Boyle Heights was at the core of Jewish life in Los Angeles during the late 1800s and early 1900s, and the Fairfax District could claim that title until the 1980s. But the spiritual heartland of the Jewish community is now in Pico-Robertson.
Western Heights -- southwest of Koreatown and bounded today by Washington Boulevard, the Santa Monica Freeway and Arlington and Western avenues -- began modestly, when the first cottage was built in 1903 or '04. In addition to the wealthy local professionals who built there and in similar neighborhoods nearby, business titans from the Midwest and East Coast who liked to summer in Southern California built there too.
Architects including Wallace Neff and Lloyd Wright built in a variety of styles while preserving the essential character of the neighborhood - an upscale charm that survives to this day. Every popular style of the 1920s can be found in Hancock Park, which makes it one of those magical L.A. places where movies that are set around the world can be filmed, all without leaving the 30-mile zone.
Located just upstream from where the Arroyo Seco and Los Angeles River merge, Mount Washington has been home base to a former mayor, a world-famous yogi and the official witch of Los Angeles County. The Arroyo Seco - which, after all, begins near a place called Devil's' Gate - has always been a location known for the offbeat, a neighborhood that was keeping it weird before Portland, Ore., or Austin, Texas, ever was.
I don't have kids yet, but every time my siblings visit me from Las Vegas, I'm reminded of how difficult it is to keep teenagers entertained (and off their phones). But it sounds like your boys have some cool interests. We've put together a few mini itineraries in different neighborhoods. You won't be able to cover them all in one day, so choose your own adventure.