Call us curious: Mind if we come in?

Late in his writing life, F. Scott Fitzgerald conjured a broken, derelict screenwriter named Pat Hobby, a “scenario hack” on a Hollywood lot in the era after silents. In one of the “Pat Hobby Stories,” he takes two tourists on a tour of the stars’ homes -- without telling the stars he’s coming. Ronald Colman’s house is locked and Shirley Temple’s is fortressed by gates, so Hobby tries a house next door.

“There was no answer to his ring but he saw that the door was partly ajar,” Fitzgerald writes. “Cautiously he pushed it open. He was staring into a deserted living room on the baronial scale. He listened. There was no one about, no footsteps on the upper floor, no murmur from the kitchen.”

There is a bit of Hobby in many of us Angelenos -- people who want to nudge open the doors of homes and tour the inside. Are we voyeurs? That word is so judgmental, when really what we’re talking about is a kind of compulsive curiosity. It’s not like we want to hunt in medicine cabinets.

It’s just that we, the obsessed, really want to see your house. Why? Because we’re competitively curious. Because if you live in Los Angeles you are constantly bombarded by the outrageousness of housing prices, and people talking about how they can’t afford to buy a house or, if they did buy one, how much their house has appreciated in just 18 short months.

So we try to keep up. We want to know whether you’ve updated your kitchen, how you’ve updated the kitchen, what is original to your kitchen. We don’t necessarily care who you are, and we won’t stay long. But we want to see the refurbished tile in the courtyard of your Spanish mission, the clean lines and exposed beams of the home in the Hollywood Hills that’s a classic international. If we are jealous, even viciously so, we promise to keep it to ourselves.

Your home, you see, is not just your home but an entertainment destination -- as much a pastime here as museum-going or shopping or a walk on the beach.

Let’s face it, L.A. isn’t Europe, with its abundance of grand public halls and centuries-old churches. In terms of museums or public spaces, L.A. isn’t New York or Chicago either. Instead we have people’s houses. The history of these places may not run as deep as a Gothic cathedral in Italy, but that doesn’t make us any less curious. And so, private homes -- as big as Hearst Castle and as small as a Craftsman bungalow -- have become, in a way, our museums.

Unofficial museums, usually requiring some sort of admission. Like the excuse of an open house. Ostensibly, Realtors conduct open houses to corral potential buyers in bulk. But with this bulk come people much more interested in the fact that the house is open than for sale.

“We call them looky-loos,” Betsy Goldman of Venice Properties says. “Especially neighbors. Neighbors always want to know what is happening in their neighborhood.”

Open houses are a “social compass,” says Samuel D. Gosling, professor of psychology at the University of Texas who has studied how home decor reflects personality. Getting into someone’s house, he says, gives one an opportunity to self-explore. “Where do I fit in the social hierarchy, and what might I be able to reach for? The home is symbolic of the self in a way that other things aren’t,” he says.

Some of us can get this buzz from a remove. By watching Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” for instance, with its wish fulfillment through home and self improvement, brought to you by five gay men with a credit card.

Others, however, need to go further. Much, much further.

Shortly after Ronda Whaley and her husband moved into a townhouse in the new Playa Vista development, they began to get unexpected visitors. It seemed that people touring model homes in the development couldn’t stop at the “model” part.

“The weirdest feeling is, you’re in your house and you hear people trying to open your door,” Whaley says. “Your first [reaction] is panic, like someone’s trying to get in your house. Indeed they were.”

Whaley and her husband would find people pressing their faces to the window; one woman felt compelled to tap on the kitchen window, apparently testing the glass.

“They weren’t apologetic,” Whaley says of the intruders. In fact, some accosted her, demanding to know how they’d landed a spot in the first building of an expanding development.

Cousin of the open house, or the not-so-open house, is the estate sale. The estate sale is like the open house, except here the looky-loo also gets to see all the home’s contents organized and put out for display, priced to move.

I have experienced the estate sale from both sides -- as a looky-loo and as someone whose childhood home had been converted into such a sale. For obvious reasons, estate sale organizers recommend that the homeowner and family members not be present during the two or three days that an estate sale is occurring.

Speaking from personal experience, this is understandable: Before the sale began, I walked the rooms of a house that contained a lifetime of memories in a state of numbness. Not only had closets of what can only be called “stuff” been neatly organized and displayed on shelves, but now the stuff had price tags. That metal horsie I’d won at Circus Circus in Las Vegas as a child? It was now going for two or three bucks, I can’t remember which.

Of course, some houses are so big or grandiose that you can’t hope to gain access on the pretext of an open house or an estate sale.

Recently, for instance, I went to Hearst Castle in San Simeon for the first time. The house is so big we were encouraged to take the $18 Experience Tour for first-timers. It was raining and windswept when we arrived at the welcome center. There was a large souvenir shop and food court. We boarded trams that took us up a long and winding hill.

The Experience Tour, however, turned out to be a mistake. Yeah, we got to see Casa Grande, the mammoth living room where Hearst entertained guests, and we got to see the Neptune pool and the indoor Roman pool, with its resplendent 1-inch-square mosaic tiles.

But we never got to go upstairs. I wanted to see where Hearst slept, where he and Marion Davies fought, where they dined.

To fully appreciate Hearst Castle, no doubt, it helped to live there when Hearst was using the place as his private idyll. And so, beginning this month and continuing through May, Hearst Castle offers its more expansive Living History Program. Every Friday and Saturday night, “docents in elegant vintage clothing will recreate the social life of Mr. Hearst’s guests, lounging by the magnificent Neptune Pool or playing cards in the Assembly Room,” the website says. “Other docents portray household staff attending to the needs of Mr. Hearst’s guests.”

Another version of this fantasy, closer to home, is the chamber music series from the Da Camera Society of Mount St. Mary’s College. These are concerts held on historic grounds, including the Doheny Mansion, located on the Mount St. Mary’s campus.

“French Chateauesque influenced by Gothic, English Tudor and even California Mission elements,” the Da Camera website says of its architectural makeup. This month in the Doheny soirees series: Vienna’s Artis String Quartet, on March 26.

“I’m not there to snoop,” says my friend Zelda, who has toured her share of L.A. homes by going to estate sales and taking historic house tours offered by nonprofit groups, including the Assistance League of Southern California, the L.A. County Museum of Art and the American Institute of Architecture.

She has wandered the rooms of sprawling Beverly Hills homes in plastic booties (estate sale wear) and seen inside houses designed by John Lautner, the innovative mid-century architect. “To me it’s like someone who goes to a museum to see a painting,” Zelda says. “I love the creativity of the designers.”

That respect is felt by the owners.

“When people come into these houses, their voices actually drop,” says Planaria Price.

Price and her husband, Murray Burns, own several of the stately Victorian homes that line Carroll Avenue in Echo Park. Burns credits the popularity of home tours with helping to preserve his neighborhood: When a developer wanted to build a 27-unit condo project at the foot of Carrolll Avenue, a petition was circulated. Now, his street is a designated historic district.

Burns and Price, in turn, have grown accustomed to the notion that their homes also function as museums.

Two of their Victorians are regular stops on tours conducted by the Los Angeles Conservancy. And that doesn’t include more impromptu visitors.

Sometimes, Burns says, “I come home from work and there are Brownies all over the house.”

Schoolchildren, not the dessert.

Next month, the L.A. Conservancy will offer its third annual HPOZ Tour, which showcases homes in so-called Historic Preservation Overlay Zones. General admission is $30. This year’s tour includes Whitley Heights, an area of Spanish Colonial Revivals in the hills above the Hollywood Bowl, and Melrose Hill, a small neighborhood of Arts and Crafts bungalows above Melrose between Western Avenue and Hobart Boulevard.

Of course, for the owners, it’s one thing to open your home to a tour, another to realize hundreds of people are about to troop through your house and you haven’t put away your dirty socks.

“We had certain projects we wanted to finish before people came through,” says Amy Skjonsby, an art director on the NBC sitcom “Frasier.” Skjonsby and her husband, Chris Winslow, live in a Highland Park Craftsman that was on an HPOZ tour last year. Their home was built in 1911 and designed by Meyer and Holler, the architectural firm once known as the Milwaukee Building Company, which designed some of L.A.’s grandest commercial structures, including the Egyptian and Mann’s Chinese movie palaces on Hollywood Boulevard.

Before receiving visitors, Skjonsby and Winslow brought in a cleaning person and hired window washers. They also “cleared out some personal clutter that most people didn’t need to see,” as Skjonsby put it. The tour didn’t include the upstairs.

“We like to go on home tours and want them to keep going,” Skjonsby says. “To me, it’s research and historical and interesting.”

But home tours are only the most traditional way to gain access. What can make a home tour especially inviting is the chance to get beyond the walls of homes you’ve long wanted to see. Like in Venice, where they now hold an annual garden tour and an architectural tour, offering people a chance to see the inside of the tucked-away homes on Venice’s walk streets, among other neighborhoods.

Goldman, the Venice Realtor who also leads tours of vintage homes, says: “One of the things that I think is most interesting about Venice is you have a lot of tall fences and walls, and it’s amazing what you will find behind them.”

Indeed. It’s apparently innate to our species, this need to get beyond the tall fences and walls.

“We live in cities of 5 million people, rather than villages of 100 or less,” notes Gosling of the University of Texas. “We’re incredibly interested in the people around us, so we can determine where we stand.”

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Looky-loo heaven

TOURS

Highland Park

The Los Angeles Conservancy offers quarterly tours of the Sycamore Grove area of Highland Park, which includes the Victorian home formerly known as the Ziegler Estate. Saturday, 1 p.m. Also June 12, Sept. 11 and Dec. 11. $8. (213) 623-2489 or www.laconservancy.org.

“Wallace Neff: An Architectural Legend,” Pasadena

Pasadena Heritage sponsors a tour of six private homes designed by Wallace Neff, who was renowned for Mediterranean Revival houses. $32.50 in advance; $35 day of tour; $27.50, members. March 28, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (626) 441-6333 or www.pasadenaheritage.org.

Walker Building, Kress Lofts, Long Beach

More than 15 lofts and penthouses in two historic Pine Avenue buildings will be open. April 2, 5 to 9 p.m. $35. Reservations required. (562) 493-7019.

Angelino Heights

The Los Angeles Conservancy leads walking tours of the Victorian homes in this hilltop neighborhood northwest of downtown. April 3 and the first Saturday of each month at 10 a.m. $8. (213) 623-2489 or www.laconservancy.org.

Downtown Lofts

Tour of new loft-style apartments in downtown L.A., including the Pegasus, Santee Court, Orpheum Lofts, Little Tokyo Lofts and the Higgins Building. April 3 and 17, 9 a.m. to noon. Reservations required. (213) 624-2146 or www.downtownla.com.

Palm Springs

The Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter hosts its annual Palm Springs Weekend, a tour of residences by architects such as William Cody, Stewart Williams and John Lautner. April 3, 10 a.m. $165. (800) 972-4722 or www.sahscc.org.

Los Angeles

“At Home With History: Exploring Los Angeles’ Historic Preservation Overlay Zones” is a self-driving tour of five neighborhoods -- Melrose Hill, Spaulding Square, West Adams Terrace, Whitley Heights and University Park -- with an open house in each locale. April 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $30; $25, members. Reservations required. (213) 430-4219 or www.laconservancy.org.

Bungalow Heaven, Pasadena

Eight Arts and Crafts-style homes will be on view in Pasadena’s first Landmark District. $12 in advance; $15 day of tour; children under 12 free. April 25, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (626) 585-2172 or www.bungalowheaven.org.

Venice Garden Tour

The self-guided tour includes 25 gardens and landscaped yards in the Milwood neighborhood and east of Lincoln Boulevard. May 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Begins at Las Doradas Children’s Center, 804 Broadway. $50. (310) 577-6668.

AIA Los Angeles Home Tour

The American Institute of Architects’ annual home tours typically feature four contemporary works by local architects. Two self-driven tours, May 16 and June 27, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with docents at each house. $60; $100 for both tours. (213) 639-0777 or www.aialosangeles.org.

La Canada Flintridge

Self-driving tour of five homes, including a Tuscan-style villa and a classic California ranch. May 7, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. $30 in advance; $35 the day of the event. Pick up maps the morning of the tour. (818) 790-0419.

Ojai

The Society of Architectural Historians/Southern California Chapter leads a tour of the homes designed by architect Rodney Walker, best known for his case study houses in Southern California. May 22, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. $70. (800) 972-4722 or www.sahscc.org.

Historic Highlands Home Tour, Pasadena

Six houses of varying architectural styles, each built in the early part of the last century. $12.50 in advance; $15 day of tour. May 30, noon to 4 p.m. (626) 797-1910 or www.historichighlands.com.

Castle Green, Pasadena

Built in 1899 as a grand hotel, the structure is now home to condominiums and apartments. Several of these, as well as the ballroom, main salon and Moorish and Turkish rooms, will be on view. $20. June 6, 1 to 5 p.m. (626) 577-6765 or www.castlegreen.com.

Garfield Heights, Pasadena

A tour of this historic district features Craftsman-style houses from the early 1900s as well as Mission Revival and Victorian-era homes. $12 in advance, $15 day of tour. Aug. 29, 3 to 7 p.m. (626) 797-3110 or www.garfieldheights.org.

OTHER HOMES

Eames House

The private residence in the Pacific Palisades was built by designers Charles and Ray Eames in 1949 as part of Art & Architecture magazine’s Case Study housing experiment. It’s still used by the Eames family, but people can tour the exterior, by appointment only, weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free. 203/205 Chautauqua Blvd., but call or see website for parking information. (310) 459-9663 or www.eamesoffice.com.

Ennis Brown House

This 1924 textile block house is classic Frank Lloyd Wright: stunning windows, low entryway, soaring public living spaces. It’s also in need of constant restoration. Late owner Augustus O. Brown donated it to a nonprofit, which leads the work and offers guided tours on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. $20. Call for reservation and directions. (323) 660-0607 or www.ennisbrownhouse.org.

Schindler House/MAK Center

The funky little home and studio of architect Rudolf Schindler now houses the MAK Center for Art and Architecture L.A. Tours Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m. and 12:30, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. $5. 835 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood. (323) 651-1510 or www.makcenter.org.

Gamble House

This Greene and Greene masterwork was built for the Gamble family of pharmaceutical fame. Tours Thursday through Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. $8; $5 for seniors; 12 and under, free. A 2 1/2-hour tour, offered monthly, is next Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. $40. Reservations required. 4 Westmoreland Place, Pasadena. (626) 793-3334 or www.gamblehouse.org.

Hollyhock House’

This Wright was built in 1921 for eccentric heiress Aline Barnsdall. The interior is undergoing restoration, but tours of the exterior are available Saturdays and Sundays, at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m., and Wednesday through Friday, noon-4 p.m., by appointment. $5; $3 seniors and students; under 12, free. 4800 Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz. (323) 644-6269 or www.hollyhockhouse.net.

CONCERTS

Chamber Music in Historic Sites

This popular series, organized by the Da Camera Society, calls itself a “movable musical feast.” The April 4 concert at a private home in Sierra Madre is sold out, but there’s one April 18 in a restored Silver Lake warehouse, and April 25 at the strikingly modern Sadowsky House in the Pacific Palisades. They also host a series in the ornate Doheny Mansion on the Mount St. Mary’s College campus (next up: the Artis String Quartet, March 26). (213) 477-2929 or www.dacamera.org.

Pacific Serenades

This chamber music series places its emphasis on commissioning new work and presenting it in intimate settings. That means the first of three performances is always in a private home. Next concerts: April 24, 25 and 27. $45 for private home concerts; $28 for others. (213) 534-3434 or www.pacser.org.