The interior of the auditorium featured open trusses, exposed rafters and utilitarian metal light fixtures to lend authenticity to the building. Murals of cowboys and cattle along the side walls added a touch of Hollywood.
This aerial view of "Five Points", an important junction in El Monte, shows the siteýs potential for future commercial development in a thinly populated area.
One of Leeýs few realized "theme" theatres (as in "theme" restaurant), the Tumbleweed recreates for recent immigrants to Los Angeles the farmstead of the Great Plains. Built on a large site in the rural suburb of El Monte, the theatreýs auditorium takes the form of a Midwestern barn, with buttress-like dormers. To attract attention to the theatre, Lee used the form of the Plains windmill, a feature used at every farm to pump water from an underground well. Note on reverse: "Architectýs original conceptionýNote how closely the finished building matches the rendering."
Lee illuminated the "barn" to highlight its forms in light and dark. The windmill tower with its illuminated revolving wheel attracted attention from afar, while the tower structure was used to display the name of the theatre. For good measure, a standard box sign on a pylon was added at the street frontage.
