Snow White Cottages<\/a> in Los Feliz, lovingly named for their fairytale-like architecture, where Smith once lived.<\/p>\nFisher said the cottages were run down when the musician moved in. One of her sources said a raccoon threw a roof shingle at Smith\u2019s head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was more of an apartment than a house really. And it was this little community that was tight knit at the time,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n
The Roost<\/p>\n
The Roost Cocktails
3100 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles<\/p>\n
On Los Feliz Boulevard, just across the 5 Freeway, is the beloved dive bar The Roost in Atwater Village, a joint Smith memorialized on his album Figure 8 \u2014 as a fade out on the track “In the Lost and Found (Honky Beach)\/The Roost.”<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just this little nod,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cHe was always folding the places and people he loved into his music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back in the \u201890s, the place was more of a working-class joint, and one of the more overlooked bars Smith had a penchant for, Fisher said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the bartenders there who really loved Elliott owns it now,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n
Largo<\/p>\n
Largo at the Coronet
366 N La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles<\/p>\n
Then, of course, there\u2019s Largo at its old Fairfax location. Fisher said it was a huge part of Smith\u2019s life starting in the late \u201890s, when he spent late nights playing piano with fellow musician Jon Brion.<\/p>\n
New Monkey<\/p>\n
Motor on over to Van Nuys for New Monkey, a music studio Smith founded where artists are still recording to this day.<\/p>\n
Fisher said you can also find equipment that was used to record his final album, From a Basement on the Hill.<\/p>\n
Fisher said Smith put the studio together at a point when he was struggling with addiction, in the last years of his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really hard for him to write music, but buying broken equipment and repairing it and putting the studio together was something he could focus his energy into,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Smith wanted New Monkey, Fisher said, to be a place where musicians could affordably access some of the best recording equipment available.<\/p>\n
As Smith lived with addiction and other personal issues, he was mentoring younger musicians and making a lifelong impression on artists such as Jim Fairchild from Modest Mouse and Grandaddy, and Aaron Espinoza from Earlimart.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was so generous with his time,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cHe would show up to Earlimart shows and stand right in the front row and make them all extremely nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fisher said she\u2019d braced herself for writing the last chapters of the book about the final years of Smith\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
In 2003, Smith died from two stab wounds in his chest \u2014 and the case is still open.<\/p>\n
Fisher said that despite his addiction and mental health struggles, she was surprised by the many \u201cmoments of light\u201d during his time in L.A., from his love of cooking to his mentorship of other musicians and his work on New Monkey.<\/p>\n
Figure 8 wall<\/p>\n
![\"Mural](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790428209_479_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
(<\/p>\n
Courtesy FMLY used with permission<\/p>\n
)<\/p>\n
Figure 8 wall
4334 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles<\/p>\n
The go-to spot for fans to remember Smith is still standing in L.A. \u2014 the Figure 8 wall in Silver Lake<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe mural of bending red and black lines famously became the cover art for the Figure 8 album.<\/p>\n
More than two decades after his death, the wall is still alive with new memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always new notes from people saying, like, Elliott saved their life or quoting their favorite lyric or saying they wished he was still here,\u201d Fisher said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elliott Smith’s LA: The places where the musician’s legacy lives on Robert Garrova has the story. During a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[187185,187187,48,52,51,47,50,187188,49,187186],"class_list":["post-476453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-elliott-smith","tag-elliott-smith-biography","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-music-scene","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-the-largo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=476453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/476453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/476454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=476453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=476453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=476453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}