Building a stream in Silver Lake

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When Arlene Battisill and Desiree Estrada decided to rip out the tangle of ivy and juniper bushes that choked off their house from their Silver Lake neighborhood’s active street life, their frontyard became a meeting place.

That’s because along with new landscaping, the couple put in a lively burbling brook that runs through the 980-square-foot frontyard. Now nannies bring toddlers to splash in the water, and the couple will often come home to teenagers with their pants legs rolled up, wading in the stream.

Battisill and Estrada shut down the stream during the week to conserve electricity, but even when the recirculating water pumps are turned off, the dry riverbed, calm pond and serene flora maintain their allure. ‘It’s still pretty, and people still stop by,’ said Estrada, who admits that it took a while to get used to people wandering through the yard. ‘But now it’s nice,’ she said. ‘It reminds you of times past, when people left their doors open.’

See more pictures of the creek on Tesla Avenue.

-- Anne Harnagel

Photo credit: Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times