I’ve been following the Heritage Square Museum on Instagram for a while now so when I was finally able to visit a few weeks ago I was very excited to check it out, especially during October! They had a bunch of Halloween decorations. I had looked up beforehand how accessible the museum was for wheelchair users and on their website they say that they welcome anyone with disabilities, but they did explain that people will have to navigate a large stretch of gravel. This will depend on the disability that someone has and what their assistive devices let them do. I immediately looked up my wheelchair and the types of ground it was able to get across. I found that someone with my same model of Quantum Stretto was able to go over gravel, but packed dirt or decomposed granite are recommended.
Here’s a view of the gravel path looking back at the houses toward the end of the path.
When we first arrived, I noticed that the sidewalk that goes from the dirt parking lot to the museum entrance didn’t have a ramp. At first I thought that I’d have to forgo what I had been looking forward to for so long. My mom went into the visitor’s center and they were able to open another parking lot that was behind a gate that was only for handicap parking. We parked and we made our way into the outdoor museum.
The homes that are included in the museum are set at the end of a street and are behind a fence where they’ve created their own mini neighborhood. There are some brick walkways, but not all of them are connected in a way that was easy for me to get from one house to another so I ended up using the grass which was over dirt that wasn’t too squishy so that worked out. I’ve found that squishy/soft surfaces and a 420 pound power wheelchair do not mix well therefore smooth cement is really the ideal wheeling surface! The grass and parts of the gravel road were what I used to get from one house to the next.
Behind some of the houses, there were walkways that were very much appreciated! While all of the houses had steps to get in for interior tours, it was still so much fun to see the exteriors.
Overall, I was very impressed with Heritage Square. I love old homes and seeing the houses that I’ve only seen on Instagram up until then was very fun. I even saw Belle Boy from afar, the resident cat who is featured on their Instagram. I totally recommend stopping by the museum if you live in or are visiting Los Angeles. Just remember they’re only open Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm.
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