Nestled in the Hollywood Hills is a Los Angeles landmark that's tough to get into: The Magic Castle. A blue-grey Victorian style mansion with curved turrets, it looks like a place an animated princess might call home.
"It's one of the greatest places in Los Angeles," said Altadena resident Luke Bilyk, who has visited a few times. He calls it a labyrinth inside, a mansion of mazes.
Magicians from all over the world go to the Magic Castle to hone their craft and entertain members of the exclusive Academy of Magical Arts, where invite-only magic is practiced nightly.
"Our clubhouse is very unique in that you have to be invited by a member to come in. It's a very difficult ticket. And we've been doing it for 62 years," said Paul Green, who practices close-up magic at the castle.
This Los Angeles cultural institution was almost lost to fires last week.
"If the wind was blowing in the wrong direction or the other direction, I would say the Magic Castle would be gone," Magic Castle General Manager Herve Levy said.
The castle opened its parking lot to the public as part of the multi-pronged effort to support the tens of thousands of wildfire evacuees and victims across the county.
That includes people like the Bilyk family, displaced by the fires and unable to return home.
"As far as we know, [our house] is still standing, but we don't have any access to it, and reading the toxicology reports for the area, we're very concerned that we won't be able to have any belongings come out of that house," said Nicole Bilyk.
The Bilyks picked up socks, shoes and warm clothes from the tables of donations laid out in the lot. But the Magic Castle wasn't just one of the many donation drop-off and pickup centers responding to the disaster. It also became a community refuge for the day. With an ice cream truck, balloon artists, and of course, magicians wandering the lot with tricks.
"We all have something that we can give back," magician Green said. "We want to put a smile on their face. We wanna take them away from their troubles for just a few minutes."
Liz Baker produced the audio story.
Copyright 2025 NPR
