HCM #162 · William Mulholland Memorial Fountain · 3424 N. Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027 · Declared October 6, 1976 · Dedicated August 1, 1940
By Debbie Pisaro, Real Estate Salesperson, DRE #01369110 · Inman Luxury Leader
Where the Mulholland Fountain is, and what it marks
The Mulholland Fountain sits on the triangle where Riverside Drive meets Los Feliz Boulevard, at the southeast corner of Griffith Park. For anyone coming into the park from Los Feliz or Silver Lake, it is the front door: the Griffith Park Pool, the tennis courts and the rest of South Griffith Park start just behind it.
The site was chosen on purpose. William Mulholland once lived here in a one-room wooden shack, working as a ditch tender for the city's water department and keeping the zanja madre, Los Angeles' main water ditch, clear of weeds and debris. He taught himself civil engineering on the job.
A landmark to the man who brought water to California's largest city
Mulholland went on to build the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which opened in 1913 and carried Owens Valley water more than 230 miles south. It is one of the great engineering works in California history, and it is the reason the city could grow into the hills that now surround this corner. The fountain is a small memorial to a project that remade the map of the state.
Walter S. Claberg designed the fountain, and it was dedicated on August 1, 1940. It soon became known as the “Kool-Aid” fountain because of the way colored lights illuminated the water at night. The City of Los Angeles declared it Historic-Cultural Monument #162 on October 6, 1976. LADWP, which owns it, gave it aesthetic restorations in 1998 and 2013.
Why the fountain is dry
In 2021 the fountain's equipment room flooded, causing extensive damage to its electrical and mechanical systems. It has been drained and fenced since. LADWP's restoration project will upgrade and modernize the fountain's working components, and the Eastsider has reported that finding a design consultant with historic-fountain expertise, a narrow specialty, slowed the work. The schedule has already moved once, so the reliable source for dates is LADWP's restoration project page.
The park corner around it
The fountain is one piece of a larger corner in transition. The Department of Recreation and Parks is preparing a South Griffith Park Master Plan for the park's southernmost section, which takes in the Griffith Park Pool, Friendship Auditorium, the Griffith Park Adult Center, the Los Feliz Nursery School, the tennis courts, a synthetic-turf soccer field, a children's playground and temporary Bridge Home housing. Its scope also covers transportation and circulation, which is where parking for a rebuilt pool will get worked out.
The biggest single project is the pool. The 1927 Municipal Plunge, once the largest public pool in Los Angeles, has sat empty since 2020; I cover the rebuild in detail in what the Griffith Park Pool rebuild means for Los Feliz. For buyers near Riverside Drive, the practical step is simple: before writing an offer, pull the current schedules from Recreation and Parks and LADWP, because both projects have shifted before. For the day-to-day picture, see living next to Griffith Park in Los Feliz.
I play tennis across the street from the fountain, and I see quinceañera and wedding photos being taken there all the time. Closed or not, it is still the backdrop this corner of Los Angeles chooses for its biggest days.
Living near a landmark in Los Feliz
Los Feliz has more than 50 designated Historic-Cultural Monuments, and the fountain is one of the few that is a public work rather than a house. It belongs with the Shakespeare Bridge and the Los Feliz Heights steps: civic landmarks that set the character of the streets around them. The neighborhood's houses carry the same history, from Edward Fickett's Jacobson House at 4520 Dundee Drive to the Seyler House, a Spanish Colonial Revival that shows what the neighborhood's 1920s stock looks like up close. The full list is in my Los Feliz historic homes guide.
Buyers who look for this kind of setting shop California's landmark neighborhoods, from Pasadena to Palm Springs to Montecito, and they come from out of state to do it. If you own or are buying a designated home, read how HCM designation affects home value in Los Feliz first. For the neighboring housing stock to the south, see my Silver Lake architecture guide.
Questions about the Mulholland Fountain
Where is the Mulholland Fountain in Los Feliz?
The William Mulholland Memorial Fountain is at 3424 N. Riverside Drive, Los Angeles 90027, where Riverside Drive meets Los Feliz Boulevard. It sits on the triangle at the southeast entrance to Griffith Park, steps from the Griffith Park Pool and the park's tennis courts. For drivers coming up Los Feliz Boulevard or Riverside Drive, it marks the edge of the park and the start of South Griffith Park.
Is the Mulholland Fountain a historic landmark?
Yes. The fountain is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #162, declared on October 6, 1976. It was designed by Walter S. Claberg and dedicated on August 1, 1940, as a memorial to William Mulholland. It is one of more than 50 designated Historic-Cultural Monuments in Los Feliz, and one of the few that is a public work rather than a house.
Why is the Mulholland Fountain turned off?
The fountain's equipment room flooded in 2021, which caused extensive damage to its electrical and mechanical systems, and it has been drained and fenced since. LADWP, which owns the fountain, runs a restoration project to upgrade and modernize its working components. For the current schedule, check LADWP's William Mulholland Memorial Fountain Restoration Project page, because the start date has already moved once.
Why is it called the Kool-Aid fountain?
Soon after its 1940 dedication, the Mulholland Fountain picked up the nickname the “Kool-Aid” fountain because of the way colored lights illuminated its water at night. The fountain sits at the corner of Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard, so for decades the colored night display was something Angelenos saw from the car on the way into Griffith Park.
Why is the fountain at Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard?
The fountain was built approximately where William Mulholland once lived in a one-room wooden shack while working as a ditch tender, keeping the city's main water ditch, the zanja madre, clear. He taught himself civil engineering there and went on to build the Los Angeles Aqueduct, so the memorial stands where his career began.
Thinking about buying or selling near Griffith Park? A lot of my work is off market. Ask me about private inventory in Los Feliz and Silver Lake, or start with my guide to selling a home in Los Feliz.
Also looking at branded residences? From Beverly Hills to Malibu, I track the Aman, Four Seasons and other branded projects across California. Tell me what you are looking for.
Sources: LADWP, William Mulholland Memorial Fountain Restoration Project; Los Feliz Improvement Association, 3424 N. Riverside Drive: William Mulholland Memorial Fountain; The Eastsider, Mulholland Fountain repairs face years of delays; Los Angeles Recreation and Parks, Griffith Park planning; Historical Marker Database, William Mulholland Memorial Fountain.
Debbie Pisaro, Real Estate Salesperson, DRE #01369110. Inman Luxury Leader. Many of the homes she sells never reach the open market. Coastline 840 is a DBA of Side, Inc., CA DRE #02014153.