#SoCaltech: Ilana Gustafson
“I lived in a historic building. It was built by Frank B. Nightingale, who’s considered the godfather of decorative outdoor lighting. In the 1920s, he came to LA and created this beautiful series of buildings. On the property was his factory, and I lived on the top floor of it. That space had originally been a showroom, and he would invite movie stars over—Marilyn Monroe had even been there. He was also a magician. He used to throw these parties on the property, not just to show off his lighting but to orchestrate the whole thing like a theatrical event. People would walk a certain path, lights would turn on in sequence, and then there’d be music and dancing in the space that eventually became my apartment.
“One of the other things he built was this giant star. The property backs right up against the Angeles National Forest—at the end of a road, nestled up against the mountain. Behind the house he lived in is this big hill you can see from the Altadena flatlands. That’s where he built the original star, made of wood, and you could see it all the way from Christmas Tree Lane before the deodar trees got too tall.
“Over time, the property changed hands, and the star fell into disrepair. But then, in the ’90s, my landlord, Phil Elkins, bought the place with a few friends and moved in. He didn’t even discover the star for years. One day, he was walking up the hill and saw it just lying there flat on the ground. Once he learned its history, he and some volunteers worked to restore it.
It turned into this beloved icon in Altadena. My landlord would light it for other moments, too—during the COVID lockdown, when the war in Ukraine started, for all kinds of occasions—as a symbol of hope.
“Even though the property has since burned down and the utilities that powered the star are gone, he still wants to light it again—to give hope to Altadena. I was able to connect him with some Caltech engineers and former students, and they’re working with him now to keep it lit with solar panels or something similar. For me, the star has deep personal meaning, but it also means something to the community. It's a symbol—of resilience, of trying to keep Altadena lit and alive during a time of so much transition.
“My neighbors were this vibrant mix of people—artists, teachers, folks who worked at PCC, Caltech, or JPL. Living there felt like a dream. I was just 15 minutes from work, driving straight up Lake Avenue to this little wooded oasis with bears and bobcats. It’s hard to use the past tense—but ‘was.’
“I had a trail cam next to the star, so I knew all our nonhuman neighbors, too. To go from this prestigious institution where I work—where I love to work—to this quiet, secret little world, it felt like magic. And that’s the thing about Altadena. For those of us who figured out how to live there, it felt like a secret. Now the world knows about Altadena, but I don't know that they did before the fire.”
Ilana Gustafson is the public events specialist in the Office of Communications and External Relations at Caltech and manages the Caltech Watson Lectures, bringing the wonder of Caltech research and discovery to the public.