The Hollywood Chamber of commerce in an undated pamphlet.

I n 1925, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce recognized the need for a stylish permanent home in which to promote the business and life of their fair city. Said headquarters should be fashionable and up-to-date without too much sizzle, an elegant representative of a classy and growing city.

Begun in 1921, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce lacked a settled home base. The organization first rented space at 6553 Hollywood Blvd. in 1921 after its formation, right in the heart of Hollywood. The Chamber later moved to 6530 Hollywood Blvd. in 1923 while it considered locations and opportunities and carried on the work of promoting business in Hollywood, organizing drives for better roads, transportation, and infrastructure.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, as shown in the Dec. 6, 1925, Los Angeles Times.

George, Coffin, President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and member of the Los Angeles Realty Board, hunted appropriate locations on which to construct a handsome home for the 1100 member organization. The April 1, 1925 Los Angeles Times notes that a committee was organized to discuss size, location, and cost of the building, composed of people like Coffin, Carl Bush, Secretary of the Chamber, Gilbert Beesemyer, Parker Foster, and George Eastman, among others. In late 1925, the Chamber acquired 6520 Sunset Blvd. on which to build their striking new headquarters, hiring renowned Los Angeles architectural firm Morgan, Walls, & Clements to design a suitable structure.

On November 3, 1925, the William Simpson Construction Co. applied for a building permit to construct a 50 x 150 foot, two story $40,000 Class C building at 6522 Sunset Blvd. (later 6520 Sunset Blvd.) for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The two story building would rise from a concrete concert foundation and be composed of wood, with composition floors in the concrete and wood interior.

The December 6 newspaper reported that the building, located across the street from the Hollywood Athletic Club, would contain offices, stage, and auditorium on the first floor, with a large assembly room on the second floor in which it planned to screen daily motion picture exhibitions of “Hollywood municipal activities.”

The company applied for an altered permit on December 11, stating that the side walls would be constructed of 13” brick instead of 12” reinforced concrete, with steel beams constructed between the H. columns to carry the weight of the upper half of the walls. The rear wall and side wall returns would also be constructed of brick instead of concrete, at 17” instead of 13” like the sides. This permit claims the building to be one story, and now 50 x 145 feet.

To add pizzazz to the somewhat simple structure, the architects designed an elaborate Churrigueresque ornamental pediment over the front entrance to the Chamber Building. Emerging as decoration in Spain in the late 17th century in the Spanish Baroque style, it featured elaborate sculptural and decorative elements over the entrance to the front facades of buildings, composed of garlands, cornices, shells, and broken pediments, all meant to attract attention. The style was revived in the mid-1910s when Mission Revival and Spanish Revival architecture exploded around the Pan Pacific Expositions in San Diego and San Francisco.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce organized a dignified opening ceremony on July 14, 1926 for its grand new headquarters. The large banquet featured Hollywood Methodist Church pastor Dr. Willis Martin delivering the welcome and dedication, with Chamber President Frank Galloway presiding over festivities in the $75,000 building’s large auditorium. City, county, and state officials would give short talks, along with past presidents of the Chamber. The Hollywood Athletic Club Orchestra, Rotary Club quartet, and pianist Celeste Nellis Ryus would provide entertainment.

6520 Sunset Blvd., via Google Street View.

Once ensconced in its new home, the Chamber worked to support local organizations, charities, and businesses in their daily activities, as well as promote the city of Hollywood as the ultimate tourist destination and film capital. The group pushed for widening streets such as Cahuenga, La Brea, and other major thoroughfares to help disperse growing traffic problems. They advocated for a tunnel to better connect Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley and to help alleviate the congested conditions in the Cahuenga corridor. The group planted trees to beautify the city and helped construct parks to add recreational opportunities. The Chamber worked to clean up the film business by reporting and closing bogus movie schools, “talent” firms, and writing scams.

The Chamber’s headquarters at 6520 Sunset Blvd. opened its doors to virtually every local organization to hold meetings in its auditorium, which could seat 400 people. The Chamber hosted a screening of King Vidor’s “The Jack-Knife Man for the Hollywood Film Guild on October 9, 1926. On January 1, 1927, the building hosted the Hollywood Business Men’s Club, which sponsored a presentation about constructing a proposed Mission Playhouse in San Gabriel. Several religious groups met in the auditorium, from Buddhists to Uplifters to Lutherans to Humanists.

From February 19 to March 16, 1935, the Chamber hosted an art exhibition free to the public. May 10, 1939, the Chamber hosted a presentation by actor/director Irving Pichel and writer Michael Blankfort on the history of motion picture production. On December 9, 1939 the Chamber’s auditorium hosted a rally Against Nazism, with the consuls of Czechoslovakia and Poland appearing, along Reverend Peter Samson of the Unitarian Church.

Smaller groups also conducted meetings or luncheons in other rooms at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, or even set up offices. The Los Angeles Realty Board honored real estate man Harry Culver with a luncheon March 9, 1927. The Hollywood branch of the Los Angeles Realty Board began operating a office in the building September 8, 1926. The State Railroad Commission presented Los Angeles area hearings in the organization’s headquarters.

On December 9, 1939, the county tax assessor opened one of 34 branch offices in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The IRS opened an office here in 1947 in which to assist Hollywood residents in completing their tax returns. The USO operated an office out of the facility during World War II, while the building hosted the Veterans Service Center in 1946. In 1951, the Hollywood Committee for Civil Defense operated out of the building.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce even allowed a wide variety of entertainment related labor groups to hold meetings or rallies in their auditorium 6250 Sunset Blvd., including the Screen Writers’ Guild, the American Society of Cinematography, the Screen Directors’ Guild, Local 659 of Cameramen, Motion Picture Engineers, OPEIU, and IATSE. The Chamber seemed to operate as an equal opportunity facility.

On May 1, 1965, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved spending over $100,00 to lease larger space in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Building for the County Tax Assessor for 10 years.

The Hollywood Chamber decided in 1976 that it would be more economical to lease office space rather than to own their headquarters. They decided to sell, allowing a new company to come in and adaptively reuse the space. On June 27, Schaeffer Photo and Camera Supply Co. purchased the facility and opened it as their new Hollywood branch. The company developed film, sold supplies, repaired equipment, mixed chemicals, processed motion picture film, all with a staff of 20.

As film faded away, Larson Studios, a post production audio mixing facility, moved in. They recognized the impressive facade could lend an historic and luxurious ambiance to their business.

These examples of adaptive reuse show the resilience and strength of older buildings – eye-catching architecture that still serves a purpose. If such a building possesses some type of landmark status, owners can receive tax rebates through the Mills Act to restore and rehabilitate the buildings, a win for everyone.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Building at 6520 Sunset Blvd., constructed during one of the premier architectural booms in Hollywood during the 1920s-1930s, reflects the confidence and ambition of the period. The building demonstrates how glorious design continues to inspire those who enter it, even today.

Las Palmas Market, 1259 N. Las Palmas Ave., via Google Street View.

While architectural styles have changed over the centuries, the use of buildings has remained virtually unchanged, meaning an older bank building can still function as a bank, a restaurant can remain a dining establishment, and so on. Most retail and commercial buildings can remain financially viable for centuries, operating as originally intended or by adaptive reuse into other businesses, thus revealing history at the same time. Grocery stores most often seem to continue operating for decades, serving the neighborhoods around which they were constructed. Two 100 year-old markets continue to serve their neighborhoods here in Los Angeles, just as they did when first opened.

Las Palmas Market, built in 1912 and located at 1259 N. Las Palmas Ave. in Hollywood as part of the Strong and Dickinson’s Hollywood High School Tract, still serves as a local market. When first constructed at the intersection of Las Palmas and Fountain Avenue two blocks east of Highland Avenue, it served the tiny community of citrus farmers which surrounded it known as Colegrove. More prosperous residents resided in the more upscale community of Hollywood, just a few blocks north. The approximate 1000 square foot wood frame structure was built at a cost of $1,500 per the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s site, with the store located on the first floor and a residence on the second. The original owner remains unknown. As with most small markets, the store sold meats, dry goods, home products, and produce to patrons.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The market continued to serve the growing and evolving neighborhood over the years, as what had been farm land was subdivided to construct residences for persons flocking to Hollywood. Small bungalows, duplexes, and bungalow courts sprung up around it as a wave of immigration descended on Hollywood thanks to the burgeoning motion picture industry. Many rented the small homes, while others purchased a residence for the first time.

In 1923, Eugene B. Charbonneau operated the market and also sold meats per the Los Angeles Telephone Directory, while also operating a store at 1153 N. La Brea Avenue. By 1925 he sold to William F. Schanbacher, and in 1928, Frank Wentzel operated the market.

Bob’s Market appears in the background in “L.A. Confidential.” From Left, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce)  and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) question a boxer played by Robert Barry Fleming. 

The little market remained virtually intact until 1936, when the Board of Health required the original wood floor to be replaced with concrete, per a 1936 building permit. The store front was also slightly altered by owner Shirley Klier per the permit application. Per a November 22, 1937 permit, new owner Sam Winecoff installed an awning out front of the Class D structure. In 1940, Winecoff replaced some of the wood exterior and plaster interior and squared the facade as he continuing making improvements to better serve the needs of customers. A 1947 permit to add 2.6’ x 26’ storage structure to the side of the building noted that the structure had served as a store for over 25 years. The 1976 Daily Variety noted that the building operated as the Las Fountain Liquor Store for a time.

While small alterations or improvements have been made over the years, the 104 year-old 1259 Las Palmas still serves the public as a market. While records don’t appear to exist to indicate whether it appeared in a motion picture in its early years, the store did appear in a 2012 episode of “Southland,” serving as an inner city market under its own name.

Bob’s Market, 1230 Bellevue Ave., via Google Street View.

At 1230 Bellevue Avenue, Bob’s Market still continues as an Angelino Heights grocery store after 103 years in operation. One of Los Angeles’ first suburbs, Angelino Heights is one of the few intact neighborhoods in the city from the Victorian era. Developed by William W. Stilson and Everett E. Hall on a hill two miles northwest of downtown in the 1880s, Angelino Heights served as a respectable, upper middle class neighborhood for genteel, upwardly mobile people, a veritable melting pot almost from its beginnings.

The September 20, 1902 Los Angeles Times notes a nine-room house costing $1,000 for sale by Mitchell, Black & Co. at 1234 Bellevue Avenue, the original address for the site. Big Orange Landmarks states that owner Mrs. Ella Jane Millen hired architect George E. Colterison in 1913 to design a Mission Revival store with some Oriental touches at the six-point intersection, past which wagons, trolleys, streetcars, and even automobiles passed, replacing the demolished home. Contractor Peter A. Holmberg constructed the $3,500, 36’ x 72’ building composed of “two stoors (sic) and flats” of six rooms, per the original permit.

One of the first tenants to occupy part of the site in 1914 was tailor Levon Melkonian, a refugee from the Armenian Genocide. Frank E. Sandberg operated a grocery at 1234 Bellevue in 1916, soon replaced by Erik Holmen in 1917. By 1921, Lewis Vogel ran a market at this location, in partnership with Schelle in 1925. Like the Las Palmas Market, it sold dry goods, produce, meats, and the like.

In 1926, Abram Koper and his wife Miriam took over operations, running the bodega through 1936, with minor alterations like installing accordion doors to the front of the structure in 1930 and adding a screen porch in back in 1932. Some time in this period, Fred and Nelly Baalberger conducted a cleaning business in the half formerly occupied by Melkonian, taken over by the Kopers in 1934 as well.

While the Kopers continued owning the building, Abraham Kroman and his wife operated the market from 1938 until 1942, when it served as Harry Weiner’s Fairview Market. In 1947, Miriam Koper applied for a permit to remove the partition separating the two stores, and the structure has operated solely as a market since that time. Permits note M. J. Shifrin as owner in 1950, and by 1954, Earl Childers ran the grocery, all under the name Fairview Market. The Los Angeles telephone book notes a change in name to Ben’s Market in 1960 after purchase by Ben Nakasone. It now operates as Bob’s Market, after its purchase in 1965 by Bob Nimura and his wife Keiko.

On June 6, 1979, Bob’s Market was named Los Angeles’ Historic Cultural Landmark  No. 215 for its many decades of service as a grocery store/market, with little alteration to the main building.

As with the Las Palmas Market, Bob’s has appeared onscreen as well, first in the movie “Los Angeles Confidential” and “Salton Sea,” then most recently as the mom and pop Toretto’s Market in the first “The Fast and the Furious” installment, run by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his sister and where they meet the character played by the late actor Paul Walker.

With proper care and attention, older buildings can continue to function and serve the public as attended, just like Bob’s Market and Las Palmas Market. These stores also show how small businesses built to serve a niche in a local community still remain important to those areas today. This is what historic preservation is all about, not only revealing a city’s historic past, but keeping a building economically viable for future generations.

Ida Lupino promotes Easter in 1934, with the Zahn building in the background.

What was intended strictly as a publicity photo promoting young actress Ida Lupino celebrating the Easter season on a large rabbit outside Desmond’s Department Store leads to a fascinating history regarding the building seen in the background. Some buildings are remembered for their gorgeous architecture, others for the influential people that visited the structure, and some for life-changing events that occurred inside their doors. The H.N. Zahn building, still proudly standing at 5480 Wilshire Blvd., is remarkable for how its owners pushed what today is called spot zoning, a scourge on current development around Los Angeles.

Zahn’s father, Johann (J. C.) Zahn, was born in Prussia in 1822. He studied medicine and earned a fortune before immigrating to Australia and establishing a mission there, giving it to the state. After making another fortune, he and his wife immigrated to San Francisco and later came to Los Angeles, independently wealthy. He invested in real estate in California, Nevada, and Utah, and founded churches, such as the First German Methodist Episcopal Church downtown.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

An artist’s concept of the building, Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1930.

Hector Nathan, the youngest of five sons, was born August 8, 1878 on Spring Street, in what later became the site of the Title Insurance and Trust Building. He worked for the family’s corporation in various places like their mining company in Utah and Camp in Nevada over the years before beginning investing in real estate himself, in and out of the courts over various land matters over the years.

The Los Angeles Times reported on January 26, 1904, he was sued by Grant Burkett, who claimed that Zahn “alienated the affections” of his wife, asking for $25,000 from both Zahn and his mother, before asking that she be dropped from the suit. Burkett claimed Zahn took unchaperoned buggy rides with his wife, gave her gifts, and the like. Zahn stated on the record that Burkett was a “heavy drinker” and abused his wife. Hector eventually married Kathryn after the Burketts divorced and they had him arrested for perjury, claiming that he had asked for money before filing the suit, which was dropped by the courts.

Zahn began purchasing real estate around Los Angeles, including acreage along what would become Wilshire Boulevard, stretching from Cochran to Dunsmuir Avenues. At this time, grand homes lined Wilshire, a veritable “Millionaires Row,” but development was gradually overtaking residential closer to downtown.

On October 18, 1921, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance creating five types of building zones, indicating what types of structures could be constructed in each zone. Zone A provided only the construction of single-family homes, Zone B allowed hotels, dwellings, apartments, Zone C proscribed only retail/wholesale establishments, Zone D allowed industries and factories, while Zone E was devoted to any lawful use. The Zahn/Ross land lay outside the boundaries of Los Angeles at this time.

The Zahn building, as shown by Google Street View.

The City Council annexed the tract in this area to the city on February 28, 1922, and amended the ordinance in September, placing most of the land in this area to Zone B, and putting land around La Brea Avenue in Zone C.

Ross and Zahn filed an application with the city to declare an exemption to their property in this tract and allow it to be zoned for commercial purposes. The Public Works Commission turned down their request, stating that “we believe that Wilshire Boulevard is destined to become a show street when widened and beautified as contemplated and the encroachment of business upon this boulevard is at this time unnecessary and would be a great detriment to the future residential development of this thoroughfare and we therefore recommend that the request be denied and filed.” The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved their recommendation.

On July 25, 1923, the two men applied for a permit to build a one-story retail building on their property. Zahn petitioned to the City Council, requesting an exception to build his commercial structure, while A.W. Ross petitioned them to allow commercial construction along Wilshire west of La Brea Avenue. The city refused, keeping the area zoned B, a decision supported by the majority of residents in the area.

Zahn and Ross appealed to the California Supreme Court who referred the case to the Appellate Court, claiming the city’s actions were illegal in that “Its operation amounts to confiscation and taking away of property without due process of law,” per the August 23, 1923, Los Angeles Times. This was a test case regarding a city’s right to establish zoning throughout its boundaries.

The Appellate Court ruled the city’s zoning laws valid, and Ross and Zahn appealed to the State Supreme Court, which ruled for the city, per the March 28, 1925 Times, “that the zoning of its territory for building purposes is a proper exercise by the city of its police powers.” The two men requested a rehearing, denied by the Court.

Ross and Zahn appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled for the city of Los Angeles May 16, 1927, stating that cities had the right to enact zoning restrictions throughout their municipalities.

Zahn tried anything to turn the districts into commercial areas, even trying to prevent Los Angeles residents from voting on the matter. On July 30, Zahn filed an injunction to prevent City Clerk Dominguez from distributing a referendum allowing citizens the right to vote on whether Wilshire Boulevard between Western Avenue and Rimpau Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard between Detroit and Carson Avenue be converted to business districts. He, along with Fred H. Luth, felt only owners of property in these districts be allowed to vote.

Amarillo Sunday News and Globe, May 29, 1927.

After all the court wins, the city unexpectedly made a complete turnaround and meekly approved Zahn’s request, giving him an exception and allowing him to build a commercial structure on this property. By so doing, Los Angeles began practicing the policy of spot zoning, allowing exceptions for mismatched or oversize development in areas where it was forbidden often, for a price. This practice subverted and stepped around the referendum process allowing Los Angeles residents a say on matters concerning development.

On October 13, 1927, Zahn filed a building permit to construct a four-story apartment and office building 56 feet high at what the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety called 5466-8-70-2-4-6-8-80 Wilshire Blvd. The permit estimated a cost of $80,000 to build the 36-room building in which 14 families would live.

Per the permit, brick would cover the exterior walls, the foundation would be composed of poured concrete, the roof would consist of tile and comp. The permit listed Frank M. Tyler as architect, renowned throughout the city for his elegant homes for such people as George A. Ralphs as well as the Woman’s Twentieth Century Club of Eagle Rock. Architect Tyler signed an agreement October 11, 1927, stipulating that the building would be erected at least five feet back from the property line in accordance with city policy.

When completed, Zahn’s new structure featured lovely Spanish Colonial architecture, with elegant detailing on the top floor of each section of the building, along with a decorative fan underneath the fire escape ladder. On the ground level, the Dunsmuir facade featured tile on the bottom third of the first level, with matching detailing above and around the curved and decorative windows

This first floor contained a furniture store with mezzanine displaying further product and other small businesses occupied the one-story commercial structure east of the 4-story tower. Over the years, this almost one block building featured such businesses as Mandel’s Department Store, a dime store, Colburn’s Furs, Bel Paesa restaurant, Albert Allardale Women’s Fashions, Filmax Camera Shop, My Lady Fashions, Burnett’s Art and Architecture Shop. Ritza Russian Restaurant, New York Millinery, Grayson’s, D. F. Robertson World Tours, N. S. Harieff Custom Persian Rugs, Everbest Business Machines, and other small proprietorships.

Over the years, however, “improvements” to the building ended up removing the elaborate decorative windows on the Dunsmuir facade, along with the destruction of the Spanish detailing on the lower floor.

Zahn ended up making a fortune on the block he owned extending from Cochran to Cloverdale along Wilshire Boulevard upon which the Bank of America now stands. The Los Angeles Times reported that he received $600,000 in cash November 17, 1929 from the Dominguez Estates Company for the entire city block, even after the crash and disaster of the New York Stock Market a couple of weeks previously. A gorgeous Art Deco building was constructed and remains to this day.

While intending to only shoot a publicity still, Paramount Pictures ended up documenting the H.N. Zahn building and its original Spanish Colonial design, preserving it for posterity. On March 22, 1934, Paramount Pictures posed young British actress Ida Lupino atop a giant decorative rabbit display promoting the Easter holiday on the Dunsmuir sidewalk side of the majestic Desmond’s Department Store. The still’s original caption states, “BIG BUNNY BUSINESS – In preparation for Easter, Ida Lupino, young Paramount player, puts finishing touches on a huge Easter rabbit designed to impart a festive holiday touch to one of the screen colony’s fashionable streets.” By this time, the street was becoming known as the “Miracle Mile” in this area of mid-Wilshire.

An ephemeral piece of advertising, a simple movie still, can often present the only documented look and design of historic buildings and places, offering us a nostalgic time capsule back into classic Los Angeles and Hollywood as well as indirectly recording a place that changed the very design of the city.

The Pirate’s Den, Radio Television Mirror.

During the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age, colorful and elaborate restaurants and nightclubs filled the scene. In the 1920s, programmatic architecture flourished in California, providing automobile passengers giant iconic representations of the foodstuffs available inside. By the 1930s, the fanciful, elaborate elements moved inside, with eating or entertainment establishments virtual playgrounds of fun. The show had moved from the sidewalk to the interior, providing decorative ambiance.

Many celebrities capitalized on the craze, with stars like Raymond McKee and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle building or lending their names to businesses in hopes of raking in profits from the whimsical atmosphere. A group of celebrities followed suit in 1940, pooling their resources to open the Pirate’s Den at 335 N. La Brea Ave., helping a friend in need in the process.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

335 N. La Brea, via Google Street View.

Don Dickerman, now down on his luck as a film extra, was spotted by Rudy Vallee while working on a picture. Vallee owed his career to Dickerman, the former proprietor of New York’s Heigh Ho Club, who had given the young singer his start as a crooner and band leader, from which he gained his signature salutation, “Heigh Ho Everybody!”

Dickerman operated a series of successful nite spots in New York during the 1920s, until the stock market crash and ensuing financial disaster overtook his businesses. An early presenter of themed restaurants, Dickerman’s eateries included the Blue Horse Tavern, as well as Pirate’s Den clubs in both New York and Miami.

These early Pirate’s Den niteries featured lusty wenches and sneering, rascally “pirates” serving food and drink to customers in a dark paneled room with “cells” and chains replicating the interior of a raggedy pirate ship. Radio Digest called him “one of the most strait-laced night club proprietors,” who because of Prohibition served non-alcoholic drinks. In a February 1931 article, the magazine stated, “His clubs are scrupulously clean in food, entertainment, music, and general atmosphere.” In other words, what we would now call a Disneyified version of pirates.

Vallee approached friends and fellow stars to throw money in a kitty to help Dickerman establish a Pirate’s Den in Los Angeles. The April 7, 1940 Variety reported that the new eatery would replace the White Elephant at 335 N. La Brea Ave., thanks to the help of stockholders Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Valley, Jimmy Fidler, Ken Murray, Tony Martin, Johnny Weissmuller, and Vic Erwin. They selected Dickerman, Bo Roos, Samuel S. Zogos, Winifred Van Lear, and Frances Fegelman to serve as directors.

The group remodeled the building, which had served as the home for such restaurants and clubs as Casa Brea, Three Little Pigs, El Mirador Cafe, and Sebastian’s Cubanola since 1929. On May 8, 1940, the Club celebrated its grand opening, with gaudily dressed pirates and wenches serving drinks and sandwiches to patrons. To add a touch of authenticity, Dickerman brought in Matey, a swearing parrot, who soon became a popular part of the Pirate’s Den.

RKO-Pathe shot this formal grand opening, releasing it to theaters November 15, 1940 as part of the “PIcture Play #3” newsreel, showing such celebrities as Gary Cooper, W. C. Fields, Ralph Bellamy, and other enjoying festivities.

Though the club featured strong entertainment, stockholders often performed at the Pirate’s Den, with Vallee himself almost functioning as house singer. It quickly became popular, thanks to generous free press in Fidler’s Los Angeles Times’ gossip column, with mentions of celebrities coming for a little atmospheric entertainment in the evenings.

The Pirate’s Den, Photoplay.

Dickerman often threw welcome home parties for stockholders when they returned from filming or trips, with Fidler and other gossip columnists playing up these reports, which brought crowds as well. The Pirate’s Den seemed to serve as a popular spot for college age students to celebrate special events, as well as couples bringing friends coming or going from trips. An added special attraction the club offered included special dances created by renowned dance instructor Arthur Murray, who created “Walking the Gang Plank” for the club.

The Pirate’s Den threw a lavish celebratory first anniversary party on June 1, 1941, with Bob Hope headlining the show, which also featured several of the other famous stockholders.

Thanks to its showbiz connections, the Club received plenty of free film play besides the RKO newsreel. “Screen Snapshots #5” released January 25, 1941 broadcast the club’s first anniversary party, with Hope performing stand-up and introducing Jerry Colonna, Cobina Wright, and Brenda, members of his radio show. An invisible master of ceremonies pointed out show biz guests to the camera, including Roy Rogers, Andrea Leeds, and Harry Ritz of the Ritz Brothers.

A juke box short, “I’d Like to See Samoa at Samoa” prominently featured the club and its headline performers, the Shamrock Boys. On October 26, 1941, the Pirate’s Den served as host for the premiere of ten juke box films, which featured red carpet and klieg lights, showing the talents of people like Vallee, Gertrude Nissen, and Jack Beekman.

In the summer of 1941, the club almost saw itself shut down after a Superior Court judge contacted the Police Commission about what he considered overcharges by the club on his tab, claiming the club charged $6 for three beers and sandwiches for him and his two friends. On July 8, 1941, the manager testified to the commission that the club normally charged 50 cents a beer at the bar and $1.50 each at tables during the week, and charge $1.25 a beer on Sunday nights. Dinner normally cost $1.25 to $2.50 a person, as the club focused on a higher end clientele.

The Commission approved the show permit application July 22, 1941, after the club removed the “No Cover Charge” sign, allowing them to continue operating as before.

Like any club, business fluctuated, especially during a time of war. As new clubs became the hits of the moment, attendance declined at the Pirate’s Den. In the summer of 1945, the club began calling themselves the Pirate’s Den Music Hall, offering strong music performances, including such people as Dorothy Dandridge. These shows were produced by Don Hankey, Leroy Hillman, and George Beatty. Ads mentioned dining, dancing, and floor shows.

By late 1945, the party was over, with consumers moving on to more popular and “hot” establishments. Over the next few years, a couple of middle brow nightclubs opened at the location, neither lasting long. The Club Donroy opened in late 1945, a more middle brow nitery. Closing within months, it was replaced by the Track in 1946 with ads proclaiming that girl jockeys would race on “horses” around the tables.

The Motion Picture Relief Fund purchased the building in early 1951 in order to combine their headquarters, medical and social service offices, and pharmacy into one convenient location. In this way, they could better provide for the care of ailing and elderly members as a way to give back for all they had contributed to the industry. In 1971, they opened the Cinema Glamour Shop in part of the space to help raise money for older veterans of movies and television.

In the 1970s, the Motion Picture Relief Fund acquired property in Woodland Hills on which to build the Motion Picture Country Home, while continuing to operate a small medical office at 335 N. La Brea. They still offer health services today at this location, now called the Bob Hope Health Center.

In case you don’t follow the Daily Mirror’s Twitter feed, here’s a story we like, by Roger Vincent, who covers commercial real estate for The Times. With great photos by the one and only Gary Friedman.

Motion Picture Magazine, 1925.

In the early days of the motion picture industry, no rules and regulations held down the field’s growth and development as companies basically made it up as they went along. There were no labor rules, no production blueprints, no permits required for much of anything. This free form independence allowed filmmakers the opportunity to let their imaginations go wild on story ideas, sets, even film locations. With small crews, a film company could easily sneak shots at virtually any public location without notifying police or gaining anyone’s permission.

This guerrilla style of filmmaking is obvious in primitive cinema, where dogs standing on the sidewalk run into the scene, or crowds can be glimpsed watching the filming or even joining right in. Moviemakers basically shot wherever they wanted, as many owners of possible locations just wanted to see stars or a film being made, and required no payment. Others were given cameos, and some possibly earned a fee for allowing filming, there is no historic paperwork to explain.
Mary Mallory’s “Hollywood land: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

Shooting at a lavish estate, on the other hand, required either making connections to an owner, or actually knowing them, meaning that few mansions were employed as locations in the first couple of decades. By the early 1920s, however, the Assistance League of Los Angeles created their own Film Location Bureau that licensed filming at exclusive sites while raising money for charity. The first of its kind, this organization allowed wealthy and important homeowners to rent out their property for filming while sometimes remaining anonymous and gaining money for their favorite charities.

Multiple stories over the years about the Assistance League’s Film Location Bureau claimed that Cecil B. DeMille was instrumental in the creation of the league through his enthusiasm at filming on the Hancock Banning estate down near Wilmington, but the dates and mathematics for his supposed involvement didn’t add up and lacked important details. The actual founding of the bureau appears to have taken place in 1921, as the August 23, 1921, Exhibitors Herald stated that Robert E. Wells, manager of the Bureau, reported that over $10,000 had been donated by the motion picture industry to charity in the last six months for the use of exclusive estates. The July 21, 1921, Los Angeles Times stated that Wells had formerly served as the manager of the Victory and later the Mission Theatres. The May 2, 1933 New York Times itself claimed the organization began in 1917.

The July 23, 1922 Evening Star stated that Rupert Hughes’ Goldwyn picture, “Gimme,” paid money to the Assistance League for the use of Mrs. C. Templeton Crocker’s San Mateo mansion for shooting purposes.

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, July 3, 1943.

As Motion Picture magazine reported in a May 1925 issue, “A group of society women and social workers in California have an organization called ‘The Assistance League.’ For its charities, it raises funds by renting its houses to the movies. When they want a rich-looking house, the movies have only to telephone the League and explain whether they are looking for an imitation Fifth Avenue, a Long Island estate, an English country house, or a hacienda of California of the days before the Gringos came.” Fees of $150 a day were charged, with half going to the Assistance League and half to a charity of the owner’s choosing.

As an example, Motion Picture News stated in the July 2, 1923 issue that shooting of scenes for the Warner Bros. film, “Little Johnny Jones” occurred in and around the home of Los Angeles Times publisher Harry Chandler, arranged with Warner Bros. donated money to the Assistance League of Los Angeles to benefit charities.

The June 11, 1926, Los Angeles Times reported that the group raised almost $14,000 in 1925, with other charities receiving over $5,500 and the Assistance League themselves netting more than $8,200. The Assistance League’s own newsletter, California Southland, revealed in 1926 that the organization grossed $21,340, netting $13,425 for themselves and from the work of their Location Bureau. Some of the homes employed belonged to members of the group, while others came from friends and neighbors of these society women.

It was not until September 1927 that the motion picture industry itself formed a Location Managers Association per the September 22, 1927, Hollywood Vagabond, in order to share information on locations between member studio and production companies. The group also acted as a conduit between property owners and studio production teams.

The Assistance League’s Film Location Bureau suffered when sound came in, losing a large part of their revenue stream and studios began filming on stages where they could control the heavy cameras and equipment needed to record sound. As the December 1, 1929 Los Angeles Times stated, the boycott and restriction of actual location shooting ceased with the timing of “In Old Arizona,” and studios once again began visiting mansions for regular filming. Sound did force tough restrictions on shooting near airplanes, railroad tracks, tension wires, and major traffic locations, and the like, with production more difficult as crews expanded to more than four times the size of early film crews. As the leader said, “When sound came in, we had to revise our lest. We couldn’t use homes near trolley lines, airports, or streets.” Within a few months, the Assistance League began booking their exclusive list of properties once again, with new locations being added every year.

In 1923, a new leader for the group took charge, Mrs. Lee Wray Turner, a graduate of Harvard Law School with a master’s degree from Columbia. The mother of three children, she met with studio executives to discuss needed locations, discovered and selected them, took directors and crew members to visit these possible sets, created an iron tight contract, and then supervised filming. She called herself “the happiest woman in the world” for handling these location duties for the charity.

Mrs. Turner described her work for the Assistance League to newspapers, as reported in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph May 5, 1935, “We always prepare a contract which absolutely protects the owner against any damages and permits him to specify any charity as recipient of the fee paid by the studio. In this way we have obtained many locations which otherwise would be barred from motion pictures.” She also stated, “I would have a much wider variety of places to choose from if it weren’t for the palm trees. We can’t have palms in a setting that is supposed to be New York, Virginia, England, or France.”

As she also told the February 17, 1951, Toledo Blade, “I can draw a contract even movie lawyers can’t find a loophole in.” This contract protected the homeowner from possible destruction, set ground rules, and established payment. In effect, Turner worked as a buffer between owners and the motion picture industry, working to ensure that filming proceeded smoothly for all involved.

As the September 27,1936, Buffalo Courier Express wrote about Mrs. Turner, “She has to have the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job and the iron hand of Ivan the Terrible.” Her steely demeanor ensured that crews towed the line on film sets, as she arrived before anyone else each day, and was the last to leave after establishing that everything had been returned to proper order and nothing was damaged or destroyed. Studio personnel described how no one would even throw down a cigarette butt whenever she was around.

Thanks to her hard work, properties and mansions owned by such individuals as Edwin Janss, Harry Chandler, Harvey Mudd, Daniel Murphy, Edward Doheny, Frank Meline, Burton Green, Edwin Palmer, Alphonzo Bell, Lucky Baldwin, and the O’Melveny, Guastii, Camarillo, Jewett, and Bernheimer Estates allowed filmmaking. Every year the amount of properties available for filming increased, jumping from 1,500 to 2,000 between 1936 and 1937. The properties stretched from Burlingame to San Diego, Montecito and Santa Barbara included. Besides estates, the list included the Los Angeles Tennis Club, the Los Angeles Country Club, the Bel Air Country Club, the Flintridge Country Club, the Annandale Country Club, Busch Gardens, theatres, polo fields, parks, churches, beach clubs, race tracks, and pools. Fees also increased as well, ranging from $50-$500 a day for houses, with average fees around $150-$200 a day.

The Edwin Janns estate, The Times, April 5, 1936.

Edwin Janss’ mansion stood in for the home of Janet Gaynor and Fredric March in “A Star is Born” in 1936, Pasadena’s Jewett Estate hosted everything from Buster Keaton’s “Cops” (1922) to “Check and Double Check” (1930) to “Born to Kill” (1947). Busch Gardens, a favorite shooting site, saw such films as “Beau Geste” (1939), “David Copperfield” (1935), “Peter Ibbetson” (1935), “Disraeli” (1929), “Raffles” (1930), and “Get Your Man” (1927). In fact, studios could erect exterior sets in Busch Gardens, if they demolished them upon completion of filming.

As she told papers, “It has proved a good way to share Southern California’s wonders with the rest of the world.” Mrs. Turner also revealed that her hardest job was convincing an owner of a San Marino estate to allow a helicopter to land on the front lawn for the filming of “It Happened One Night.”

Mrs. Lee Wray Turner created her own photo library of locations, growing from around 3,000 to almost 10,000 images by the late 1930s, which she allowed studio location scouts to examine to choose possible filming sites. She then talked with owners, showed directors and crew members around the property, wrote contracts, provided insurance policies, served as go-between, kept extras out of homes, and saw that immediate repairs took place to any damage.

Revenues began dropping in the late 1940s for several reasons. Many property owners began subdividing large estates in order to pay taxes, while others were destroyed to make room for freeways or other developments. Studios began filming overseas to take advantage of monies raised from foreign exhibition which was forbidden from leaving those countries and helped alleviate tax issues for film conglomerates. Mrs. Turner told the Salt Lake City Tribune on January 2, 1949, “We don’t see why they go overseas. I can duplicate any foreign spot right here.” Around this time, her daughter, Marcia Smith, began assisting her mother in finding and arranging locations for the Bureau.

The Daniel Murphy home, The Times, April 5, 1936.

In 1955, Mrs. Turner left the Assistance League to become Executive Director of the California Arboretum Foundation, which she led until 1960. She arranged filming here just as she had for the Assistance League. On November 27, 1970, Mrs. Lee Wray Turner passed away, and she was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Glendale.

In 1970, Mrs. Smith began operating her own film location bureau out of her own home, per an ad in the Pasadena Star-News February 24, 1970, following in her mother’s footsteps.

By the time Mrs. Turner moved on to the Arboretum, Los Angeles and other cities had established their own departments for booking shooting at various public sites around the city, as well as establishing the use of permits to film on public streets and other locations. The motion picture industry’s use of location managers escalated, and organizations like Film LA would be formed to assist with location shooting as well.

The Assistance League of Los Angeles innovated the practice of obtaining luxurious estates and ranches for motion picture filming, which now is virtually a necessity for many of these sites to pay bills and maintain the property. Much research still awaits on the history of location filming, and how and when the use of permits was actually established.

The Zulu Hut, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Thanks to California’s inventive motion picture industry, eccentric, eye-catching examples of vernacular architecture took off in the 1920s. Though around for decades, vernacular or programmatic architecture hit its stride in the 1920s and refers to commercial buildings or signs designed to resemble what they are selling, particularly to those driving by in automobiles. Popular models here in Southern California included the Pup Cafe, the Brown Derby, Ben Hur Coffee, and the Jail Cafe, well documented in Jim Heiman’s colorful book, “California Crazy and Beyond.”

Actor-comedian Raymond McKee constructed the first example of roadside vernacular architecture in what is now Studio City in 1924 when he constructed the Zulu Hut. A long time performer, McKee began acting in films as early as 1912, working for such companies as Lubin, Edison, Kalem, Goldwyn, and Fox, to name a few. Brent Walker, author of “Mack Sennett’s Fun Factory,” states that McKee joined Mack Sennett in 1924 as Alice Day’s leading man, before moving on to play the young father “Jimmy Smith” to little Mary Ann Jackson in the “Smith Family” Series for several years. Besides investing in oil and real estate in the 1920s, North Hollywood resident McKee ( he lived at 11107 Sunshine Terrace), decided to open a restaurant near his home.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

The Zulu Hut, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

The November 17, 1924 Los Angeles Times notes that McKee’s quaint little restaurant at 11100 Ventura Blvd. opened on November 16 just three miles from Hollywood, bought and constructed during McKee’s vacation. The Zulu Hut was what could he described as a somewhat racist example of programmatic architecture, associating black savage Zulus with fried chicken. The roadhouse was described by New Movie Magazine as “picturesque” and “thatched with palms…where a Zulu savage dances and jabbers French and you eat chicken with your fingers in the light of candles thrust in antique whiskey bottles.”

Thatched from palms, the small eatery was basically a giant circle containing artificial coconut palms and either African-American servers or Caucasians in blackface wearing grass skirts greeting guests in the parking lot and opening their car doors, before running inside to perform a wild Charleston. Primitive, the cafe featured dirt floors and served beef, barbecue, and chicken, but was famous for its fried chicken served on cardboard plates with no utensils. Guests sat on rough benches in front of even rougher tables without cloths, per Motion Picture Magazine. Picture players quickly flocked to it, which lured civilians as well. Trades also state the restaurant was featured in the film short, “Hollywood the Unusual” in 1927.

Unfortunately, the Zulu Hut’s flimsy construction made it susceptible to dark incidents. The December 31, 1925 Los Angeles Times notes that hot water apparently became overheated and one wall caught fire, but the Lankershim Fire Department quickly extinguished the blaze.

In early 1926, the establishment was robbed twice at gunpoint. On January 7, 1926, two young bandits wearing gloves and with silk handkerchiefs covering their faces held up patrons at pistol point around midnight, collecting nearly $2,000 in cash, watches, and jewelry from patrons and $352 from the cash register before escaping. A second burglary occurred February 19, 1926, when four young men robbed the Zulu Hut of $407. One robber was caught by police after a gun battle erupted when he was stopped for a traffic violation. The main instigator of the incident, Lyle Christie, who had also robbed the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Ambassador, and other high end establishments, was sentenced to five years in San Quentin on July 29, 1926.

North Hollywood, also saw its share of coyotes in 1927, as ten-year-old Ralph Smith Jr. trapped a coyote in the hills before selling it to McKee on October 22, 1927 to exhibit at the restaurant.

Like everyone else, McKee began suffering financial problems in 1929 thanks to the stock market crash, but also because of bad business decisions. The Los Angeles Times notes he owed the Internal Revenue Service large sums for failing to pay enough income tax for several years. McKee placed his first legal note in the December 28, 1930 Los Angeles Times stating that he no longer owned the Zulu Hut; Flora Johnson purchased the restaurant from the actor a few days earlier.

On March 1, 1931, a massive fire erupted at the cafe, as terrified patrons sped from the burning restaurant. Firefighters fought to kept the blaze from spreading to nearby buildings. The quickly moving fire, which started in the left wing, quickly engulfed the ramshackle structure. The Zulu Hut was no more.

McKee would go on to compose music, act in vaudeville and in sound films, and write scripts for radio shows. By the 1950s, he and his wife, former actress Marguerite Courtot, retired to Hawaii.

Though not as memorable or as striking as still standing programmatic buildings as the Brown Derby, the Idle Hour Cafe, and the Tamale, the Zulu Hut helped interject a entertaining dash of color to the rural San Fernando Valley, and lead the way for more celebrity eating establishments in Studio City.

6208 Franklin Ave., via Google Street View.

Hollywood’s population exploded during the early 1920s as motion picture production soared, thanks to studios moving their production facilities westward from New Jersey. Land values soared, and businesses and developers rushed to keep up with the growing need for residential and commercial space. Many of Hollywood’s most elegant office towers and theaters were erected during this period, as were some of its most striking bungalow courts and lavish apartment buildings.

Many of these upscale structures emphasized their luxury appeal with names like the Castle Argyle, Trianon, the Fontenoy, the Chateau Elysee, and La Belle Tour, with sparkling French Normandy or Classical-style architecture to match their catchy names. Their sophisticated look and style drew celebrities as well as high society or ambitious clientele.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

Located at 6200 Franklin Avenue, La Belle Tour was the last of these grand apartments erected, opening not long before the stock market crash in 1929. Surviving financial upheavals and changing times, La Belle Tour has survived thanks to its prominent look and location.

The March 10, 1929, Los Angeles Times reported that Henry Hersh and Edward Kohn would erect an eight-story, Class A apartment building featuring 52 units with three, four, or five rooms each costing $300,000. Architects Cramer and Wise would design a French Renaissance Chateauesque-style building financed by Finance Brokerage Company, with J.C. Bannister listed as contractor.

Though the March 24 Times reported that Bannister had requested a permit to erect an eight-story, 145 room apartment building at the location, the actual permit for the building at what is listed at 6208 Franklin Ave. is dated April 20, 1929, with the May 5 Times now stating that $250,000 would be spent in building the structure.

Per the April 20 city permit, the eight-story, reinforced concrete, Class A building would employ 210 tons of reinforced steel and 19,200 sac (sic) cement for constructing the building, employing concrete for exterior foundation, walls, and floors, n.o. plaster board on steel studs for interior walls, and concrete, compo, and asbestos shingles for the roofing material. Two L-shaped wings, one 53 feet by 120 feet, and one 53 feet by 77 feet would extend from a central tower, which at its highest point would reach 110 feet, six inches. Sprinklers were required for the building. The city of Los Angeles issued the final certificate of occupancy February 19, 1930, approving a subterranean garage as well. The building opened just months after the stock market crash of 1929 and the deep dive of American economic interests. Ads appeared almost immediately in the Los Angeles Times noting rates and availability, and would run almost regularly through 1936.

The December 15, 1929, Los Angeles Times announced that the Stillwell Hotel Company had acquired a twenty-year lease costing $700,000 for the building, which they intended to operate as a deluxe apartment house. The owner and his wife purchased fine furnishings from Barker Brothers to complete the units, which were rented furnished to tenants, famous or non-famous alike. Whatever their social rank, La Belle Tour would offer sleek, gorgeous surroundings and atmosphere, appropriate to a gracious style of living.

The first classified ad on January 31, 1930, states, “Now opening, Class A building, ‘Each apartment is a beautiful home,’ doubles or four room suites with best accommodations, all extras included, complete service maintained.”

Not much is known of celebrity residents, but there were a few. Young writer Cornell Woolrich and his young bride Gloria Blackton, daughter of film pioneer J. Stuart Blackton, lived in the building by December 1930, with a December 9 Los Angeles Times story reporting the twenty-four-year old writer and twenty-year-old bride had married December 5 after a courtship of less than a year. They were still waiting for her parents’ blessing. The item noted they had met a mere month after Woolrich moved to Hollywood for his new job as staff writer at Paramount, after penning short stories and novels.

Opera star Tito Schipa maintained an apartment in the building as well as two residences, one in Beverly Hills and one on Los Feliz Boulevard, in the early 1930s, and actress Noel Francis lived in the building in 1932 when arrested for speeding. Perhaps actor Colin Clive resided in the building as well, as a studio photograph shows him posing on the roof with the Hollywoodland Sign visible to his north. Actress Virginia Mayo lived in the building when she announced her engagement to actor Michael O’Shea, per the July 7, 1947, Los Angeles Times.

La Belle Tour is sold, July 25, 1937, in The Times.

Some staff members listed themselves in the Los Angeles City Directory in the 1930s. Mrs. Bee Dragani served as manager in 1934, before going on to serve as a manager at other Los Angeles-area apartment buildings and as an officer in an apartment managers’ organization. In 1936, Cecil Bline served as houseman, and in 1938, Cooze DeCamp served as assistant manager.

On July 25, 1937, the Times reported that Albert Louis and Marie Louise Wilcox, South American investors, purchased the eight-story property for $300,000, including complete furnishings, from Michael Tauber, which enjoyed a central roof garden available to all tenants and private roof gardens for penthouse apartments. By November 26, 1939, however, a story in the Los Angeles Times stated that Justus P. Seeburg of Chicago paid $250,000 to G.E. Kinsey for the building, meaning that perhaps Kinsey had purchased the building in a private sale from the Wilcoxes earlier. Some time during 1942, La Belle Tour’s name was changed to Hollywood Tower, as the building is listed under both names in the 1942 city directory.

The huge building was expensive to maintain, and perhaps was prohibitive to owners. On June 7, 1953, the Los Angeles Times announced that Joshua Pintel had sold the 52-unit Hollywood Tower and other buildings to Sam Gutlin for $642,000. Gutlin ran regular ads for the building throughout the 1950s.

By 1981, the Hollywood Tower had become mostly an apartment house for seniors, which suited owner Deseret Properties and Dennis Ballard just fine. Ballard told the May 17, 1981, Los Angeles Times that seniors paid their bills regularly and on time and caused no problems. He began renting primarily to seniors earlier in the year, “offering them reduced rents, no move-in fees or security deposits and all utilities paid;” he was also thinking of starting complimentary Saturday continental breakfasts and once-a-week limousine service to go shopping or see a movie. The company had spent $50,000 to refurbish the building.

The Hollywood Tower, June 7, 1953, in The Times.

At that time, bachelor units contained hot plates and singles featured kitchens. The building featured one- or two-bedroom units as well, with rents ranging from $185 to $400.

By the 1980s, the building, like many other once luxurious apartment buildings in the area, was becoming run down and threatened. In early 1988, it was named to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Hollywood Tower’s imposing look supposedly inspired Imagineers at the Walt Disney Company in designing the look for the Tower of Terror attraction at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim.

In 2007, the Hollywood Tower was sold for $34.5 million to Alliance Residential, which eventually built additional units across Vista del Mar Street.

While perhaps not as glamorous as its 1930s heyday, the imposing Hollywood Tower still projects power and authority today.

6626 Franklin Ave., via Google Street View.

Hollywood, California, exploded in population during the late 1910s and early 1920s with the influx of moving picture companies arriving in town and people looking to work in the industry following suit. Originally a quiet, rural, farming community, Hollywood quickly grew more urbanized, with an increase in density.

Many people did not own their own homes during this period, renting single-family residences as well as apartment units from others. Subdivisions in the foothills began opening to cater to the more affluent new residents. Bungalow court apartments opened, appealing to middle-class singles and couples looking for somewhat independent living. Apartment houses were rushed into construction, replacing the family boarding houses that had dominated the scene.

Mary Mallory’s “Hollywoodland: Tales Lost and Found” is available for the Kindle.

A postcard for Chateau des Fleurs, listed on EBay as Buy It Now for $9.95.

As Hollywood became a mecca both for bi-coastal actors and upscale tourists, it required more luxurious rental opportunities. Developers began constructing elaborate, lavish apartment-hotels to appeal to these people, offering long-term rentals for those looking for something more permanent, or a pied-à-terre while visiting the city. Among these establishments in Hollywood were such pretentious sounding buildings as the Fontenoy, La Leyenda, Hollywood Tower, Chateau Elysee, and the Chateau des Fleurs.

The Chateau des Fleurs, located at 6626 Franklin Ave. at the top of Cherokee Avenue, grew out of the investment needs of Carl and Winifred Raab as a way to diversify and grow their saving. Carl Raab, born February 5, 1873, was the first white child born in what is now South Pasadena, son to German immigrants who established a successful dairy and creamery. Raab worked as the manager of his family’s creamery. After the death of his first wife, he married his second wife Winifred and saved his money.

In the mid-1920s, the Raabs began looking for a way to draw more income by investing their money in real estate. They purchased a residence at 6626 Franklin Ave, the former home of directors Jack Conway and Howard Hawks, upon which to construct a regal apartment hotel. Per the February 2, 1927, building permit, Raab intended to build a $275,000 four-story, fifty-unit apartment hotel, with concrete foundation and exterior, wood and plaster interior, wood floors, and slate roof. Twenty-five tons of steel and 500 bags of cement would be needed for construction of the 96’6” x 149’6” building, sixty feet tall at its highest point.

An ad in The Times, Sept. 23, 1927.

Architect Meyer-Radon Brothers designed a French Normandy-style Class C building containing 137 rooms and 50 units to be constructed by John A. Platt Construction Company at the former location of an eight room, two-story house.

The July 17, 1927, Los Angeles Times featured a story on the soon-to-open building, describing how its interior and setting evoked the French Norman style through furnishings, decorations, and natural stone fireplaces. All of units contained electric ranges and refrigerators, along with complete soundproofing. An August 10, 1927 advertisement called it “the ultimate in luxurious comfort, smart distinction, and perfection in service.” It noted that a descriptive booklet was available for those looking for more information.

On September 24, The Times announced the grand opening that day of the one month delayed building, with a reception featuring music and refreshments from 2 p.m. through 11 p.m. Manager William Danielsen, experienced in running French and continental European hotels, saw to every resident’s need. The story noted the “elegantly furnished apartments” and “luxurious hotel accommodations,” combining old world charm with up-to-date amenities. Each of the fifty units, a combination of single or double units, featured its own exclusive furniture and design in the French Normandy style, with authentic carvings of peasants. Drawer pulls and hardware were authentic reproductions of peasant art as well.

Guests entered through an outdoor patio landscaped with flowers and shrubs containing an open fireplace and an ornamental pool lit up at night. The interior lobby featured a rough wood-timbered ceiling and a large fireplace. The club and music room adjoined the lobby, with an elaborate grand piano decorated in the Normandy style.

Each unit contained electric ranges and refrigerators, with each refrigerator containing a water cooler holding twenty glasses of water. Electric heat operated by a button in each apartment warmed the units. Water softeners provided soft water at all times.

Some apartments contained natural fireplaces and singles contained “disappearing” twin beds. Units featured oak floors, decorated ceiling beams, and carved wood knobs and pulls. All apartments contained tiled bathrooms, with separate compartments for bath, shower, and toilet.

A canopied rooftop garden beckoned residents, featuring both sleek landscaping and outstanding panoramic views in each direction. A separate but fully enclosed children’s playground adjoined the terrace.

An ad for Chateau des Fleurs in The Times, Aug. 10. 1927.

The Chateau des Fleurs ran its own hyperbolic ad trumpeting the grand opening of the magnificent and plush building, stating, “Discriminating people who seek a home place that is delightfully different..where every detail of arrangements, appointments, furnishings and service is moulded into a consummate whole of infinite satisfaction and enjoyment.” They also noted all the companies who contributed to its opening, like Meyer-Radon Brothers, John A. Platt Construction Company, furniture from Roy Wertheimer & Co., landscaping by United Nurseries, linens and bedding from Pullman Linen Co., upholstering by Davis Upholstery Co., floor coverings by Thomas L. Leedom Co., draperies by Vermillion’s Drapery Studio, and bedroom, dinette, and living room furniture by the McClellan Manufacturing Co.

By January 25, 1928, the Chateau des Fleurs saw a change in management as they promoted themselves to the public. Their ad read, “Hollywood’s Most Exclusive Apartments – Beautiful Singles and Doubles of French Norman Design – Moderately Priced With Daily Service of Every Description.”

The building featured a large staff for guests over the early years, with many listed in the telephone book. Mrs. Nellie Valentine managed the building in 1929 and 1930, Chester Coldwell ran the hotel in 1934, Mrs. Ethel Brooks managed in 1938, with Mrs. Gretchen Warner managing in 1942. Sami Powers acted as engineer in 1928, with Mrs. Emma Krueger serving as housekeeper in 1929 and 1930. Ilene and Minne Baling served as maids in 1930, with Dorothy Haman acting as telephone operator, O. H. Stenzel as engineer, and L. Weiland Jeide and Donald McIver as clerks.

Celebrities, the affluent, and middle-class residents occupied the building over the years. Cinematographer Karl Freund resided in the building in 1930, per the Journal for the Society of Motion Picture Engineers. Diana Wynward occupied the building in 1932, as did Bramwell Fletcher, who often invited his friends like Ronald Colman to tea, per the Los Angeles Times. Actor Ian Keith somehow accidentally slashed both his wrists while performing a trick with a straight razor for friends on November 25, 1936. Photographer Man Ray lived in the building with Juliet Brower in 1940, per “Man Ray: American Artist.”

Ambitious showgirls and actresses like 1934 WAMPAS Baby Star Mary Wallace. Jean Fursa, and Velma Greschan also lived in the building, trying to impress with the residence as well as their beauty. Some, like music teacher Claude Fleming and Feodor Gontzoff, tenor, offered singing and music lessons out of their apartments. The People’s Opera Company operated out of the building in 1932 as well. The Chateau also advertised to those coming to visit the Olympics in 1932, as well as those coming for the winter from the East. By the late 1940s-early 1950s, many press representatives lived in the building.

An ad for Chateau des Fleurs in The Times, Sept. 24, 1927.

There were a few instances of notoriety at the Chateau des Fleurs. In 1931, resident and Hotel officer R. B. McConogue attempted to practice what Tom Lehrer preached in the song, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,” when he applied to the Police Commission for a permit to do just that, per the September 2, 1931, Los Angeles Times. The Commission turned him down flat. Mrs. Ruth Levi, visiting the building from New York in 1946, climbed out of her bathroom window and jumped down a ventilation shaft to her death on August 19, 1946.

Ownership flipped over the years, and management attempted to keep up with changing interests, times, and tastes. On October 15, 1939, the Los Angeles Times reported that the J. E. Benton Management Company had been employed by Deposited Bonds and Shares Corp. to operate the Chateau Des Fleurs, along with other luxurious hotels in its portfolio like the Ambassador Hotel, The Gaylord, and the Park-Wilshire.

A 1942 ad listed singles for $60 and doubles for $75, calling the Chateau Des Fleurs a luxuriously furnished abode, noting the building featured spacious rooms, all outside exposure, beautiful gardens and patio, modern roof gardens, and switchboard as amenities.

As Hollywood changed over the next several decades, so did the building and its clientele. The building was not as immaculately maintained as it had been in previous years, beginning to acquire a somewhat aged dowager look. While some still worked in entertainment, most were just regular middle class people. Newer, more hip buildings arose around it.

A 1978 ad for the building lists singles at $235 and one bedrooms at $275 plus utilities, calling the Chateau “an old classic building.” By April, the estate of Victor Nichols sold the building at auction in probate court to A. P. Lopez for $1.3 million, with the building now containing 16 singles, 23 one bedrooms, and one large bedroom plus den for the owners unit. A problem for more contemporary audiences , the story reported the building contained only 21 parking spots.

The Chateau des Fleurs still stands at 6626 Franklin Avenue, a proud, gorgeous grand dame awaiting a refurbishing to return it to its glory days of the 1920s and 1930s.

Somewhere in Los Angeles, young men with too much testosterone and spray paint are spending what is apparently their abundant spare time vandalizing an abandoned church.

Judging by my Instagram feed, abandoned classrooms, theaters, auditoriums and other unsecured sites in Los Angeles receive similar treatment. But this is really infuriating. Can anyone identify this location and alert whoever is supposed to be in charge of it that it is being wrecked by idiots?

These photos are from the Instagram feeds of Los Angeles and acer._

The Ambassador Theater, as shown in the Exhibitors Herald, 1921.

On February 9, 1919, the Los Angeles Times reported that the California Hotel Company would soon begin construction on a luxurious hotel on twenty one acres adjoining Wilshire Boulevard between Catalina and Eighth Streets. This resort-like property would cater to the upper classes, with bungalows, ballroom, billiards, card rooms, swimming pool, and an arcade of shops catering to every whim of the wealthy clientele. Often overlooked in the hostelry’s many high-end amenities was the plush Ambassador Theatre, intended both as rental facility, host to conventions, and movie theatre.

D. M. Linnard, owner of the California Hotel Company, announced on April 4 that architect Myron Hunt had been employed to design something along classic Italian lines for the $5 million project. The proposed design showed buildings in a giant H shape with a combined 1000 rooms between the main building and annexes. The proposed project also included tea house, casino, and a convention hall with pipe organ and stage. Construction began in June 1919 for the massive project after demolishing the former Ruben Schmidt farmhouse on the property. The hotel’s name changed from California to Ambassador in March 1920 as well.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

On June 27, 1920, the Los Angeles Times reported that architect Myron Hunt was designing a large movie theatre, garage, and servants’ quarters at the west end of the hotel to cost $250,000. Guests would enter the theatre through the west lobby, beyond the grill and arcade of stores. The up-to-date screening facility would include pipe organ, artistic lighting elements, and comfortable seating for 575-600 people. On October 9, 1920, Motion Picture News announced that Gore Brothers and Sol Lesser had signed a deal to operate the Ambassador Theatre, and negotiated an agreement with Associated First National for the theatre “to serve as a world premiere house for all First National attractions.”

Art Smith, supervising projectionist for the Gore Brothers, chose the projection equipment of two “S” Simplex projectors and a signal system in conjunction with the house lights installed between them. Each projector was ventilated through the roof as well for security and safety issues. A special electrical installation allowed control of spot and stereo optical lights as well as projectors. The projection booth consisted of three adjoining rooms: one with motor and generator, another with projectors, and the last a cutting room, thereby reducing a fire hazard. Special rewind machines and cabinets in the cutting rooms were installed making it a top of the line system.

Finishing preparations for the theatre took longer than anticipated, requiring that the Ambassador Theatre open February 5, 1921 rather than January 1, 1921, as did the glamorous Ambassador Hotel. Crews worked double shifts to make the February opening, which included wiring it to allow fanciful lighting effects in seven different colors and combinations. The elegant Theatre rivaled the beauty of the striking hotel, containing large, leather- upholstered overstuffed arm chairs set back from other rows and aisles. It would feature refrigerated air in the summer and heat in the winter.

On January 21, 1921, the Times stated that the sleek, Italian Renaissance-style theatre painted in dove gray would contain a lounging room with luxurious furnishings, stylish light fixtures, a twelve pipe organ, a moveable floor allowing grotto and mountain effects, an eighteen foot screen, and mural paintings on side walls highlighted by beams and draped in velvet, which would be pulled aside after the audience was seated, revealing the glamorous paintings beneath.

They hired S. Barret McCormick, formerly Toledo, Ohio’s Rivoli Theatre manager, to supervise and run the Theatre in December 1920, along with creating artistic prologues based on classical music to match the essence of the movie’s theme to kick off programming. The Ambassador Theatre would present the best moving pictures from all the studios in one week runs, with the December 1920 Motion Picture News stating, “It will be the releasing place for the great test pictures, and the Ambassador production is to be to the picture world what the Metropolitan is to the opera.” McCormick also called it the “National Art Theatre of the Screen,” per Exhibitors Herald.

Photos of an Ambassador Theatre prologue, Motion Picture News, 1921.

The theatre would host twice daily screenings with a matinee cost of 75 cents and evening screening with $2 admission, all seats reserved. very high as compared to regular prices. They hired top musicians, dancers, and acts to fill out the prologue portion of the program, accompanied by twelve piece orchestra. All up-to-date processes would be employed in providing audiences top-notch presentations. Motion Picture News claimed they were the only cinema located in a hotel but catering to outside audiences. The theatre would produce the Ambassador Weekly Magazine to highlight screenings, each with unique cover, and present preview screenings on Friday night.

Advertisements trumpeting the theatre employed the slogan “Toward the Ultimate” in describing their special programs featuring a musical prelude, stage prelude, prologue, and the film, along with a beautiful artistic booklet. As Motion Picture News stated, “The Ambassador Theatre will present each week the most noteworthy of screen productions, giving them in nearly every instance their world premiere several weeks before their presence in other cities…”

The Ambassador Theatre premiered February 5, 1921 with a screening of the Pola Negri film, “Passion” with an elaborate prologue designed by McCormick called “Clay,” featuring a thirty five member cast wearing contortionable masks by Alexander Hall in a show based on a poem by Omar. Choreographer Marion Morgan supervised and created symbolic dances to follow the avant garde sets. These featured bright, vivid trees against pitch black backgrounds. “Short and chic and bobbed hair” usherettes wearing stylish uniforms assisted patrons. Operators admitted to the newspaper that they expected to lose money, but hoped to cover costs of the entertainment and show.

The Ambassador Theatre screened Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” soon after, which brought out scalpers who corralled most of the tickets, selling out the venue a week in advance. While it was good for the theatre’s business, it was bad for the general public.

A prologue for “The Passion Flower,” Motion Picture News, 1921.

The Louis B. Mayer organization employed the Ambassador Theatre as one of two picture houses to host the premiere of his film, “The Woman in the House” on February 12. A few weeks later, Variety reported that the film played to only six people in one screening., calling the theatre a flop on February 25, stating that it appealed to only the high brow because of its location in the hotel, with a deluxe charge that millionaires didn’t want to pay and too high for middle class patrons. Management needed to think of something fast to maintain cash flow.

The Bakersfield Morning Echo reported on March 13, 1921 that management was now adding a series of one-act plays stated in conjunction with first-run films, replacing the more elaborate prologues. These would be staged by Frank Egan, formerly of Figueroa Street’s Little Theatre, in the style of Paris’ Grand Guignol. The “Ambassador Players” consisting mostly of film stars would act in these productions seeing as curtain raiser before the intermission, overture, and screening of the film.

Egan premiered “Fancy Free” as the first stage play, starring film actors Crane Wilbur, Mary McLaren, and Kathleen Clifford. Later one-acts featured cinema players Helen Jerome Eddy and Gaston Glass.

On September 10, 1921, Arthur L. Bernstein, formerly manager of the Fanchon and Marco Revue took over operations, devising ways to bring in revenue. During the daytime dark hours for the theatre, social and charity groups employed the space for meetings and special occasions. Mary Miles Minter performed in support of disabled ex-servicemen April 27, 1921 in support of the Assistance League’s efforts to help veterans. The Assistance League took over the theatre each Wednesday in support of a different charity.

The Ambassador Hotel now has a movie theater, Motion Picture News, 1921.

While changing up programming helped for a time, management was forced to consider changes in scheduling by 1922. It began renting out the facility to other groups for meetings and presentations in order to help pay the bills. The newly formed Wilshire Boulevard Congregational Church began holding services January 1, 1922 while they raised funds to locate a permanent location.

In the March 15, 1922 Los Angeles Times, the Ambassador Theatre noted that the week of March 22 they would become “the National Preview Theatre of the Screen,” showing previews three nights a week at 8:15 pm with opinion cards distributed to audience members. Regular screenings on other nights and Saturday’s all comedy night would continue. Such major attractions as the “Merry-Go-Round,” Jackie Coogan’s “Oliver Twist,” “The Lost World,” and others screened during the silent era.

On September 27, the Ambassador hosted the world premiere of the stereoscope film “The Power of Love” employing the Fairall Process using “eye screens” for film executives, exhibitors, directors, cinematographers, projectionists, optometrists, and scientists. “The Greatest Menace,” a film delving into the evils of drug use, premiered February 23, 1923.

Uncle John and the stars of KHJ (The Times radio station) are mobbed at Ambassador Auditorium, Sept. 8, 1925, Los Angeles Times.

By the 1930s, the Ambassador Theatre functioned more as a trade and press screening location, hosting screenings for journalists who needed to submit reviews to their magazines and newspapers. Colleen Moore’s film “Smilin’ Through” played in 1929, followed through the years by such films as “Pinocchio,” “This Gun For Hire,” “Pride of the Yankees,” in which many of the press shed tears at the screening, “Random Harvest,” “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and “Anchors Aweigh.” “Citizen Kane” previews the week of April 10, 1941 at the Ambassador, with Terry Ramsaye calling it “a magnificent sleigh-ride” of a picture.”

Over the next several decades, social, charity, nonprofit, and community groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Confederation of Women’s Clubs, California Women of the Golden West, Matinee Music Club, Opera Reading Club, and Assistance League held meetings and presentations, while groups like the Nine O’Clock Players and Hollywood Opera Company presented recitals, concerts, and the like. Groups hosted lectures and food demonstrations in the theatre, and such organizations as radio, optometrists, exhibitors, and even morticians presented conventions.

By 1954, no more advertising appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the theatre appears to have shuttered, with entertainment focusing on the Cocoanut Grove.

The Los Angeles Unified School District took over the former Ambassador Hotel property to eventually construct schools in the 2000s, demolishing the buildings rather than remodeling and renovating them for a repurpose. While the Ambassador Theatre is no more, it operated as a high class, sleek screening facility during the hotel’s glamorous heyday of the 1920s through 1940s.

The Hollywood Chamber of commerce in an undated pamphlet.

I n 1925, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce recognized the need for a stylish permanent home in which to promote the business and life of their fair city. Said headquarters should be fashionable and up-to-date without too much sizzle, an elegant representative of a classy and growing city.

Begun in 1921, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce lacked a settled home base. The organization first rented space at 6553 Hollywood Blvd. in 1921 after its formation, right in the heart of Hollywood. The Chamber later moved to 6530 Hollywood Blvd. in 1923 while it considered locations and opportunities and carried on the work of promoting business in Hollywood, organizing drives for better roads, transportation, and infrastructure.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, as shown in the Dec. 6, 1925, Los Angeles Times.

George, Coffin, President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and member of the Los Angeles Realty Board, hunted appropriate locations on which to construct a handsome home for the 1100 member organization. The April 1, 1925 Los Angeles Times notes that a committee was organized to discuss size, location, and cost of the building, composed of people like Coffin, Carl Bush, Secretary of the Chamber, Gilbert Beesemyer, Parker Foster, and George Eastman, among others. In late 1925, the Chamber acquired 6520 Sunset Blvd. on which to build their striking new headquarters, hiring renowned Los Angeles architectural firm Morgan, Walls, & Clements to design a suitable structure.

On November 3, 1925, the William Simpson Construction Co. applied for a building permit to construct a 50 x 150 foot, two story $40,000 Class C building at 6522 Sunset Blvd. (later 6520 Sunset Blvd.) for the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The two story building would rise from a concrete concert foundation and be composed of wood, with composition floors in the concrete and wood interior.

The December 6 newspaper reported that the building, located across the street from the Hollywood Athletic Club, would contain offices, stage, and auditorium on the first floor, with a large assembly room on the second floor in which it planned to screen daily motion picture exhibitions of “Hollywood municipal activities.”

The company applied for an altered permit on December 11, stating that the side walls would be constructed of 13” brick instead of 12” reinforced concrete, with steel beams constructed between the H. columns to carry the weight of the upper half of the walls. The rear wall and side wall returns would also be constructed of brick instead of concrete, at 17” instead of 13” like the sides. This permit claims the building to be one story, and now 50 x 145 feet.

To add pizzazz to the somewhat simple structure, the architects designed an elaborate Churrigueresque ornamental pediment over the front entrance to the Chamber Building. Emerging as decoration in Spain in the late 17th century in the Spanish Baroque style, it featured elaborate sculptural and decorative elements over the entrance to the front facades of buildings, composed of garlands, cornices, shells, and broken pediments, all meant to attract attention. The style was revived in the mid-1910s when Mission Revival and Spanish Revival architecture exploded around the Pan Pacific Expositions in San Diego and San Francisco.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce organized a dignified opening ceremony on July 14, 1926 for its grand new headquarters. The large banquet featured Hollywood Methodist Church pastor Dr. Willis Martin delivering the welcome and dedication, with Chamber President Frank Galloway presiding over festivities in the $75,000 building’s large auditorium. City, county, and state officials would give short talks, along with past presidents of the Chamber. The Hollywood Athletic Club Orchestra, Rotary Club quartet, and pianist Celeste Nellis Ryus would provide entertainment.

6520 Sunset Blvd., via Google Street View.

Once ensconced in its new home, the Chamber worked to support local organizations, charities, and businesses in their daily activities, as well as promote the city of Hollywood as the ultimate tourist destination and film capital. The group pushed for widening streets such as Cahuenga, La Brea, and other major thoroughfares to help disperse growing traffic problems. They advocated for a tunnel to better connect Hollywood with the San Fernando Valley and to help alleviate the congested conditions in the Cahuenga corridor. The group planted trees to beautify the city and helped construct parks to add recreational opportunities. The Chamber worked to clean up the film business by reporting and closing bogus movie schools, “talent” firms, and writing scams.

The Chamber’s headquarters at 6520 Sunset Blvd. opened its doors to virtually every local organization to hold meetings in its auditorium, which could seat 400 people. The Chamber hosted a screening of King Vidor’s “The Jack-Knife Man for the Hollywood Film Guild on October 9, 1926. On January 1, 1927, the building hosted the Hollywood Business Men’s Club, which sponsored a presentation about constructing a proposed Mission Playhouse in San Gabriel. Several religious groups met in the auditorium, from Buddhists to Uplifters to Lutherans to Humanists.

From February 19 to March 16, 1935, the Chamber hosted an art exhibition free to the public. May 10, 1939, the Chamber hosted a presentation by actor/director Irving Pichel and writer Michael Blankfort on the history of motion picture production. On December 9, 1939 the Chamber’s auditorium hosted a rally Against Nazism, with the consuls of Czechoslovakia and Poland appearing, along Reverend Peter Samson of the Unitarian Church.

Smaller groups also conducted meetings or luncheons in other rooms at the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, or even set up offices. The Los Angeles Realty Board honored real estate man Harry Culver with a luncheon March 9, 1927. The Hollywood branch of the Los Angeles Realty Board began operating a office in the building September 8, 1926. The State Railroad Commission presented Los Angeles area hearings in the organization’s headquarters.

On December 9, 1939, the county tax assessor opened one of 34 branch offices in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The IRS opened an office here in 1947 in which to assist Hollywood residents in completing their tax returns. The USO operated an office out of the facility during World War II, while the building hosted the Veterans Service Center in 1946. In 1951, the Hollywood Committee for Civil Defense operated out of the building.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce even allowed a wide variety of entertainment related labor groups to hold meetings or rallies in their auditorium 6250 Sunset Blvd., including the Screen Writers’ Guild, the American Society of Cinematography, the Screen Directors’ Guild, Local 659 of Cameramen, Motion Picture Engineers, OPEIU, and IATSE. The Chamber seemed to operate as an equal opportunity facility.

On May 1, 1965, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved spending over $100,00 to lease larger space in the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Building for the County Tax Assessor for 10 years.

The Hollywood Chamber decided in 1976 that it would be more economical to lease office space rather than to own their headquarters. They decided to sell, allowing a new company to come in and adaptively reuse the space. On June 27, Schaeffer Photo and Camera Supply Co. purchased the facility and opened it as their new Hollywood branch. The company developed film, sold supplies, repaired equipment, mixed chemicals, processed motion picture film, all with a staff of 20.

As film faded away, Larson Studios, a post production audio mixing facility, moved in. They recognized the impressive facade could lend an historic and luxurious ambiance to their business.

These examples of adaptive reuse show the resilience and strength of older buildings – eye-catching architecture that still serves a purpose. If such a building possesses some type of landmark status, owners can receive tax rebates through the Mills Act to restore and rehabilitate the buildings, a win for everyone.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Building at 6520 Sunset Blvd., constructed during one of the premier architectural booms in Hollywood during the 1920s-1930s, reflects the confidence and ambition of the period. The building demonstrates how glorious design continues to inspire those who enter it, even today.

Las Palmas Market, 1259 N. Las Palmas Ave., via Google Street View.

While architectural styles have changed over the centuries, the use of buildings has remained virtually unchanged, meaning an older bank building can still function as a bank, a restaurant can remain a dining establishment, and so on. Most retail and commercial buildings can remain financially viable for centuries, operating as originally intended or by adaptive reuse into other businesses, thus revealing history at the same time. Grocery stores most often seem to continue operating for decades, serving the neighborhoods around which they were constructed. Two 100 year-old markets continue to serve their neighborhoods here in Los Angeles, just as they did when first opened.

Las Palmas Market, built in 1912 and located at 1259 N. Las Palmas Ave. in Hollywood as part of the Strong and Dickinson’s Hollywood High School Tract, still serves as a local market. When first constructed at the intersection of Las Palmas and Fountain Avenue two blocks east of Highland Avenue, it served the tiny community of citrus farmers which surrounded it known as Colegrove. More prosperous residents resided in the more upscale community of Hollywood, just a few blocks north. The approximate 1000 square foot wood frame structure was built at a cost of $1,500 per the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s site, with the store located on the first floor and a residence on the second. The original owner remains unknown. As with most small markets, the store sold meats, dry goods, home products, and produce to patrons.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The market continued to serve the growing and evolving neighborhood over the years, as what had been farm land was subdivided to construct residences for persons flocking to Hollywood. Small bungalows, duplexes, and bungalow courts sprung up around it as a wave of immigration descended on Hollywood thanks to the burgeoning motion picture industry. Many rented the small homes, while others purchased a residence for the first time.

In 1923, Eugene B. Charbonneau operated the market and also sold meats per the Los Angeles Telephone Directory, while also operating a store at 1153 N. La Brea Avenue. By 1925 he sold to William F. Schanbacher, and in 1928, Frank Wentzel operated the market.

Bob’s Market appears in the background in “L.A. Confidential.” From Left, Ed Exley (Guy Pearce)  and Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) question a boxer played by Robert Barry Fleming. 

The little market remained virtually intact until 1936, when the Board of Health required the original wood floor to be replaced with concrete, per a 1936 building permit. The store front was also slightly altered by owner Shirley Klier per the permit application. Per a November 22, 1937 permit, new owner Sam Winecoff installed an awning out front of the Class D structure. In 1940, Winecoff replaced some of the wood exterior and plaster interior and squared the facade as he continuing making improvements to better serve the needs of customers. A 1947 permit to add 2.6’ x 26’ storage structure to the side of the building noted that the structure had served as a store for over 25 years. The 1976 Daily Variety noted that the building operated as the Las Fountain Liquor Store for a time.

While small alterations or improvements have been made over the years, the 104 year-old 1259 Las Palmas still serves the public as a market. While records don’t appear to exist to indicate whether it appeared in a motion picture in its early years, the store did appear in a 2012 episode of “Southland,” serving as an inner city market under its own name.

Bob’s Market, 1230 Bellevue Ave., via Google Street View.

At 1230 Bellevue Avenue, Bob’s Market still continues as an Angelino Heights grocery store after 103 years in operation. One of Los Angeles’ first suburbs, Angelino Heights is one of the few intact neighborhoods in the city from the Victorian era. Developed by William W. Stilson and Everett E. Hall on a hill two miles northwest of downtown in the 1880s, Angelino Heights served as a respectable, upper middle class neighborhood for genteel, upwardly mobile people, a veritable melting pot almost from its beginnings.

The September 20, 1902 Los Angeles Times notes a nine-room house costing $1,000 for sale by Mitchell, Black & Co. at 1234 Bellevue Avenue, the original address for the site. Big Orange Landmarks states that owner Mrs. Ella Jane Millen hired architect George E. Colterison in 1913 to design a Mission Revival store with some Oriental touches at the six-point intersection, past which wagons, trolleys, streetcars, and even automobiles passed, replacing the demolished home. Contractor Peter A. Holmberg constructed the $3,500, 36’ x 72’ building composed of “two stoors (sic) and flats” of six rooms, per the original permit.

One of the first tenants to occupy part of the site in 1914 was tailor Levon Melkonian, a refugee from the Armenian Genocide. Frank E. Sandberg operated a grocery at 1234 Bellevue in 1916, soon replaced by Erik Holmen in 1917. By 1921, Lewis Vogel ran a market at this location, in partnership with Schelle in 1925. Like the Las Palmas Market, it sold dry goods, produce, meats, and the like.

In 1926, Abram Koper and his wife Miriam took over operations, running the bodega through 1936, with minor alterations like installing accordion doors to the front of the structure in 1930 and adding a screen porch in back in 1932. Some time in this period, Fred and Nelly Baalberger conducted a cleaning business in the half formerly occupied by Melkonian, taken over by the Kopers in 1934 as well.

While the Kopers continued owning the building, Abraham Kroman and his wife operated the market from 1938 until 1942, when it served as Harry Weiner’s Fairview Market. In 1947, Miriam Koper applied for a permit to remove the partition separating the two stores, and the structure has operated solely as a market since that time. Permits note M. J. Shifrin as owner in 1950, and by 1954, Earl Childers ran the grocery, all under the name Fairview Market. The Los Angeles telephone book notes a change in name to Ben’s Market in 1960 after purchase by Ben Nakasone. It now operates as Bob’s Market, after its purchase in 1965 by Bob Nimura and his wife Keiko.

On June 6, 1979, Bob’s Market was named Los Angeles’ Historic Cultural Landmark  No. 215 for its many decades of service as a grocery store/market, with little alteration to the main building.

As with the Las Palmas Market, Bob’s has appeared onscreen as well, first in the movie “Los Angeles Confidential” and “Salton Sea,” then most recently as the mom and pop Toretto’s Market in the first “The Fast and the Furious” installment, run by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his sister and where they meet the character played by the late actor Paul Walker.

With proper care and attention, older buildings can continue to function and serve the public as attended, just like Bob’s Market and Las Palmas Market. These stores also show how small businesses built to serve a niche in a local community still remain important to those areas today. This is what historic preservation is all about, not only revealing a city’s historic past, but keeping a building economically viable for future generations.

Ida Lupino promotes Easter in 1934, with the Zahn building in the background.

What was intended strictly as a publicity photo promoting young actress Ida Lupino celebrating the Easter season on a large rabbit outside Desmond’s Department Store leads to a fascinating history regarding the building seen in the background. Some buildings are remembered for their gorgeous architecture, others for the influential people that visited the structure, and some for life-changing events that occurred inside their doors. The H.N. Zahn building, still proudly standing at 5480 Wilshire Blvd., is remarkable for how its owners pushed what today is called spot zoning, a scourge on current development around Los Angeles.

Zahn’s father, Johann (J. C.) Zahn, was born in Prussia in 1822. He studied medicine and earned a fortune before immigrating to Australia and establishing a mission there, giving it to the state. After making another fortune, he and his wife immigrated to San Francisco and later came to Los Angeles, independently wealthy. He invested in real estate in California, Nevada, and Utah, and founded churches, such as the First German Methodist Episcopal Church downtown.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

An artist’s concept of the building, Los Angeles Times, June 8, 1930.

Hector Nathan, the youngest of five sons, was born August 8, 1878 on Spring Street, in what later became the site of the Title Insurance and Trust Building. He worked for the family’s corporation in various places like their mining company in Utah and Camp in Nevada over the years before beginning investing in real estate himself, in and out of the courts over various land matters over the years.

The Los Angeles Times reported on January 26, 1904, he was sued by Grant Burkett, who claimed that Zahn “alienated the affections” of his wife, asking for $25,000 from both Zahn and his mother, before asking that she be dropped from the suit. Burkett claimed Zahn took unchaperoned buggy rides with his wife, gave her gifts, and the like. Zahn stated on the record that Burkett was a “heavy drinker” and abused his wife. Hector eventually married Kathryn after the Burketts divorced and they had him arrested for perjury, claiming that he had asked for money before filing the suit, which was dropped by the courts.

Zahn began purchasing real estate around Los Angeles, including acreage along what would become Wilshire Boulevard, stretching from Cochran to Dunsmuir Avenues. At this time, grand homes lined Wilshire, a veritable “Millionaires Row,” but development was gradually overtaking residential closer to downtown.

On October 18, 1921, the Los Angeles City Council passed an ordinance creating five types of building zones, indicating what types of structures could be constructed in each zone. Zone A provided only the construction of single-family homes, Zone B allowed hotels, dwellings, apartments, Zone C proscribed only retail/wholesale establishments, Zone D allowed industries and factories, while Zone E was devoted to any lawful use. The Zahn/Ross land lay outside the boundaries of Los Angeles at this time.

The Zahn building, as shown by Google Street View.

The City Council annexed the tract in this area to the city on February 28, 1922, and amended the ordinance in September, placing most of the land in this area to Zone B, and putting land around La Brea Avenue in Zone C.

Ross and Zahn filed an application with the city to declare an exemption to their property in this tract and allow it to be zoned for commercial purposes. The Public Works Commission turned down their request, stating that “we believe that Wilshire Boulevard is destined to become a show street when widened and beautified as contemplated and the encroachment of business upon this boulevard is at this time unnecessary and would be a great detriment to the future residential development of this thoroughfare and we therefore recommend that the request be denied and filed.” The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved their recommendation.

On July 25, 1923, the two men applied for a permit to build a one-story retail building on their property. Zahn petitioned to the City Council, requesting an exception to build his commercial structure, while A.W. Ross petitioned them to allow commercial construction along Wilshire west of La Brea Avenue. The city refused, keeping the area zoned B, a decision supported by the majority of residents in the area.

Zahn and Ross appealed to the California Supreme Court who referred the case to the Appellate Court, claiming the city’s actions were illegal in that “Its operation amounts to confiscation and taking away of property without due process of law,” per the August 23, 1923, Los Angeles Times. This was a test case regarding a city’s right to establish zoning throughout its boundaries.

The Appellate Court ruled the city’s zoning laws valid, and Ross and Zahn appealed to the State Supreme Court, which ruled for the city, per the March 28, 1925 Times, “that the zoning of its territory for building purposes is a proper exercise by the city of its police powers.” The two men requested a rehearing, denied by the Court.

Ross and Zahn appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled for the city of Los Angeles May 16, 1927, stating that cities had the right to enact zoning restrictions throughout their municipalities.

Zahn tried anything to turn the districts into commercial areas, even trying to prevent Los Angeles residents from voting on the matter. On July 30, Zahn filed an injunction to prevent City Clerk Dominguez from distributing a referendum allowing citizens the right to vote on whether Wilshire Boulevard between Western Avenue and Rimpau Boulevard and Wilshire Boulevard between Detroit and Carson Avenue be converted to business districts. He, along with Fred H. Luth, felt only owners of property in these districts be allowed to vote.

Amarillo Sunday News and Globe, May 29, 1927.

After all the court wins, the city unexpectedly made a complete turnaround and meekly approved Zahn’s request, giving him an exception and allowing him to build a commercial structure on this property. By so doing, Los Angeles began practicing the policy of spot zoning, allowing exceptions for mismatched or oversize development in areas where it was forbidden often, for a price. This practice subverted and stepped around the referendum process allowing Los Angeles residents a say on matters concerning development.

On October 13, 1927, Zahn filed a building permit to construct a four-story apartment and office building 56 feet high at what the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety called 5466-8-70-2-4-6-8-80 Wilshire Blvd. The permit estimated a cost of $80,000 to build the 36-room building in which 14 families would live.

Per the permit, brick would cover the exterior walls, the foundation would be composed of poured concrete, the roof would consist of tile and comp. The permit listed Frank M. Tyler as architect, renowned throughout the city for his elegant homes for such people as George A. Ralphs as well as the Woman’s Twentieth Century Club of Eagle Rock. Architect Tyler signed an agreement October 11, 1927, stipulating that the building would be erected at least five feet back from the property line in accordance with city policy.

When completed, Zahn’s new structure featured lovely Spanish Colonial architecture, with elegant detailing on the top floor of each section of the building, along with a decorative fan underneath the fire escape ladder. On the ground level, the Dunsmuir facade featured tile on the bottom third of the first level, with matching detailing above and around the curved and decorative windows

This first floor contained a furniture store with mezzanine displaying further product and other small businesses occupied the one-story commercial structure east of the 4-story tower. Over the years, this almost one block building featured such businesses as Mandel’s Department Store, a dime store, Colburn’s Furs, Bel Paesa restaurant, Albert Allardale Women’s Fashions, Filmax Camera Shop, My Lady Fashions, Burnett’s Art and Architecture Shop. Ritza Russian Restaurant, New York Millinery, Grayson’s, D. F. Robertson World Tours, N. S. Harieff Custom Persian Rugs, Everbest Business Machines, and other small proprietorships.

Over the years, however, “improvements” to the building ended up removing the elaborate decorative windows on the Dunsmuir facade, along with the destruction of the Spanish detailing on the lower floor.

Zahn ended up making a fortune on the block he owned extending from Cochran to Cloverdale along Wilshire Boulevard upon which the Bank of America now stands. The Los Angeles Times reported that he received $600,000 in cash November 17, 1929 from the Dominguez Estates Company for the entire city block, even after the crash and disaster of the New York Stock Market a couple of weeks previously. A gorgeous Art Deco building was constructed and remains to this day.

While intending to only shoot a publicity still, Paramount Pictures ended up documenting the H.N. Zahn building and its original Spanish Colonial design, preserving it for posterity. On March 22, 1934, Paramount Pictures posed young British actress Ida Lupino atop a giant decorative rabbit display promoting the Easter holiday on the Dunsmuir sidewalk side of the majestic Desmond’s Department Store. The still’s original caption states, “BIG BUNNY BUSINESS – In preparation for Easter, Ida Lupino, young Paramount player, puts finishing touches on a huge Easter rabbit designed to impart a festive holiday touch to one of the screen colony’s fashionable streets.” By this time, the street was becoming known as the “Miracle Mile” in this area of mid-Wilshire.

An ephemeral piece of advertising, a simple movie still, can often present the only documented look and design of historic buildings and places, offering us a nostalgic time capsule back into classic Los Angeles and Hollywood as well as indirectly recording a place that changed the very design of the city.

The Pirate’s Den, Radio Television Mirror.

During the height of Hollywood’s Golden Age, colorful and elaborate restaurants and nightclubs filled the scene. In the 1920s, programmatic architecture flourished in California, providing automobile passengers giant iconic representations of the foodstuffs available inside. By the 1930s, the fanciful, elaborate elements moved inside, with eating or entertainment establishments virtual playgrounds of fun. The show had moved from the sidewalk to the interior, providing decorative ambiance.

Many celebrities capitalized on the craze, with stars like Raymond McKee and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle building or lending their names to businesses in hopes of raking in profits from the whimsical atmosphere. A group of celebrities followed suit in 1940, pooling their resources to open the Pirate’s Den at 335 N. La Brea Ave., helping a friend in need in the process.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is now available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

335 N. La Brea, via Google Street View.

Don Dickerman, now down on his luck as a film extra, was spotted by Rudy Vallee while working on a picture. Vallee owed his career to Dickerman, the former proprietor of New York’s Heigh Ho Club, who had given the young singer his start as a crooner and band leader, from which he gained his signature salutation, “Heigh Ho Everybody!”

Dickerman operated a series of successful nite spots in New York during the 1920s, until the stock market crash and ensuing financial disaster overtook his businesses. An early presenter of themed restaurants, Dickerman’s eateries included the Blue Horse Tavern, as well as Pirate’s Den clubs in both New York and Miami.

These early Pirate’s Den niteries featured lusty wenches and sneering, rascally “pirates” serving food and drink to customers in a dark paneled room with “cells” and chains replicating the interior of a raggedy pirate ship. Radio Digest called him “one of the most strait-laced night club proprietors,” who because of Prohibition served non-alcoholic drinks. In a February 1931 article, the magazine stated, “His clubs are scrupulously clean in food, entertainment, music, and general atmosphere.” In other words, what we would now call a Disneyified version of pirates.

Vallee approached friends and fellow stars to throw money in a kitty to help Dickerman establish a Pirate’s Den in Los Angeles. The April 7, 1940 Variety reported that the new eatery would replace the White Elephant at 335 N. La Brea Ave., thanks to the help of stockholders Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Fred MacMurray, Valley, Jimmy Fidler, Ken Murray, Tony Martin, Johnny Weissmuller, and Vic Erwin. They selected Dickerman, Bo Roos, Samuel S. Zogos, Winifred Van Lear, and Frances Fegelman to serve as directors.

The group remodeled the building, which had served as the home for such restaurants and clubs as Casa Brea, Three Little Pigs, El Mirador Cafe, and Sebastian’s Cubanola since 1929. On May 8, 1940, the Club celebrated its grand opening, with gaudily dressed pirates and wenches serving drinks and sandwiches to patrons. To add a touch of authenticity, Dickerman brought in Matey, a swearing parrot, who soon became a popular part of the Pirate’s Den.

RKO-Pathe shot this formal grand opening, releasing it to theaters November 15, 1940 as part of the “PIcture Play #3” newsreel, showing such celebrities as Gary Cooper, W. C. Fields, Ralph Bellamy, and other enjoying festivities.

Though the club featured strong entertainment, stockholders often performed at the Pirate’s Den, with Vallee himself almost functioning as house singer. It quickly became popular, thanks to generous free press in Fidler’s Los Angeles Times’ gossip column, with mentions of celebrities coming for a little atmospheric entertainment in the evenings.

The Pirate’s Den, Photoplay.

Dickerman often threw welcome home parties for stockholders when they returned from filming or trips, with Fidler and other gossip columnists playing up these reports, which brought crowds as well. The Pirate’s Den seemed to serve as a popular spot for college age students to celebrate special events, as well as couples bringing friends coming or going from trips. An added special attraction the club offered included special dances created by renowned dance instructor Arthur Murray, who created “Walking the Gang Plank” for the club.

The Pirate’s Den threw a lavish celebratory first anniversary party on June 1, 1941, with Bob Hope headlining the show, which also featured several of the other famous stockholders.

Thanks to its showbiz connections, the Club received plenty of free film play besides the RKO newsreel. “Screen Snapshots #5” released January 25, 1941 broadcast the club’s first anniversary party, with Hope performing stand-up and introducing Jerry Colonna, Cobina Wright, and Brenda, members of his radio show. An invisible master of ceremonies pointed out show biz guests to the camera, including Roy Rogers, Andrea Leeds, and Harry Ritz of the Ritz Brothers.

A juke box short, “I’d Like to See Samoa at Samoa” prominently featured the club and its headline performers, the Shamrock Boys. On October 26, 1941, the Pirate’s Den served as host for the premiere of ten juke box films, which featured red carpet and klieg lights, showing the talents of people like Vallee, Gertrude Nissen, and Jack Beekman.

In the summer of 1941, the club almost saw itself shut down after a Superior Court judge contacted the Police Commission about what he considered overcharges by the club on his tab, claiming the club charged $6 for three beers and sandwiches for him and his two friends. On July 8, 1941, the manager testified to the commission that the club normally charged 50 cents a beer at the bar and $1.50 each at tables during the week, and charge $1.25 a beer on Sunday nights. Dinner normally cost $1.25 to $2.50 a person, as the club focused on a higher end clientele.

The Commission approved the show permit application July 22, 1941, after the club removed the “No Cover Charge” sign, allowing them to continue operating as before.

Like any club, business fluctuated, especially during a time of war. As new clubs became the hits of the moment, attendance declined at the Pirate’s Den. In the summer of 1945, the club began calling themselves the Pirate’s Den Music Hall, offering strong music performances, including such people as Dorothy Dandridge. These shows were produced by Don Hankey, Leroy Hillman, and George Beatty. Ads mentioned dining, dancing, and floor shows.

By late 1945, the party was over, with consumers moving on to more popular and “hot” establishments. Over the next few years, a couple of middle brow nightclubs opened at the location, neither lasting long. The Club Donroy opened in late 1945, a more middle brow nitery. Closing within months, it was replaced by the Track in 1946 with ads proclaiming that girl jockeys would race on “horses” around the tables.

The Motion Picture Relief Fund purchased the building in early 1951 in order to combine their headquarters, medical and social service offices, and pharmacy into one convenient location. In this way, they could better provide for the care of ailing and elderly members as a way to give back for all they had contributed to the industry. In 1971, they opened the Cinema Glamour Shop in part of the space to help raise money for older veterans of movies and television.

In the 1970s, the Motion Picture Relief Fund acquired property in Woodland Hills on which to build the Motion Picture Country Home, while continuing to operate a small medical office at 335 N. La Brea. They still offer health services today at this location, now called the Bob Hope Health Center.

The Hi-Land Kwik Lunch, 1714 Highland Ave., courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Thanks to vintage photograph, films, and ephemera, buildings still live on, even if eventually they were demolished and/or replaced. Sometimes thankfully they still survive. Here is a story of two buildings: one that survives and one replaced, revealing their place in the life and business of Hollywood, California.

Early in the history of Hollywood, 1714 Highland Ave. existed as a residence in the sleepy little farming community, just across the street from the Hollywood Hotel. Charles Hoffman resided here in 1913, not long after the streetcar line was constructed in the street, on what many believed would become a major thoroughfare. In 1914, Roy Gage, a wire man for the Telephone and Telegraph Company, resided in the home.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The Maison Gaston, 1219 N. Vine, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

By 1921, C. V. Williams operated a small diner/cafe out of the address per the Los Angeles City Directory, serving many people who sped through the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland. As John Bengtson points out in his blog, “Silent Locations,” Buster Keaton filmed a chase for “The Goat” down this street the same year, running past this building. It was even mentioned in an issue of Motion Picture magazine that year.

By 1925, Mr. Williams owned a chain of diners in Hollywood: 1714 Highland, 7560 Sunset Blvd, and 1626 Cahuenga Ave. They were named the Kwik Lunch in 1926, per the photo, which shows the 1714 N. Highland Avenue establishment, called the Hi-Land Kwik Lunch. Ironically, around this time or even earlier, the Harold Lloyd Corporation owned this as well as the buildings just north of it, per Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety permits. Williams changed the name to Kwik Lunch Steak Shops in 1927, and then opened another business under the same name across the street in 1929 at 1731 N. Highland. By 1930, all of the cafes were defunct, possibly due to the Depression. Around this time, Cecil B. DeMille purchased 1731 N. Highland, owning it for decades after.

The opening of the Maison Gaston at 1219 N. Vine St. in June 1944, Los Angeles Times.

The Faust Cafe opened in 1930 at 1714 N. Highland per the City Directory, and operated through at least 1937 per ads in the Los Angeles Times. City Directory listings during this time only mention the operators’ names: Thom Christos and J. A. Panos. In 1939, Nick Economopulos ran a cafe at this location. On September 20, 1934, the Harold Lloyd Corporation pulled a permit to remove the first 15 feet of the buildings at 1712-1718 N. Highland for the widening of Highland Avenue, replacing it with more than 12 feet on the back of the buildings.

Howard Harper purchased the building in the 1950s, and began selling alcohol in 1958 to increase business. He sold to Dick Mordigian in 1959. The little building continued on as a bar, becoming a dive bar known as the Power House in the 2000s. In November 2014, it opened as an upscale establishment under the same name, with the original brick and wood beams exposed for all to see.

The complex at 1714 Highland, including the Power House, via Google Street View.

1219 N. Vine Street has undergone many changes over the years, from residence to meat market to grocers to restaurant to used car dealership and now cultural center. 1219 N. Vine began as a residence, because there is a permit that year to move the James Elliott residence from that location to 912 Wilcox.

On January 6, 1923, Walter Bishop pulled a permit to construct a brick store building at 1217-1219 N. Vine St. designed by Hollywood Architectural Service Co. It quickly became an all round market at both those addresses. Albert Schenck operated a meat market at 1219 through at least 1931, while Davis and Davis grocers also operated through 1930. Samuel and Gus Rennie ran a fruit stand through 1926, with Thomas Rezzo taking it over in 1927 and then Frank Hedain in 1930. 1219 is also listed as Vine Street Market in 1929 in the City Directory.

Permits were again pulled in October 1930 to change the front windows and the like. Some time between this date and 1933 the French restaurant Maison Gaston opened its doors. On March 1, 1933 a permit was pulled to erect a neon blade sign above the restaurant. It was operated by John Davioni and Gaston Rossignol in the mid-1930s, with only Davioni’s name listed in the late 1930s and early 1940s. It was a French Table D’Hote and full courses along with wine along with free parking. A second branch was opened at 9844 Wilshire Blvd. in 1934.

The Taglyan Cultural Complex, 1219 Vine St., via Google Street View.

Permits were pulled in 1939 to remove and alter the brick front facade of the building into a reinforced concrete exterior. Skylights were added and restrooms were renovated, all to freshen the look and help business. Some time in the early 1940s it shuttered for a time, to be reopened in June 1944, as the June 15, 1944 Los Angeles Times reported that Dan Jensen, formerly the maitre’d at Trocadero’s and Jules Kuentz, formerly employed at Trocadero’s and other locations, would reopen under the Maison Gaston name. They prominently mentioned the serving of cocktails in a June ad, perhaps changing it more into a cocktail lounge.

In 1946, Maison Gaston’s added Bob Leine as pianist as a way to increase business, and then also began offering lunch in 1947. Operators tried all means to bring in new customers to build revenue. Steaks and other entrees were played up in 1948 ads before the restaurant’s eventual demise.

Contents of the Maison Gaston to be auctioned, Dec. 9, 1951, Los Angeles Times.

The December 9, 1951 Los Angeles Times ran an advertisement listing the December 10 auction of furnishings from the restaurant including 19 leather upholstered booths and a U-shaped cocktail bar. By 1953, 1219 N. Vine Street set vacant.

Competition Motors purchased the location in 1954 in order to sell used automobiles, and in 1956 hired renowned architect Paul R. Williams to renovate and update the structure into an automobile showroom/sales department.

By the mid-2000s, 1219 N. Vine had served as a garage before becoming a community hall. Over the next several years it was again renovated and updated to become the Taglyan Cultural Center, hosting high end events, banquets, and awards ceremonies, once again a fine dining establishment.

Buildings are often adaptively reused as with 1714 N. Highland, while others such as 1219 N. Vine are demolished and rebuilt. Often only photographs, permits, and ephemera reveal the original beginnings and histories of such establishments.

An aerial view of First National Studios in Burbank, Motion Picture News, 1926.

First National Studios, now known as Warner Bros. Studios, celebrates its 90th birthday on June 15, 2016. Basic construction was completed on the original studio that day in 1926, just 72 days after commencing on March 28, creating the second major motion picture lot in the San Fernando Valley.

First National actually was conceived April 25, 1917 by prominent Los Angeles resident Thomas Tally and J. D. Williams as a circuit of independent film exhibitors under the name First National Exhibitors Circuit, Inc. Because of problems resulting from the high cost of renting films, block booking, inferior quality of prints, and dealing with exhibitors, the group soon decided to purchase films on their own directly from stars and directors.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

First National Studios billed its lot as “The Open Doorway to the Stars,” Motion Picture News, 1926.

Over the next several years, it fought off the machinations of Adolph Zukor, who attempted to force it out of business. First National underwent several name changes and reorganizations before forming their own production organization and acquiring the old United Studios off of Melrose Avenue in Hollywood in 1922. By 1926, they required more space to continue their busy production plans.

Studio executive Richard A. Rowland and others examined property all over the Los Angeles County area before settling on Burbank. They considered Hollywood the epicenter of motion picture production, but as such, land was prohibitively expensive. They wanted to buy a large piece of property in close proximity to Hollywood, with room to spare in order to grow.

As Rowland recounted in a special advertising section of the September 11, 1926 Motion Pictures News dedicated to the opening of the new studio, he called it “a perfect setting for a studio” once he saw it. This location offered First National so much: reasonable prices, gorgeous views of the surrounding area, access to the Los Angeles River, the widening of Cahuenga Pass for increased traffic, and of course, a site only three miles from Hollywood.

First National Studios, Motion Picture News, 1926.

They decided to purchase 48 acres of alfalfa fields from farmer Stephen A. Martin located along Dark Canyon Road and Olive Avenue and adjacent to Lakeside Golf Course, along with a 40 acre hog farm. This land was part of the original Rancho Providencia purchased by Dr. David Burbank in 1866 and later subdivided into farms by real estate developers. His original ranch house, which still stood, was included in the purchase price, and stood as a memorial to Burbank’s farming past. This property, only ten minutes from Hollywood, offered First National a clean slate to create a brand new state-of-the art studio.

Rowland stated in the September 11 issue, “In laying out the plant at Burbank the effort was made to build a model studio – one that would take advantage of everything which our own experience indicated was necessary.”

At the same time, Famous Players Lasky overflowed its studio space at its Vine Street lot. Film production for the conglomerate began out of a small barn at the intersection of Selma and Vine Street, growing into a massive two block studio plant. Famous Players agreed to purchase First National’s original studio at Gower and Melrose, the former United Studio lot, and move in upon First National completing its move to Burbank.

One of the filming stages at First National Studios, Motion Picture News, 1926.

Moving Picture World stated on February 13 that the studio hoped to finish construction by June 1, less than 100 days after beginning to build. They called the soon to be constructed buildings as a boon both to Toluca Lake and to Burbank, adding much needed tax revenue.

Work began in earnest March 28 for the rush job of completing the studio in three months’ time under the supervision of C. P. Butler, construction superintendent and with Austin Company handling construction. First National executives decided to keep three eight-hour shifts working around the clock in order to finish construction in record time, in order to start a new schedule of pictures as they completed a previous schedule at the old United Studio lot. General Manager M. C. Levee employed what they called “high pressure construction” to achieve these ends.

Motion Picture News reported in their May 1 issue that First National would spend approximately $1.5 million to build their new facility, up-to-date in every day. Romantic Spanish architecture hearkening back to old mission days would highlight construction. Rowland stated, “We aim to keep the old Spanish background throughout, but within the exterior walls, everything that is modern and complete for the making of motion pictures will be installed.”

The administration building of First National, Motion Picture News, 1926.

Six of the largest film stages ever constructed would cover 155 x 250 feet, approximately 35,000 square feet. Many special features would be included.. A telephone switchboard with twenty trunk lines serving over 250 interoffice desks would be installed. Trackless trains would transport materials and staff by electricity across the lot. Stars would receive their own elaborate dressing rooms in one building, while two large buildings with 125 rooms could service 2000 extras and supporting players. The Directors building would include five room suites in each director’s office, and a building just for screenwriters would also be constructed.

Elegant landscaping, large pool, emergency hospital, cafe, executive cafe, mill, projection building, theatre, portrait gallery, stills department, property/wardrobe department, automobile department, and garage would fill out the space. The city of Burbank appropriated $150,000 for construction of a studio water system before construction began.

At the same time as construction raced along, executives organized the move of equipment, furniture, and people from the old United Studio lot, beginning the moving process on June 8 as most construction was wrapping up.

Variety stated in their July 14 issue that construction work began March 28 and completed June 15, 1926, with 10 days of work lost to heavy rains and 10 days lost when a bridge washed out and prevented supplies from reaching the site. Besides the amenities listed earlier, other special items included a school house for stars’ children, a school house for working children, tennis courts, and a nine hole golf course.

The Los Angeles Times features First National Studios’ new location, Oct. 3, 1926.

Production work began almost immediately after June 15, with “The Masked Woman” the first to roll camera around on June 25, 1926. Actress Colleen Moore officially flipped a switch turning on the massive electric generator in early July.

Upon completion, First National hosted what they called an “informal opening” Saturday, August 14, 1926 for members of the press and industry people, in order to garner huge publicity regarding the lavish production facility.

First National widely praised their brand new studio, creating an elaborate four page brochure illustrated with glamorous images of the new lot. Called “First National Productions – Greatest Studio on Earth,” it listed pertinent facts about the speedy construction, such as the fact that the 75 acres included 48 acres with sets and buildings. Six paved streets 50 feet wide and four smaller streets served the six “mammoth stages,”  a two-story property/wardrobe building, one star suite dressing room building along with two oversize dressing room buildings holding 2,000 people, 27 permanent buildings, and an electrical power plant capable of supplying a city of 15,000 people with twelve generators providing 33,000 volts of electricity. A fire sprinkler system would make it one of the safest studios in town. They called it “the first complete studio to be built from the ground up.” Construction costs totaled around $2 million.

In 1928, the First National Studios was acquired by the rapidly expanding Warner Bros. Studios, through the acquisition of the Stanley Company. They decided to consolidate production on one lot, moving from their Sunset Boulevard and old Vitagraph studio facilities in Hollywood. Warner Bros. combined the names in advertising and production for several years, before gradually fading out the First National moniker.

Still sitting proudly along the Los Angeles River, First National still proudly serves the entertainment industry, as Warner Bros. still employs many of its original structures in the creation of many film and television productions. Though technology advances rapidly every day, adaptive reuse allows these elegant Spanish buildings to add beauty and value in the production of popular entertainment.

2716 Woodhaven Drive as shown in a Studebaker promotional brochure, courtesy of Steve Vaught’s Paradise Leased blog.

On March 31, 1923, publicists trumpeted the news that a great sub development known as Hollywoodland had begun operation at the top of Beachwood Canyon. Comprised of partners Eli P. Clark, Moses H. Sherman, Harry Chandler, Tracey E. Shoults and S. (Sidney) H. Woodruff, the development comprised approximately one fifth of the land purchased by Clark and Sherman in 1905 from Julia E. Lord. The eastern half of the land had been owned by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1884 and sold to Lord in 1890. She acquired the western half in 1900 from the federal government. Clark and Sherman purchased the entire tract from her on July 8, 1905, per the December 22, 1968 Los Angeles Times.

Tycoons and brothers-in-law Clark and Sherman, Arizona transplants, virtually cornered the streetcar market in Los Angeles by the early 1890s. The shrewd businessmen purchased large swaths of land adjacent or near their routes to later subdivide into real estate tracts. Originally partnering with Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis, the men formed syndicates to develop such areas as what is now Playa del Rey, West Hollywood, and parts of the western San Fernando Valley like Sherman Oaks.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

2716 Woodhaven Drive via Google Street View.

Partnering with Tracey Shoults, a well-respected salesmen/developer in Windsor and Marlborough Square along with his subordinate Woodruff to promote and develop Hollywoodland, Clark and Sherman ensured strong sales with Otis’ heir and son-in-law Harry Chandler, now publisher of the Times. They intended to create an upscale, elegant community nestled in Beachwood Canyon into one known as “one of the most attractive residential sections of the city,” per the April 1, 1923 Times.

Hollywoodland limited architectural styles to English Tudor, French Normandy, Mediterranean, and Spanish, building into and around the hills of Beachwood Canyon. The development contained its own shopping area, a first among real estate tracts, as well as its own stables and bridle trails. Attractive granite stairs throughout the development connected upper and lower streets, allowing easy access to the neighborhood, and a jitney transported homeowners to the front gates to connect with the city bus. Developers employed the granite to construct retaining walls and entrance gates as well.

Developers and local residents began purchasing lots quickly after the opening announcement. A July 8, 1923 story in the Los Angeles Times notes that builder A. B. Crist of 6654 Hollywood Blvd. was nearing completion on the first house in Hollywoodland, la Spanish-Italian residence, located on Westwood Drive. The house would feature unique exterior/landscape items, such as a bridge from an upper balcony to the hillside where a tea room would be erected. A little waterfall adjacent to the tea house would fall gently to the patio below. A twelve by eighteen foot music room would open off the large living room, but rest four feet higher. The home would contain three bedrooms and a bath upstairs, along with kitchen, dining room, maid’s room, and bath.

2716 Woodhaven Drive in the Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1923.

The street name of Westwood Drive would give problems once the Janss Investment Company began widely promoting a new real estate tract west of Beverly Hills. City engineer Lloyd Aldrich suggested to the City Council on July 5, 1939 that Hollywood’s Westwood Drive be changed to Woodhaven Drive in order to alleviate confusion. The City Planning Commission would approve this suggestion, and the house would gain the address 2716 Woodhaven Dr.

It is possible that Hearst newspaper columnist Kenneth C. Beaton (K.C.B.) and his wife commissioned the home as first owners, though no building permit or story reveals that information. The couple is pictured standing in front of the house in the 1925 real estate brochure for the development, as well as in a somewhat similar pose in an ad for Studebakers in a mid-1920s “Touring Topics” section of a Sunday Los Angeles Times rotogravure section.

The home is listed for auction, Los Angeles Times, Nov. 20, 1949.

Beaton worked as drama editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1917, but by 1918 was the “Ye Towne Gossip” columnist in the New York American. He also wrote amusing songs for the vaudeville stage in the late teens and early 1920s. He became a daily editor for Hearst in the early 1920s and moved to Los Angeles.

In the 1928 Los Angeles Directory, Louis Grommet is listed as butler and Julia Larkin is listed as maid, though no homeowner’s name is listed.The home was put up for auction on Monday, November 21, 1949 by Bedilion’s Real Estate Auctions listed as a four bedroom, three bath residence. The owner would accept half cash. An A. L. Gilks would live there in the 1950s-1960s per the Los Angeles City Directory.

Still standing today, just to the east of the original Hollywoodland real estate office, 2716 Woodhaven Drive reflects the simple, quiet beauty of Hollywoodland and its 1920s homes.

716 N. La Brea Ave., via Google Street View, from 2014.

Simple and elegant, 716 N. La Brea Ave. today remains little changed on the exterior as to how it looked when finished in 1931. It stands as a beacon to the power and success of Bell & Howell, as well as an exuberant look forward to the future, giving an patina of prosperity to whomever occupied it.

Bell & Howell, founded in 1907, was one of the top manufacturers of cameras and projectors serving the motion picture industry. Starting out with projectors in 1907, the company later began manufacturing perforators, cameras, and printing equipment required in the production and processing of motion picture film. Bell & Howell’s testing of technical equipment led to safer, more efficient, and diverse products.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

The Bell & Howell Building, courtesy of American Cinematographer, 1931.

The company moved to Hollywood in 1917, setting up shop at 6522 Hollywood Blvd. By 1930 the company required more space and looked for property that would allow construction of a large facility to allow growth in the future. In the April 1931 American Cinematographer, Bell & Howell President J. H. McNabb announced that the company had acquired property on La Brea Avenue south of Melrose Avenue ranging from 710-724 N. La Brea Ave. that possessed frontage of 240 feet on the street to build a Class A two-story, reinforced concrete building with tower as their West Coast headquarters. They hired Hollywood architect, builder, and engineer Marshall P. Wilkinson, based in the Hollywood Security Building at 6381 Hollywood Blvd., to design it, breaking ground that spring.

Wilkinson designed a building with rectilinear lines, featuring a eye-catching tower in the dead center of the structure, thrusting confidently towards the skies. 716 N. La Brea Ave. would allow plenty of room for expansion as well as a walled-in parking space. Departments in the Bell & Howell Building such as engineering, laboratory, testing, optical, and service departments would serve both the professional and amateur Los Angeles community of moviemakers.

An architect’s sketch of the Bell & Howell Building, courtesy of American Cinematographer, 1931.

Projection and editing rooms in the facility would be open to all 16mm and 35mm enthusiasts and specialists. An 80-seat projection room could run both silent and sound film, while reception rooms and offices completed the building. A vertical blade sign embedded in the building spelled out Bell & Howell. The October 1931 Motion Picture Herald announced the opening of the building.

True to their word, Bell & Howell opened the facility to public use. Such groups as alumni associations, women’s groups, the District Federation, the War Aid Group, photography groups, and university film departments. They opened a library in the building with the address 714 N. La Brea, which helped serve amateur film groups, and acted as headquarters of Los Angeles Cine Club. The Southern California Motion Picture Council held monthly meetings in the auditorium, providing scientific results, tests, lectures, and demonstrations. Occasional photo exhibits were displayed.

Cinema Research, 716 N. La Brea, Business Screen magazine, 1958.

In May 1932, the Motion Picture Herald reported that Bell & Howell hosted University of Southern California students and their film, which consisted of two 240 foot 16mm reels called “Black Revenge,” a parody of old-time melodrama. Shot MOS, students provided live dialogue and sound effects at the screening.

By the late 1950s, Bell & Howell looked for new headquarters, moving to Glendale. The Cinema Research Corporation moved into the building in 1957. Gruntay-Lawrence Animation also headquartered at 716 N. La Brea Ave. in the1960s. The company created titles, optical effects, and other services for the entertainment industry. Cinema Research Corp. remained at 716 N. La Brea Ave. until the late 1960s, when Magnetic TVI Corporation moved in. In the mid-1970s, Federated replaced Magnetic in the building, staying for decades, before replaced by Aaron Brothers, who now occupies the building.

While the interior has been renovated and altered, the exterior remains almost exactly as it was constructed in 1931. Long may 716 N. La Brea Ave. remain a monument to glorious 1930s Los Angeles architecture.

A matchbook cover for Rickshaw Boy, Courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Graphics, films, advertisements, music – all demonstrate values and cultures of the time and place in which they were created. Words, phrases, or images considered acceptable at that time can often be considered demeaning or racist to future generations. Seeing them reveals a society and how far or little it has come.

California is a remarkable laboratory for understanding the evolution of thought and behavior towards people of other races, particularly the Chinese. Many Chinese first came to California during the Gold Rush fever of the late 1840s. Later their dedicated work and sacrifice helped build the railroads and vast agricultural empires that crossed the state and helped it expand in population and importance. When times became bad, however, white authorities blamed “the other” for problems they themselves created, angry and resentful that people like the Chinese were succeeding through hard work, dedication, and sacrifice. Laws like the Anti-Exclusion Act were enacted to limit their rights to become citizens, own property, or even marry.

“Hollywood Celebrates the Holidays” by Karie Bible and Mary Mallory is available at Amazon and at local bookstores.

A matchbook cover for Ah Wong’s Coolie Hut, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

At the same time, many Anglos were intrigued by Chinese culture and their arts, food, and even dress, which began influencing popular culture. Chinese restaurants sprang up, some in Chinatowns that catered to Chinese, and others on the outskirts of these areas appealing to tourists or the curious. Chinese food, tasty and lower priced than other cuisines, quickly became popular.

The Studio City area became particularly intrigued with Chinese cuisine in the late 1930s and then again in the 1960s, thanks to waves of popular culture and world events. There were several Chinese restaurants, but only those with a more movie oriented or successful clientele like James Wong Howe’s Ching How receive much notice in the newspapers. They mostly leave behind traces of ephemera like matchbooks, menus, and the like on which to build history, revealing ideas and portrayals considered derogatory today.

An ad for the Keys, 3969 Lankershim Blvd., Van Nuys News, April 17, 1955.

In 1939, William W. Wong opened Ah Wong’s Coolie Hut at 11916 Ventura Blvd. in Studio City. Wong, born in California in 1910 and residing at 14629 Lanark Street in what is now Pacoima, leased the building from the Muller Bros., who built the building in 1939 with the help of contractor Horace Shisler. The roof is repaired in 1944, but nothing indicates if Wong is still operating his restaurant. By the 1950s, cocktail lounge Jimmy O’Brien’s occupied the location.

A Chinese restaurant on Lankershim Boulevard across from Universal becomes popular in the early 1960s, called Rickshaw Boy. Perhaps named after the 1945 English translation of Lao She’s book about a poor Beijing rickshaw driver, the restaurant occupied the location of a long time North Hollywood restaurant, dating to 1919.

An item on Rickshaw Boy in the Los Angeles Times, January 1963.

In 1919, John B. Foster began operating a small lunch room at 3969 Lankershim Blvd., right across from Universal Studios but actually located in North Hollywood/Studio City. Possibly the only small eating establishment near the studio, it grew in popularity, requiring additions in 1920 and 1925 before having to rebuild its front facade in 1928 after the widening of Lankershim Blvd. Called the JB Cafe in 1937, Foster also operated a barber and small jewelry shop in the same building by the 1940s.

By the mid-1950s, Julia Keys and family owned and operated the business under the name the Keys Club. They erected an electric sign in 1954 to promote their cocktail lounge, which featured both a piano and Hammond organ played by David Barrett.

James “Jimmy” Hing, formerly manager of Ah Fong’s restaurant in Beverly Hills for seven years, decided to open his own Chinese restaurant at the location in 1962, perhaps because some of his best clients worked at Universal. Opening December 16, 1962, Rickshaw Boy prepared Cantonese food, along with selling such American favorites as fried chicken. The January 13, 1963 Los Angeles Times reported that Universal executive Lew Wasserman and stars Tony Curtis and Ernest Borgnine attended opening night.

An ad in the Los Angeles Times for Rickshaw Boy, 1963.

Universal stars and executives flocked to the restaurant per newspapers and trades, with many accounts pointing out how diverse customers’ wardrobes could be. The March 22, 1963 Los Angeles Times even noted that the cast of Gregory Peck’s “Captain Newman, M. D.” came to eat lunch, some in pajamas.

By late 1964, however, Universal desired the location for more than just food. Mike Connolly reported in his column that Lew Wasserman was purchasing the business. Rickshaw Boy continued for another two years, before Hing moved his operations strictly to his Confucius Delicatessen, one on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles and another at 3506 W. Jefferson Blvd.

Universal pulled a demolition permit April 7, 1966 and just three days later knocked the building down to use the location for parking. 3969 Lankershim Blvd. is still a parking lot today, this time for the MTA station adjacent to the Campo de Cahuenga.

While these Chinese restaurants show that their food was popular with local residents, the advertising employed by Chinese owners and operators demonstrates the accepted subtle racism of the time. Thankfully society has moved on and becoming accepting and inclusive to all without resorting to caricature.