not clear what the firm delivered.

“The hiring of Hagerty proved to be a waste of time and money while creating a false sense of hope in a community that’s dealing with a terrible tragedy,” he said.

Executives with Hagerty did not respond to multiple inquiries from The Times.

AECOM joined the city in June, working to prepare reports on the rebuilding effort that dealt with infrastructure repairs, fire protection and traffic management. Those reports are now expected by the one-year anniversary of the fire.

Matt Talley, who spent part of the year as AECOM’s point person in the Palisades, praised Bass for her focus on the recovery, saying he watched as she took lengthy meetings with Palisades community members, then made sure her staff worked to address their concerns.

“I think the mayor gets a bad rap,” said Talley, who left AECOM in mid-November. “She takes a lot of incoming, but in her heart, she really does want to drive the recovery and do the right thing, and that’s evidenced by the meetings she’s having with the community.”

Bass, in an interview, said she eventually decided to have three AECOM staffers form a “recovery team,” instead of a single replacement for Soboroff.

“It didn’t make sense to go in the other direction,” she said. “We evaluated that for quite a while, met with a number of people, consulted many experts.”

By the time Bass announced AECOM’s hiring, she had also begun pursuing another initiative: relief from Measure ULA, the city’s so-called mansion tax, which applies to most property sales above $5.3 million.

Proponents argued that Palisades residents should not have to pay the tax if they sell their burned-out properties. For those who can’t afford to rebuild — either because they are on fixed incomes or have little insurance — selling may be the only option, they argued.

In June, Caruso sent Bass a proposal showing how Measure ULA could be legally suspended. By then, Bass had tapped former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg to work on a bill overhauling Measure ULA, not only to aid fire victims but to spur housing construction citywide.

Three months later, near the end of the legislative session in Sacramento, Bass persuaded some L.A.-based lawmakers to carry the bill, infuriating affordable housing advocates who accused her of attempting an end run around voters.

But right before a key hearing, Bass announced she was withdrawing the bill, which had been submitted so late that it missed the deadline for lawmakers to make changes.

Bass said city leaders are now working to identify other pathways for suspending ULA in the Palisades.

Meanwhile, her push for permit relief is also a work in progress.

In April, a few days after her State of the City speech, Bass issued an emergency order suspending the collection of permit fees while the council drafted the law she requested. If the law isn’t enacted, fire victims will have to pay the fees that are currently suspended.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who sits on the council’s powerful budget committee, said Bass’ team did not contact him before she issued her order.

“When I read that, my first thought was: ‘That’s great. How are we gonna pay for that?’” he said.

Bass issued a second emergency order in May, expanding the fee waivers to include every structure that burned. By October, some council members were voicing alarms over the cost, warning it could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on the details.

Palisades residents called that estimate grossly inflated. On Dec. 2, dozens of them showed up at City Hall to urge the council to pass legislation covering every residential building that burned — not just single-family homes and duplexes, a concept favored by some on the council.

Council members, still struggling to identify the cost, sent the proposal back to the budget committee for more deliberations, which will spill into next year because of the holiday break.

Bass defended her handling of the issue, saying she used her “political heft” to move it forward. At the same time, she declined to say how far-reaching the relief should be.

Asked whether the Palisades should be spared from permit fees for grading, pools or retaining walls, she responded: “I can’t say that,” calling such details “minutiae.”

“What I wanted to see happen was, all fees that were possible to be waived should be waived,” she said.

Hank Wright, whose four-bedroom home on Lachman Lane burned to the ground, remains frustrated with the city, saying he doesn’t understand why Bass was unable to lock down the votes.

“She has not been the point person that I wanted her to be,” he said. “I don’t think she has been able to corral that bureaucracy.”