The gate at Rockhaven, by Mary Mallory

Hiding in plain sight and sitting in a state of arrested decay at 2713 Honolulu Ave. in Montrose, the historic Rockhaven Sanitarium stands as the only living example of Glendale’s and the Crescenta Valley’s long history of providing rest and rehabilitation sanitariums for the whole United States. Rockhaven also exists as the only female conceived and operated facility functioning solely for the benefit of women. Now threatened, the site’s fascinating background deserves rehabilitation as both park and center documenting the area’s history.

Glendale and the Crescenta Valley gained fame and prosperity as one of the United States’ first “health resorts,” catering to middle and upper class citizens looking for a peaceful haven to rest and recuperate from illnesses in the pure, dry air and beauty of the area, with more than twenty eventually operating in the community. Many served strictly as rehabilitation facilities after surgeries or sickness, while others served tuberculosis/consumption, alcoholism, and mental illnesses. One of the most famous was the 75-room Glendale Hotel, purchased by the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co. in 1905 and converted into recuperation center providing rest cures in the sunny, dry climate of the lovely Verdugos, from ads in the 1905 Los Angeles Herald.

Historic Resource and Conditions Assessment of Rockhaven Sanitarium.

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

Agnes Richards, courtesy of the Historical Society of Crescenta Valley.

Unlike the rest of these, Rockhaven served only women, providing a “secluded sanctuary” where women received individualized, dignified care in a homelike setting,” per the Friends at Rockhaven brochure. It was established in 1923 by nurse Agnes Richards, who hoped to provide women with more humane and actually healing treatment away from the prison-like state institutions.

Raised in Nebraska, Richards worked in asylums and hospitals most of her life, seeing the degrading and inhumane treatment of patients, with little to no thought given to actually curing or healing them. Many women had no mental conditions, but were institutionalized by families after seeking divorces, beginning same-sex relationships, suffering from menopause, and the like. The madness surrounding them often brought on mental conditions.

After working in San Bernardino’s Patton Hospital and serving as the Superintendent of Los Angeles County Hospital, Richards decided to open her own female- only facility, “a mental and nervous sanitarium for women,” purchasing a small stone house in Verdugo City in 1923 to serve her first six residents. Unlike these other institutions, Richards offered a home-like retreat giving dignity, respect, and compassionate care to patients.

Those seeking treatment were called “residents” and required to be ambulatory in order to attend meals in the dining hall and enjoy the beauty of the grounds. The women wore dresses and makeup, brightening their attitudes and aiding recovery. The facility celebrated holidays, birthdays, and special events, provided art therapy, treatment, and visits by the local community. The women also attended events in the area.

As Rockhaven expanded, Richards purchased nearby homes to create a compound. She bought a small Craftsman-like residence bordering Pleasure Way, turning it around to face the complex and naming it Rose Cottage. Other small bungalows were added to the property, before Richards hired architects to design Spanish Revival buildings with elegant wrought iron, Malibu tile, and stylish arches. Each of the buildings received homey names like The Willows, The Pines, and the like.

The grounds resembled that of a private retreat or home, with winding paths connecting buildings, gardens, and outdoor patios and decorated with statues, plaques, and fountains, with views of the beautiful oaks and Verdugo Mountains. The main fountain featuring a nude woman sunbathing, was created by the Gladding McBean Company, suggesting rebirth through rest and sun.

Richards advertised in local newspapers, like the March 22, 1935 ad in the San Marino Tribune, calling Rockhaven “one of the most attractive and comfortable private homes in Southern California for persons suffering from mild mental disorders and general invalidism…”

The facility served many in the entertainment community, including Billie Burke, the Good Witch in “The Wizard of Oz,” Babe Egan, founder of the all-girl band, Babe Egan and Her Hollywood Redheads, Ziegfeld Girl Peggy Fears, Marin Statler of Statler and Rose, Joseph, Josephine Dillon, Clark Gable’s first wife, the mother of entertainer Spike Jones, as well as Marilyn Monroe’s mother, Gladys Baker Eley, who resided at Rockhaven for over 14 years. Other residents included script girls, actresses, church organists, composers, and artists.

After Richards retired, her granddaughter Patricia Traviss took over, continuing the tradition of her grandmother while also opening a hospitalhosptial for those becoming older and more forgetful from diseases like Alzheimer’s. She also employed Ivan Cole in 1963 to sculpt living gardens blazing with color, for which he and the property were recognized by Los Angeles and Glendale in the 1960s.

Traviss sold Rockhaven to the Ararat Company in 2001 who operated it as a facility for Alzheimer’s and long term care patients until 2006, when they sold to developers who planned to demolish the site and build condos. The City of Glendale purchased it in 2008 for over $8 million, with City Councilman John Drayman speaking of plans to use the site as a new home for the library as well as park and possible museum.

A cottage at Rockhaven, photograph by Mary Mallory.

No funds were ever appropriated for this cause however, and after the recession the City put the 3.3 acre site on the market for development. Several proposals suggested demolition for large scale projects, thus destroying all trace of this little known history. The City has allocated no funds to rehabilitate or open the facility, allowing it to sit in a state of “arrested decay.”

The Friends of Rockhaven, working with the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, rallied to save the peaceful site as a possible community park and museum beginning in 2014. They spread the word on Rockhaven’s history via tours and stories in the Los Angeles Times, L.A. Weekly, the Atlantic, and KPCC’s “Off-Ramp,” while meeting monthly to clean the facility. They also began the process of obtaining state and national recognition for the history of the site.

Rockhaven was added to the state register of historic places by the California State Historical Resources Commission on April 20, 2016, and added to the National Register of Historic Places in June, giving it more protection from demolition.

The city of Glendale has received offers from developers regarding the site and will probably make a decision on Rockhaven’s future by the end of the year. A win-win for everyone involved would see rehabilitation and adaptive reuse recognizing the important history not only of the site, but of all the sanitariums that brought fame to Glendale.

Rockhaven offered a place of serenity and rest for its residents, let’s hope it finds its own rehabilitation and peace as well.

The Esther Ralston home on Hollyridge Drive, via Hollywood Vagabond.

California saw a renaissance of Spanish Revival architecture in the wake of World War I, as it both saluted the life and culture of the Mediterranean and paid homage to the state’s colonial past. Moving beyond Mission Revival, it focused on exquisite and romantic details like graceful arches, decorative lanterns, colorful tile, Juliet balconies, lush gardens, languid patios and terraces, decorative wood beams, graceful staircases, and refined wrought iron railings.

The height of Spanish Revival in the 1920s just happened to coincide with the peak of the silent film industry, which both promoted the lavish style in its glamorous films and rushed to construct their own high-end haciendas. Such stars as Fred Thomson and Frances Marion, Richard Dix, and Mary Pickford and Douglass Fairbanks built or renovated their homes into lavish Spanish Revival masterpieces.

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

2212 Hollyridge Drive, via Google Street View.

In 1927, popular actress Esther Ralston and her husband, George Webb, began searching for their own lush “castle” to display how successful she had become. Truly “born in a trunk,” young Ralston joined the family act on stage in burlesque and vaudeville at the age of two, breaking into the silent film industry in the teens. Joining Paramount, she starred in such films as “The Wild Party” (1923), “Peter Pan” (1924), “The American Venus” (1926), and “Old Ironsides” (1926).

Ralston had married the much older Webb, born George Webb Frey, in 1925 after truly becoming a star. Webb took over as her manager, directing both her career and private life, controlling the money and making most decisions. Naive, trusting Ralston went along with his wishes. As she writes in her autobiography, “Some Day We’ll Laugh,” Webb decided in September 1927 they needed to leave their cramped apartment and find an appropriate “star” home. Perhaps they saw the September 8, 1927 advertisement listing the public auction of 2212 Hollyridge Drive on September 12, after the home failed to sell in a July 1927 auction.

Esther Ralston in an undated publicity photo.

Mrs. Lena Laventhall had paid $25,000 for Louis Maurer to design and construct an elegant two-story Spanish estate atop a small hill, per the October 27, 1926 building permit. Less than a year later, she was forced to put it up for auction, with the ad calling it “a modern conception of “Italian-Spanish type” possessing 16 fully furnished rooms and luxurious surroundings. Granite retaining walls added a lush touch, with the ad finally stating “an exquisite setting for people of culture, who appreciate the utmost in Home refinements.” The home also contained a radio and telephone in every room, two grand pianos, one in the ball room, electric refrigeration and heat, delicate Oriental rugs,”marble, bronze, and pottery vases,” and Havilland china, all to be auctioned off on September 14.

An auction ad in the Los Angeles Times, Sept. 14, 1927.

Webb and Ralston won the home at auction, and hired renowned architect Arthur Kelly to design a bath house for the property that December. Kelly had worked his way up the ranks in the Los Angeles architecture field, starting with the Greene and Greene brothers before opening his own shop. He designed such Los Angeles landmarks as the Hotel Christie on Hollywood Blvd. and what is now known as the Playboy Mansion.

They lived in the estate for several years, entertaining lavishly before raising their daughter in the home. Hollywoodland developers claimed them as residents, though they actually lived just outside the boundaries of the subdevelopment. Unbeknownst to Ralston, however, her husband Webb was investing Ralston’s huge paychecks in the stock market and other risky ventures, and when the stock market crashed, so did Ralston’s finances.

The family was forced to go to England, where Ralston found film and stage work, as her Paramount career appeared to be winding down with the advent of sound in 1930-1931. They apparently leased out the home, and lived in it after returning from overseas. Ralston discovered Webb’s shenanigans were once again leaving her with little financial options.

An auction listed in the Los Angeles Times, March 1, 1933.

The February 25, 1933 Los Angeles Times reports that Ralston would be auctioning the home to return to acting opportunities in England, and also to get out of debt. She estimated the residence to be worth $200,000 and the furnishings $100,000, while the Hollywood Reporter on the same date displays the ad promoting the sale. From February 27-March 1, all furnishings as well as the home were sold off one by one. Ralston needed to pay off creditors and move on with her life, which selling the house would allow her to do. She began divorce proceedings that fall.

Subsequent owners of 2212 Hollyridge Drive remained below the radar, not appearing in the Los Angeles city directory, newspaper stories, or the like. Little alterations appear to have occurred to the house, as only a 1995 permit for re-roofing and earthquake work and a 2011 permit for working on the chimney exist on the property.

The house still regally stands near Canyon Drive, a bastion of style and elegance to this day.

4418 Vineland Ave. in an undated photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Two years can bring changes in life, whether to a person or building, and not always for the better. I wrote about the history of 4418 Vineland Ave. in May 2014, pointing out that the building had opened as a medical office complex in 1947 and had remained as such through 2014.

Photographs demonstrated how it still remained a building of integrity, looking much the same as it had more than 60 years ago. What appeared to be original brick facade had been plastered over and decorative detailing over the windows had been removed, though the original windows appeared to remain.

4418 Vineland Ave., Yesterday and Today, Part 1.

4418 Vineland Ave., photographed by Mary Mallory in October 2016.

When I wrote two years ago, I noted that the building had been listed for sale, with suggestions of developing it into commercial condominiums. Listings noted that most tenants had occupied the building for more than ten years, some for more than thirty years. While I have no definitive news that it has been sold, it is no longer on the market.

Current owners S & M Toluca Lake Property LLC pulled a permit March 14, 2016 to replace stairs, replace entry doors, replace windows, add an irregularly shaped canopy, and perform plumbing work. Renovations are under way, and the building currently appears to resemble a muddied brick box, with integrity disappearing. While it appears that perhaps the plaster is being removed to reveal the original brick facade, windows are also being bricked over and therefore changing the appearance of the building.

At this point, I am disheartened I did not file a Historic Cultural Monuments nomination for the structure, one that had remained virtually intact, both in its architecture and in its original use.

This quick transformation reveals how sharply historic preservationists and those interested in vintage buildings and unique architecture must keep an eagle eye out for changes and alterations in the built environment, especially in this time of massive demolition and redevelopment. Everyone must act as stewards of our architectural past, one that tells us much about that society but also reveals what current communities value and appreciate.

4418 Vineland Ave., photographed in 2014 by Mary Mallory.

It takes a village in watching over and fighting to preserve our architectural legacy. Historic preservation organizations and societies are overwhelmed with all the development in process, especially since the vast majority are composed of volunteers who fight the good fight in their free time after working jobs and taking care of families. Most are desperate for volunteers, members, and funds to keep up the work.

Organizations need interested persons to keep them informed of potential threats to historic structures, especially if green fences have been erected or demolition or renovation work has begun. Often work starts before historic groups even know that something is under threat, giving them little time to fight demolition, work without permits, or work begun by mistakenly given permits. If notice is given in time, groups can work to research and perhaps file Historic Cultural Monument nominations, as well as garner public support for the preservation of these structures. That is how such buildings as the Wiltern Theatre, Egyptian Theatre, and North Hollywood’s 1895 train station still stand.

The Los Angeles Conservancy website provides a very informative and helpful primer in the types of tools available to employ for preserving buildings, from making comments through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), to banding together to raise your voices in print, the media, and at city hearings, or most importantly, to file Historic Cultural Monument nominations for architecturally, culturally, or historically significant structures.

The entrance to 4418 Vineland Ave., in an undated photo, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

There are many buildings that currently are not listed as Historic Cultural Monuments or National Historic Register properties that could be if paperwork was filed to list them, which requires many hands to fulfill. Most historic organizations don’t have enough volunteers or hours to accomplish this, but they could ensure the survival and safety of many buildings with local residents’ help.

Any one can file a HCM nomination in Los Angeles, even without the owner’s permission. Often this is how buildings such as the Walt Disney home in Los Feliz, the Lytton/Chase Bank on Sunset Boulevard, and the Metropolitan Church have seen extended life or even been saved from the wrecking ball. It requires passion and dedication in standing tall in the face of possible defeat.

The LA Conservancy also provides a great database in preparing a nomination, from learning how to research and write one yourself to possibly hiring a consultant to draft it instead. The database explains the process involved in researching everything from deeds to permits to residents to architecture as well as obtaining historic photographs showing the property in question. The Conservancy and Hollywood Heritage sometimes hold seminars on how to write nominations.

The side entrance to 4418 Vineland Ave., October 2016, by Mary Mallory.

Historic Illustrations and photographs are vital in preserving a building. Giving copies of vintage photos of buildings to history societies, libraries, or archives helps provide a visual record much needed for preservation work. Manuscript and ephemera items can also be very useful in documenting the history of a structure.

More than anything, historic institutions, preservation groups, or single individuals need massive grass-roots support in the fight to preserve our historic past. They need scores of people to write, email, or call public officials about saving buildings and especially to show up in force at any public hearings to voice their concerns. Active community support goes a long way towards saving our vintage buildings.

Local communities and neighborhoods are witnessing dramatic changes, many of which threaten to sweep major historic icons away. They need your help in preserving their historic architectural built environment for future generations.

Mae West in her boudoir at the Ravenswood, Life magazine, Feb. 19, 1940.

Note: This is an encore presentation of a post from 2014.

Built during the early years of the Great Depression, the luxurious Ravenswood Apartment building at 570 N. Rossmore Ave. stands as one of the best examples of upscale apartment living in Los Angeles the 1930s. A gorgeous Zig Zag Streamline Moderne building, the Ravenswood features elegant decorations, adornments, and amenities, attracting many celebrity and discriminating residents.

Financier Maurice Feigenbaum obtained a permit for an eight-story, 240 room apartment building costing $350,000 in early June 1930, per the June 8, 1930 Los Angeles Times. He hired Max Maltzman, one of the few Jewish architects in Los Angeles at the time, to design an upscale structure. Originally from Boston, where he opened a draftsman’s office in 1923, Maltzman arrived on the West Coast in 1927, working as a draftsman for architect Leland A. Bryant. By 1929, Maltzman opened his own shop at 704 S. Spring Street, designing elegant apartment buildings throughout mid-Wilshire and the surrounding area. Feigenbaum, unfortunately, was indicted along with eleven others by a Federal grand jury November 18, 1931 for attempting to defraud more than $5 million through the U. S. mail.

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

A postcard of the Ravenswood, courtesy of Mary Mallory. .

Upon completion, the Ravenswood attracted refined citizens of Los Angeles and discerning high-end visitors looking for cultured short-term accommodations. The luxuriously furnished building featured commissary, subterranean garage, lounge, tennis courts, and up to three bedroom apartments, based on advertisements during the period. East Coast and Midwest visitors seasoned at the Ravenswood, escaping harsh winters or enjoying sunny summers.

Celebrities arrived early. The June 20, 1931 Los Angeles Times reported that actor Clark Gable and his wife, Ria Langham, were residing at the property, after a second marriage making their union legal. “I Don’t Care Girl” Eva Tanguay resided in the building after multiple blood transfusions in October 1932, with the Times describing her as virtually penniless. Actor Lyle Talbot lived at the Ravenswood in the early 1930s, per his daughter’s recent biography. Other 1930s residents included bandleader Paul Whiteman and director George Sidney. Mary Wickes and Ethel Merman also later resided at the Ravenswood.

The Ravenswood gained their most famous resident, curvaceous sex symbol Mae West, in 1932, when Paramount Pictures signed her to a long-term contract. New York resident West requested the studio find her appropriate housing near the lot, per author Charlotte Chandler in her Mae West biography, “She Always Knew How.”

The studio furnished her apartment in what author Emily Leider, author of “Becoming Mae West,” describes as “early French candy box.” Decorated in a rococo, over-the-top artificiality, apartment 611 featured various shades of white and gold accentuating West’s fair complexion, as carefully crafted as any movie set. A canopied and draped bed embossed with the letter “W,” surrounded with pale pink brocade edged with lace, and featuring a quilted, pale pink headboard, dominated her lavish bedroom. Mirrors surrounded the bed and hung over it.

Over time, West would add a nude marble statue of her slinky figure by Gladys Bush as well as a Florence Kinzel painting depicting her nude, lying on her back as important decorations in the apartment. In a 1969 interview with Life magazine, West described her apartment by saying, “Everything has proportion, nothing is jarring. Everything is symphony.”

Mae West in her apartment, Life magazine, Feb. 19, 1940.

The Ravenswood changed hands many times over the decades, both because of costs and new owners looking for investment opportunities. The May 30, 1937, Los Angeles Times reported that the George Pepperdine Foundation acquired the stately structure for $1.5 million. Pepperdine, president of Western Auto Supply, promoted “educational, charitable, and religious work” through his foundation, providing support to a boys’ home, home for underprivileged girls, and the proposed new George Pepperdine College at 79^th Street and Vermont Avenue. In 1938, the foundation sold to apartment manager Lloyd Harriman and a San Francisco-based organization.

The Times reported on May 16, 1943, that Continental Realty bought the seven-story, 95 unit Ravenswood from San Francisco businessman Albert Ichelson, and immediately resold the building to dancer Theodore Kosloff for $750,000.

On March 7, 1954, the Times announced that the owners of the nearby El Royale had purchased the stately Ravenswood from Chicago owner Edward Glatt for more than $1 million on February 17. After spending more than $200,000 to install an 18 x 44 swimming pool, lanai, and make other improvements, the company touted their work in a November 21, 1954 story in the Los Angeles Times. They ran ads in 1955 calling it the “new Ravenswood,” announcing newly furnished bachelor through two-bedroom apartments with model kitchens, disposal, and garage from $125 a month.

By December 30, 1956, however, the company turned around and sold the structure for more than $1.4 million to the Ravenswood Apartments Corporation, a syndicate operated by Jack Kessler, John Halperin, and Joseph H. Sugarman

The property turned over again, as Mr. and Mrs. William Pereira sold the Ravenswood to James Ladicos, Robert Shamlian, and William Backamis for more than $1.3 million, per the January 30, 1972 Los Angeles Times.

Named Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument #768 in 2003, the Ravenswood Apartment Building still regally stands along Rossmore Avenue, a stylish reminder of glamorous living in the 1930s.

Rathbuns enlarges its Baby Shop for new generation of Baby Boomers, Van Nuys News, March 8 1951.

As a city or community grows more prosperous, so does its retail establishments. Simple businesses with few choices of product give way to more upscale shops with expensive, and diverse selections. Hollywood and Los Angeles outgrew their dry goods stores and turned to lavish department stores like Hamburger’s, the Broadway, and Bullock’s for finer quality of goods.

Lankershim, which later became North Hollywood, also advanced beyond dry goods stores into their own department stores Yeakel-Goss and Rathbun’s. While these businesses carried some of the same labels as did the more upscale establishments over the hill, they focused on more medium-priced goods appealing to the middle brow tastes of the average farmer/rancher or small businessman.

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

Rathbun’s in the 1922, San Fernando Valley city directory.

Both stores arose around the same time at the heart of Lankershim’s retail shopping area near the intersection of Lankershim Boulevard and what is now Magnolia Boulevard. They represented the dreams and hard work of Fred Yeakel, John Goss, and Hall E. Rathbun, men who immigrated from the Midwest looking to achieve some measure of success in California.

Hall E. Rathbun, born April 10, 1887, in Iowa and with only a seventh grade education, arrived in Los Angeles in 1905 and turned to the dry goods business when he opened a store at Pico Boulevard and Figueroa Street. Rathbun grew successful enough that by 1921 he opened his own small department store at 5337 Lankershim Blvd. in Lankershim, an area also growing in importance and prominence. The small town, aiming for success, changed its name to North Hollywood in 1927 to capitalize on the popularity of its neighbor Hollywood, just over the Cahuenga Pass.

Rathbun bought an advertisement in the San Fernando Valley City Directory in 1922 promoting the sale of “dry goods, men’s furnishings, and shoes” in his shop. The Los Angeles Times notes on March 15, 1924, that the merchant incorporated to the tune of $50,000 with his whole family listed as directors of the corporation. Around this time he constructed a home at 11128 McCormick street in North Hollywood, just blocks from the store.

The store racked up good sales through the end of the decade and moved to a larger location at 5311 Lankershim Blvd. in 1928. The store branded itself as a place of good service and quality on its receipts, stating that “every purchase you make at RATHBUNS is backed by a store that is alert in its fashion presentations…whose merchandise is offered at the lowest possible price for the quality; a store which seeks to satisfy its customers not only in respect to quality, fashion, and price, but also in courteous service rendered by its selling personnel.”

Rathbun built his word of mouth and contacts by joining service groups and by acting as Vice President of the Western States Merchants’ Association, per the January 14, 1932, Los Angeles Times. He helped charter the North Hollywood Kiwanis Club and served as the President of the North Hollywood Chamber of Commerce from 1931-1933. Later in his career Rathbun supported the construction of the North Hollywood Park and the Cahuenga Pass Freeway.

Though Hall Rathbun passed away on August 4, 1946, the family continued operating the department store through 1976, when ads disappear from the Los Angeles Times. The location of the store now appears to be an empty lot just south of the Federal Bar; perhaps the building suffered damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and was demolished.

John R. Goss was born July 6, 1897, in Kentucky and moved to Los Angeles in 1922. It’s possible that he knew Fred Yeakel since childhood, since both were born in Kentucky. Born June 4, 1901, Yeakel arrived in Los Angeles in 1922 also, opening Yeakel-Goss merchandise store with Goss at 5238 Lankershim Blvd. in 1923, just down the street from Rathbun’s, moving the store in 1926 to 5266 Lankershim Blvd. and in 1928 to 5272 Lankershim Blvd.Ads state they sell “dry goods, shoes, clothing, and Ready-to-Wear.”

The two men were obviously very close; they and their wives lived at 1238 La Brea Ave. in 1923 and in 1928 they built a duplex together. Yeakel and his wife resided at 11029 Hesby St. and Goss and his wife lived at 11027 Hesby. By 1930 both men moved to Huston Street.

The store promoted its dedication to satisfying its patrons by printing on receipts, “You have been kind enough to favor us with your patronage today. We appreciate the favor and desire only that you shall be perfectly satisfied.”

Yeakel-Goss carried many of the same lines and brands as did larger department stores like the Broadway and Bullock’s, often included in advertisements for major brands listing where their products were sold. They sometimes ran their own ads or even purchased fashion advertorials in the Los Angeles Times which promoted the sale of a stylish dress at their shop.

Yeakel & Goss goes out of business, Valley News, June 16, 1977.

By 1977, after 56 years in business, the families were ready to retire from retail sales. Goss had passed away on September 21, 1975, and Yeakel lacked the heart to go on. The June 16, 1977, Van Nuys Valley News contained a large ad noting their going out of business liquidation.

By 1981 the space served as a St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Shop. A suspected arson fire on January 27, 1987 caused major damage to the building, leading to its destruction. The site is now a large complex of restaurants and stores including Panera Bread, T-Mobile, Panda Express, Chipotle, and the like.

During its heyday as an independent community, North Hollywood contained two prosperous department stores like Rathbun’s and Yeakel-Goss. Now that it is just part of the city of Los Angeles and not as prosperous as its early days, the neighborhood possesses no department stores or major retail at its very heart.

Carol Hughes as photographed by Schuyler Crail, with Hollywood and Cahuenga in the background, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

One of the most important and busiest intersections in Hollywood has always been that of Hollywood and Cahuenga Boulevards. The location of Hollywood’s first hotels, the intersection also soon became the home of one of Hollywood’s first banks, the Hollywood National Bank. The location serves as witness to much of the city’s business and movie history, acting as a gateway to dreams.

In 1888, Horace D. Sackett constructed a simple two story hotel on the southwest corner of Prospect Avenue and Cahuenga Boulevard on three lots generously given him by town developer Harvey Wilcox, the heart of the speculator’s subdivision as well as a prime stage coach stop. The quaint inn, which he called the Sackett Hotel, consisted of eighteen rooms with one shared bathroom, while downstairs featured a general store, lobby, parlor, and kitchen. Just three years later in 1891, Sackett opened the city’s first post office in part of his general store, becoming a prime gathering spot for the growing community.

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

The Creque building, as updated in the 1931, at Hollywood and Cahuenga, via Google Street View.

Over the next twenty years, Hollywood quickly evolved from a small rural outpost into a successful farm and ranch community prospering on its bountiful crops. Flourishing farmers soon required the need of financial institutions to manage their money and aid their growth.

Recognizing an opportunity and a prime location, capitalist J. P. Creque purchased the Sackett property now owned by Mrs. Gillig to convert into one an office building holding the town’s first bank, which the November 10, 1910 Los Angeles Herald called the oldest business block in the Cahuenga Valley. Per the paper, Creque would demolish the hotel at 6400 Hollywood Blvd. in order to construct a “handsome fireproof two-story building,” with the Hollywood National Bank occupying the front corner of the first floor along with four stores, and 22 offices and small apartment on the second.

Creque hired architect Emil Fossler, with the December 4, 1910 Los Angeles Times stating his plans called for a pressed brick building with the second floor reserved for dentist and doctors’  offices, along with a restaurant on the first floor. Plans continued changing, with costs now estimated to be $36,500 by April 12, 1911. The November 19, 1911 Times reported the completion of the building, noting the luxuriousness of the Hollywood National Bank. Oak and mahogany woodwork lined the walls, marble and bronze added a rich touch, and tinted windows completed the look. The bank’s vault was constructed of solid concrete and steel, protected by an electric alarm system.

The bank expanded rapidly as the city’s population exploded. Advertisements in magazines and newspapers such as the Christian Science Monitor also aided the growing business. Its location in the prime of Hollywood didn’t hurt.

Courtesy of the DWP via the Los Angeles Public Library.

This location, just blocks from many moving picture studios, also played a factor in the intersection and building’s popularity with the developing film community as well. As film historian John Bengtson has pointed out, such stars as Mary Pickford, Mildred Davis, Mabel Normand, Marie Dressler, and Charlie Chaplin filmed scenes right in front of the bank, and legends Harry Houdini, Douglas Fairbanks, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd shot scenes just across or down the street. Normand, Dressler, and Chaplin posed in front of the building during a scene from the 1914 film “Tillie’s Punctured Romance,” while Pickford filmed a 1917 Liberty Bond short peering around the corner of the structure.

The bank’s growing deposits led to a merger with Citizens Saving Bank, and the new name Security Trust and Savings, before the larger operation moved to grander quarters within a few years. The building evolved to serve the needs of other establishments, undergoing renovations and upgrades for these purposes, and taking on new addresses spanning 6402-6408 Hollywood Blvd. as well.

Owner A. G. Horner completely renovated the building in 1931, adding two floors in order to gain more retail space, and at the same time upgrading it to match architectural fads of the time. On September 3, 1931, he took out a permit to add two stories to the building along with elevator. A November 30 permit stated that he would replace the exterior tile face, converting into the Art Deco style. His December 17 permit reports that he would enlarge the penthouse and install skylights to add more illumination, while later permits speak of upgrading awnings, moving partitions, and so on.

The building retains its Art Deco look to this day, and serves the needs of many businesses large and small. It continues to witness the course of Hollywood history as it remains one of Hollywood’s busiest intersections. Once the Sackett Hotel, then the Hollywood National Bank, and now home of many small businesses, 6400-6408 Hollywood Blvd. serves as a reminder of Hollywood’s business past while acting as witness to the evolution of the movie city.

The Richfield Building in an undated postcard.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

After years of deprivation, darkness and worry during World War I and its aftermath, America was ready to look toward a shining future of prosperity and sunshine in the 1920s. Overnight, fashion, music and the arts embraced change, style and risk-taking. Much was modeled after the 1925 Exposition International des Arts Decoratifs et Industriel Modernes in Paris, which displayed bold conceptions of applied arts, reveling in eclectic, glorious design. The new style embraced technology and the machine age, reflecting a belief in a dynamic, energetic future.

Architecture celebrated the Moderne style as well. Color, geometric shapes and lavish ornamentation replaced monochromatic massing in buildings. Triangles, sunbursts and zigzags screamed progress in modern buildings as they stretched toward the sky. New York’s Chrysler Building exemplified the new look, bold, sleek and gorgeous. The American Radiator Building also embraced the modern by daring to wreath itself in gold and black colors, a glamorous and contemporary design.

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

The Richfield Building in the 1960s, courtesy of Mary Mallory

Los Angeles’ Richfield Co. looked to shake things up in Los Angeles too, by grabbing the spotlight as a leading player in the oil industry. Their new headquarters at 555 S. Flower St. would be the siren announcing their explosive future in reshaping the petroleum industry.

In late 1928, Richfield hired Morgan, Walls and Clements, one of Los Angeles’ premier architectural firms, to conceive a bold, forceful building as their headquarters. Founded by Ezra F. Kysor in 1868, Morgan, Walls and Clements evolved over the years into a leading designer of important office structures. Stiles O. Clements, their chief designer, had studied at Drexel Institute of Technology, MIT and the Beaux Arts Academy in Paris before joining the firm in 1913.

Clements embraced the Radiator Building as a model, copying its gold and black colors and vertical design of windows and lines in the downtown Richfield Building. The colors saluted Richfield’s moneymaker, its Texas tea. Turning the inside out, luxurious color and glamorous detail would jazz up the building’s exterior and dominate the bland Los Angeles’ skyline.

As David Gebhard explains in the monograph, “The Richfield Building 1928-1968, the bold and visionary sheathing was beautiful as well as functional, and an excellent match for its gold ornamentation. The Architectural Record noted that, “The walls are black to prevent undue contrast with the countless windows which might destroy the silhouette.” The gold drew out the black, giving it a sophisticated glamour that other buildings lacked. Gold highlighted the vertical nature of the windows, which the architectural firm called, “An expression of modern art and thought” in an unpublished press release.

Contractor P. J. Walker hired Consolidated Steel Co. to fabricate the steel frame on which the $1.75-million building would sit, designed by Erick and Deline, engineers. 2,300 tons of steel composed the framework, erected in a record 31 days in early 1929. Tile designed by Gladding, McBean, and Co. lined the building’s exterior. Fred Ortman of the company described the makeup of the tile in the July 14, 1929, Los Angeles Times. “On a body composed of imported English clay, local ball clay, feldspar and flint, the glazes, colored with exact percentages of iron peroxide and manganese oxide, were sprayed on in a green state and burned with bodies to form a homogeneous mass. A yellow glaze was produced as a base color for the gold, which is the genuine California article, the precious metal was then applied to this and burned twice, producing a dull, lustrous effect, which will gleam in the rays of the California sun as long as the building stands.”

A Richfield Building elevator, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

The Richfield Building’s exterior dark green tile only appeared black from the sun’s reflection off the mirrored surface. Real 14-carat gold leaf was contained in the gold surfaces lining the windows and sculptures. “The gold ornamentation is of terra cotta coated with a layer of finely pulverized gold, held in suspension in a transparent glazing solution,” per the Architectural Record.

The entrance featured Belgian black marble, Cardiff green stone trimmings, Russian bronze metalworks, Benedict nickel hardware, rubber tile on the floor, and black lacquer-coated woodwork. Six high-speed, etched metal elevator doors and two freight elevators were installed beginning April 20, 1929, the first on the West Coast. The building’s two-story underground parking garage was also one of the first ever installed in an office complex. The building itself was a giant U-shape, actually two wings united by the façade on Flower Street.

Sculptor Haig Patigian was hired to design massive, dominating gold figures lining the top of the structure, and four terra-cotta figures above the entrance. Patigian described his work in a Morgan, Walls and Clements press release. “I designed all the sculpture in question with two principles in mind – to keep in harmony with the architecture of the building and to have my ideas conform in a measure to the business and business connections of the Richfield Co. The figures around the top with their…powerful torsos and decorative design of wings…symbolized motive power.” The statues embraced the future while saluting the past, an updated copy of monumental art that had decorated structures for hundreds of years. The four figures above the entrance represented the fields of Aviation, Postal Service, Industry and Navigation, all vital to Richfield’s success.

The air-conditioned structure contained 11 floors of offices, with the 12^th the social hub of the building. Here could be found the main lobby, cafeteria, executive dining rooms, barbershop, showers, massage room, ladies’ lounge, assembly room with a stage, and rooftop garden.

Topping the luxurious wedding cake was a 125-foot-tall beacon tower, a visual play on an oil derrick, providing a searchlight for airplanes, a possible decking location for zeppelins, and a floodlight to illuminate the building. The Richfield name lined the tower’s sides in eight-foot-tall neon letters, which The Times called “a brilliant red candle in the sky.” It weighed 70,000 pounds itself. The colorful building and its flashy billboard soon dominated the downtown skyline.

The Richfield Building’s 12th floor soon became a social gathering spot for clubs, universities and other business organizations, which rented the assembly room and dining rooms for meetings, parties and conferences.

Tragedy struck on Aug. 29, 1950, when 40-year-old land and lease office attorney Dudley Eugene Brown committed suicide by jumping from a 12th floor office, climbing over a glass windbreak to jump. During the fall, Brown struck a 10^th-floor ornamental promontory, which pushed his body beyond the sidewalk and into the street.

Two painters suffered critical injuries on Aug. 12, 1953, when they fell 50 feet from scaffolding that collapsed while they painted the tower, throwing them to the 12th floor of the building. Injuries included fractured arms, legs, hip, ribs, skull, and internal injuries.

The Richfield Building, courtesy of Mary Mallory.

Unfortunately, “progress” caught up with the gorgeous building. Some people now considered the structure garish, gaudy, and a monstrosity, and new skyscrapers dwarfed its size. The Richfield Co. merged with Atlantic Refining Co. in 1966, and decided that the building was not producing enough revenue. They purchased surrounding buildings, creating a property flagged by Flower, Figueroa, 5th, and 6th Streets, and decided to turn it into a mini Rockefeller Center in 1967, called the Atlantic Richfield Plaza. The site would be composed of two 52-story towers, open space, promenades and other buildings. Louis Ream informed The Times on March 9, 1967, that “We’d like to think as big as possible – the economics of a site like this dictates that we do.” He claimed, “The building is beautiful, but it is only 54% usable. We’re planning on tearing it down, with tears in our eyes.”

Groups immediately opposed the planned destruction, arguing for preservation and inclusion of the building in the new project. Denise Scott Brown, a UCLA professor of urban design, attempted to rally supporters to fight for the building, decrying both Atlantic Richfield’s aim and the city’s destruction of Bunker Hill, “simply because we tend to despise our immediate past.” Instead of the raw and dead land left by urban renewal’s wiping away all traces of the historic past, she suggested renovating and integrating the building into the project, saying its bold design could stand up to the modern, glass structures. Unfortunately, the fledgling historic preservation movement was not strong enough to withstand the powerful forces opposing it.

Wrecking crews entered the building’s interior on Nov. 12, 1968, and began dismantling the building. The elevator doors were saved, but not much was salvaged or preserved. The Cleveland Wrecking Co. was hired to remove the 40 towering figures from the top of the structure. In two weeks, they removed them by tying chokes around their necks and waists before cutting away the concrete, leaving only the top torso of the figures. Two were decapitated, and others suffered broken noses or wing tips in the process. The company removed the figures to their yard, where they were sold for $100 each, the cost it took to remove them from the building.

Ironically, in September 1969 an exhibit at the Building Exhibition Center celebrated the centennial of Robert Clements and Associates, the heir to Morgan, Walls and Clements, with drawings of the former Richfield Building.

While the beautiful Richfield Building was lost, it helped galvanize growing support for historic preservation and reuse and adaptation of historic structures, leading to the formation of such groups as Los Angeles Conservancy and Hollywood Heritage. Today, developers and builders are rapidly renovating and rehabbing glorious apartment buildings, hotels, and theatres in downtown Los Angeles, allowing historic structures to once again shine as the lovely monuments they were intended to be.

Note: This is an encore post from 2012.

A few months ago, a friend and I were walking up Orange Drive from the El Capitan Theatre to the Hollywood Heritage Museum and noticed a striking Japanese looking apartment building at 1775 N. Orange Drive. It featured a pagoda-style roof and carved dragons under the eaves. After reading the historical-cultural monument plaque on the front, I decided to investigate more about the history of the building.

The Nirvana Apartments via Google’s Street View.

The 1920s saw an abundance of themed architecture, such as the Bulldog cafe, giant donut shop, Van de Kamp’s bakeries that looked like windmills, the Aztec Hotel off Route 66 with its fantastic architecture, and the like. The Nirvana Apartments in Hollywood followed this trend. In 1925, architect E. M. Erdaly designed an Oriental Revival building that featured a pagoda roof, a pagoda shaped sign out front, and other interesting oriental details. Owners promoted its unique look as early as 1926, calling it the “most exclusive apartments in Hollywood” in a Los Angeles Times ad. A 1938 ad stated it displayed “unusual atmosphere” and was “beautifully furnished.”

In 1930, Hollywood Business Properties, Ltd. purchased the forty-three unit structure for $250,000 from Indemnities Mortgage Securities Company during the Great Depression. Property values either drastically decreased by 1940, or the owners put it up for short sale, because the building sold by William F. Fairchild to Mr. and Mrs. Frank C. Wheeler for $150,000. In April 1945, the Wheelers sold the property to R. B. Wheeler for approximately $200,000.

Tragedies and car accidents occurred to people living in the building. Margarita Altenbach, the niece of Nicaraguan leader Gen. Anastasio Somoza, lived there in 1944, when she caused a traffic accident that took the life of Mrs. Mary E. Alberg. Altenbach, who did not possess a license, turned left onto Highland Avenue from Hollywood Boulevard  as the signal changed and somehow jumped the curb, hitting Mrs. Alberg and knocking down a lamppost. On January 18, 1949, four year old Jacqueline Brooks called the city to report that a tree fallen by high winds had landed on her mother’s car parked outside the building. She pled, “Lizzie is cold. A tree fell on her two days ago and we can’t get it off her. Can you help us?” The Times sent along a reporter and photographer to capture Jacqueline posing with the car and tree.

On July 13, 2005, the building was named cultural historic monument #816 for Los Angeles, which helps it survive. In 2007, the building sold for $5.9 million at the top of the market, and the Times reported that the Mills Act would allow the owners to make repairs to the historic structure and get tax rebates for keeping it as historically accurate as possible. Hollywood is full of historic and beautiful apartment buildings, many of which could be threatened as property values begin increasing and developers think of tearing them down to build condos. Smart owners realize that by preserving the unique style and repairing and restoring the building they can earn tax credits, as well as probably earn higher rental rates, by promoting and leasing apartments to residents looking for striking and historic places to live.

The Cedric Gibbons home, via Google Street View.

Note: This is an encore post from 2014.

Celebrity has often been the cachet for creating style, fashion and cultural trends, especially with the advent of films. Stars wearing a particular designer’s couture, driving a certain car, or a female star wearing pants, started tongues wagging and led average citizens to try to copy their style. Movies themselves fashioned popular trends in music, style and even architecture.

The gorgeous jewel box of a home belonging to 11-time Academy Award-winner MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and his wife, actress Dolores Del Rio, epitomizes Hollywood glamour, and still stands as one of the outstanding examples of home as art in Hollywood. All sleek lines and geometric patterns, it stands as a Streamline-Moderne masterpiece, the perfect representation of one of Gibbons’ MGM luxurious set designs come to life.

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

Dolores Del Rio in the home, from Photoplay, 1931.

The son of an architect, Gibbons was born March 23, 1890, in New York, where he was privately tutored and intended to follow in his father’s footsteps. He traveled to Europe on a Grand Tour, studying architecture, and enrolled in New York’s Art Students League once he returned. Gibbons joined his father’s firm, working two years as a draftsman, which quickly bored him.

In 1914, motion picture art director and sculptor Hugo Ballin hired him as an assistant to help design sets for films, and Gibbons’ career trajectory was set. After working as an art director for Goldwyn Pictures in 1916, Gibbons joined the United States Navy in 1917. After the war, he became art director in chief at Goldwyn’s new Culver City lot, where he would go on to work for almost 40 years.

Dashing and urbane, Gibbons — a doppelganger for William Powell — ruled his large department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer like any founding architect of a large firm: he acted as project head, with designers reporting to him with plans for each film, drawn up by illustrators. Gibbons established the vision for each project and then ensured that the designers adhered to that plan.

After attending the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in 1925, Gibbons introduced the Art Deco style in sophisticated, black and white sets for MGM films. As Gibbons told the Los Angeles Times for an April 8, 1928, article, “Motion pictures set the vogue in wearing apparel styles. Fashions always find their way to the screen before they strike Fifth Avenue. So it is with architectural and decorative styles. The screen designer must search them out and be the first to use them.”

Jeffrey Head, in the 2006 Los Angeles Modernism catalogue introduction, notes: “By establishing the streamline art moderne “look” for MGM during the late 1920s, Gibbons effectively introduced modern design to the American public on a popular scale, influencing a generation of home furnishings and interiors. For many people, their only exposure to the art moderne movement was through Gibbons’ set designs.” Gibbons’ work swayed public taste toward Art Deco and Streamline Moderne with its jazzy, striking staircases, ceilings and lines. Gibbons would be among the first in Los Angeles to employ Streamline-Moderne for his residence, built as the ultimate wedding gift for his bride.

From Cine Mundial.

A  shy, quiet man, Gibbons fell in love with the striking Mexican actress Dolores Del Rio at first sight, per the story Del Rio relayed to journalist Gladys Hall in a 1931 Movie Classic magazine article. While she was working at MGM on the film “The Trail of ’98,” Gibbons would come to the set to watch her work, and asked director Clarence Brown to introduce him to what he called, “the most beautiful thing in Hollywood.” Brown refused, stating that she was cold and lifeless, particularly after divorcing her husband, who soon died of illness. Gibbons couldn’t get up the courage to approach her, and whenever he went to cocktail or dinner parties, he hoped to run into her. At a Marion Davies’ party, he finally made an introduction, and supposedly the couple were making out 10 minutes after being introduced. As Del Rio exclaimed to Hall, “All women love a man like that – let them pose and be superior as they will! I loved it! I knew, mysteriously and surely, that I loved him.” Within six weeks the couple were engaged, and quickly married at the Santa Barbara Mission on Aug. 6, 1930.

Gibbons asked fellow MGM designer and architect Douglas Honnold to assist him in a designing a spectacular showcase in which to accentuate the beauty of his lovely wife. While the streetscape at 757 Kingman Ave. in Santa Monica was as reserved as Gibbons, inside, the home was Hollywood fantasy come true—an angular black and white sophisticated vision offering the perfect backdrop for glamorous entrances and appearances by his striking wife.

As Oscar Romoldi points out in Hollywood Studio Magazine, the interior space was ingeniously laid out by a master craftsman, in what Romoldi called “Streamline Moderne meets Bauhaus.” Perfect composition and lighting highlight the theatrical living spaces in the 4,744-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bath residence. Setbacks around the front door, fireplaces, and walls, geometric patterns, black terrazzo floors, and white walls reflected the shiny industrial look of moderne in dramatic fashion. The first floor consisted of a library, breakfast room, kitchen, dining room and guest suite, with a two-story brushed steel staircase the center of attention, leading up to the home’s grand public area on the second floor, which featured large windows and dramatic lines overlooking the two-bedroom guesthouse, swimming pool, tennis court with viewing area, and expansive lawns.

The 25 by 45-foot-stylish living room and grand salon served as dramatic backdrop for entertaining, with built-in lighting and furniture by designer Paul Frankel. All-black baths featured stainless steel detailing, with hot and cold running water operated by foot pedals. Mirrors dominated the house, reflecting the shiny surfaces and emphasizing glamour and beauty. Gibbons and Del Rio possessed their own bedrooms on separate floors, but a secret staircase led from one dressing room to the other, and Del Rio’s dressing room also featured a trap door that opened to the stairs.

The couple entertained lavishly for almost 11 years, hosting regular Sunday afternoon parties dominated by tennis, Gibbons’ passion. Unfortunately, on March 15, 1940, Del Rio walked away, filing for divorce that December. The couple settled out of court, with Gibbons retaining ownership of the house, which he sold in December 1946 to actor Van Johnson for $125,000, per the Los Angeles Times.

Over the decades other owners have restored and honored this lovely jewel, including Los Angeles attorney and developer Ira Yellin, and film producer Joe Roth. The home has even been featured in such movies as “To Live and Die in L.A.” and “Twilight” starring Gene Hackman. The current owners succeeded in adding it to Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments list last summer, as HCM No. 1038, a perfect representative for Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Armstrong’s Cafe at 6600 Hollywood Blvd., courtesy of the California State Library.

The evolution of one address can reveal the revitalization and resurgence of a growing neighborhood or the mass commercialization and bland homogeneity of a district. 6600 Hollywood Blvd. provides ample evidence of the early development of Hollywood from a close-knit, intimate community into a money-driven commercial district.

During Hollywood’s formative years, Hollywood Boulevard was christened Prospect Avenue, a forward-thinking name for a farming community looking for prosperity and success. Only in 1910 did the community rechristen the street Hollywood Boulevard in recognition of their upcoming annexation by the city of Los Angeles. It was no longer just a regular thoroughfare but a boulevard of dreams.

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

The cafe in “Hollywood Snapshots,” 1922.

In those early decades of Hollywood, human scale two to three story buildings lined the streets, catering to the needs of local residents. Garages, small markets, little cafes, and humble retail establishments focused on the necessary requirements for every day regular living.

On May 25, 1915, Leila B. Elliott of 6706 Selma Ave. applied for a building permit to construct a one-story garage from 6600-6604 Hollywood Blvd. The May 29, 1915,  Southwest Builder and Contractor reported that Mrs. Elliott would build a one-story brick garage with E. E. Klarquist serving as contractor. In 1916, ads report that it served as a garage and seller for Kissel Kars under the leadership of C. F. Little. In 1921, it would serve as an official yellow taxi stand per Los Angeles Herald ads.

6600 Hollywood Blvd., via Google Street View.

By April 24, 1918, Elliott applied to divide her establishment into two rooms, creating a restaurant/cafe on the west side of the one-story brick building. The permit stated that she would install a wooden platform storehouse, small storage area, and restroom for the establishment, also noted in the 1919 Southwest Builder and Contractor magazine.

For a short time, the Trocadero Cafe operated at 6600 Hollywood Blvd. before Mrs. Elliott applied for another permit on December 30, 1920, to install a kitchen at the rear of the building. On January 10, 1921, she asked for another with the help of C. E. Toberman for work designed by architect H. H. Whiteley to plaster celings and walls, construct a counter, bar, and fixtures, install toilets, and plaster the brick on the front of the building. The front exterior was fashioned into a lovely Spanish Revival look with red tile roof, Moroccan style small windows, decorative arches around the windows, and elegant tile work around the entrance and windows.

An ad for the Hollywood Indian Grill, 6600 Hollywood Blvd., Screenland, 1922Screenland, 1922.

Around this time Arthur F. Armstrong took over the cafe section, expanding beyond his downtown cafe at 538 S. Spring St. in partnership with Ben H. Carleton to form the Armstrong and Carleton Indian Grill. Their upscale restaurant attracted the motion picture crowd, becoming a popular luncheon location for stars filming in the area, and thus a tourist magnet as well.

Also known under the name “Blue Front Cafe,” for the blue paint on the front facade, Armstrong’s Cafe gained renown in fan magazines. Actress Mae Busch and director George Melford posed out front in 1922 for Photoplay magazine, with another photo showing stars Thomas Meighan, Conrad Nagel, and Lois Wilson among others pictured. The caption hints that Rudolph “Ruddy” Valentino sits quietly in a corner. The 1922 “Hollywood Snapshots” newsreel even shows actress Viola Dana inside the front window eating lunch.

New Movie Magazine in January 1933 shared reminisces of the place, calling it a “fine dining in the pre-autograph days, here before fans missed lunch to see their idols going for it.” The issue also reported that Adolph Menjou entertained guests with impressions of well known people using the Yiddish dialect.

Good things don’t always last, and neither did the Armstrong and Carleton Cafe. By 1929, Hollywood Blvd. frontage skyrocketed in price as the street’s commercial prospects zoomed with new construction of department stores, banks, and the like. After ten years in business at 6600 Hollywood Blvd., Armstrong used his buyout to open the Armstrong Schroder Cafe at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Santa Monica Boulevard in 1930.

A June 16, 1929, Los Angeles Times story announced the 50 year leasing of the 5,000 square foot 6600-6606 Hollywood Blvd. for the construction of a $175,000 department store, with “terra cotta facing ornamented by wrought iron work.” Orndorff Construction Co. would serve as contractor.

Viola Dana in “Hollywood Snapshots,” 19221922.

Over the next several months, additional permits slowly note repairs and remodeling. A demolition permit was issued for the building on August 31, 1929, with a September 11 permit noting a new storefront, grill, and restrooms. J. J. Newberry Company’s name finally appears on the September 13 permit. Eventually the newly fashionable Art Deco style would replace the graceful Spanish Colonial look on the exterior of the building, along with a striking marquee years later. The building retained a blue front, only of a much different style.

While J. J. Newberry’s glamorous building attracted widespread admiration for its beauty and style, it lost its cachet with the in-crowd because of its five and dime merchandise. Though it served as a department store for over six decades, I can find no mention of filming or movie stars visiting it, though hundreds of ads fill the newspapers and stories of misfortune to employees run as well.

As Hollywood and its Boulevard sank into disrepair and dirtiness by the 1970s and 1980s as film studios, agents, and post production moved to places like Culver City, Burbank, and the like, business suffered in the store and in the five and dime business in general. Around 1990, J. J. Newberry moved on, to be replaced by Hollywood Toys and Costumes, still in operation today.

Hollywood is booming again today, and 6600 Hollywood still stands proudly at Hollywood Boulevard and Whitley Avenue. It and the other historic buiildings around it radiate charm, beauty, and history, the items attracting tourists both in the 1920s and today. Their elegant, human scale stands as a monument to the history of Hollywood, recognized through their status as a National Historic Landmark.

The Hollywoodland Sign, in a photo published in the Los Angeles Evening Herald, Dec. 8, 1923.

Originally constructed as a publicity gimmick and branding symbol to help generate sales for a real estate development, the Hollywood Sign is now a worldwide icon just as powerful as Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, and the Statue of Liberty, signifying a land of glamour and opportunity. Myths have always existed about it, from the date of its construction to how the city of Hollywood obtained it. After in-depth research by both historian Bruce Torrence and myself, we can conclusively say the sign was constructed in late November and early December 1923, and illuminated in that first week of December.

Like me, a California transplant involved in history, research, and writing since I was child, Torrence has always been fascinated by Hollywood history, perhaps because his two famous grandfathers contributed much to it. His paternal grandfather, Ernest Torrence, starred in many classic silent films such as “Steamboat Bill Jr.” and “Peter Pan” after a successful career as an opera singer. His maternal grandfather C. E. Toberman could be called the builder of Hollywood for his construction of so many iconic structures around Hollywood Boulevard. Bruce began a photo collection of Hollywood in 1972 with thirty photographs, which has blossomed into thousands. He employed these photos in writing one of Hollywood’s first detailed history books in 1979 called “Hollywood: The First 100 Years.”
Hollywood at Play: The Lives of the Stars Between Takes, by Stephen X. Sylvester, Mary Mallory and Donovan Brandt, goes on sale Feb. 1, 2017.

Both of us are dogged in searching out facts and details to get Hollywood history right, made much easier with the opening of newspapers through microfilm and now digital searching, along with such great digitized sites as the Media History Digital Library and Variety Archives at the Margaret Herrick Library. We look for multiple citations to back up evidence, and especially primary evidence, such as documents, building records, and films, and secondary sources like newspapers, magazines, and books. Getting history right often means correcting yourself, as I admit I fell into the trap of claiming the Hollywoodland Sign was constructed in July 1923. After years of research by both of us, we have discovered the missing pieces clarifying the history of the sign.

When I began writing my Arcadia Publishing book “Hollywoodland” in 2010, I began searching out the history of the development and its world famous sign. Few if any period sources could be found providing a detailed, accurate history of the Hollywoodland Sign, even the Los Angeles Times, owned by one of the five partners of the Hollywoodland development. No newspaper reported the actual day of the beginning or completion of construction, but thanks to discovery on the history of Hollywoodland publicity chief L. J. Burrud, I began slowly piecing the puzzle together.
L.J. Burrud, Hollywood Publicity Man

Hollywoodland developers Tracey Shoults and S. H. Woodruff announced the opening of the real estate tract in late March 1923 newspapers. They focused mainly on the newspapers of record for Los Angeles, like the Times and Examiner, attempting to appeal to upper middle class and rich businessmen and entertainers. Since Times publisher Harry Chandler was one of the partners, the newspaper provided ample free publicity of the site in multiple stories virtually every day of the week, often with photographs. With real estate booming all round the city, sales initially took off, but the real estate men realized they needed special publicity to help brand their neighborhood as the “supreme achievement for community building” for people of discriminating taste.

On September 7, 1923, Woodruff turned to Lake Arrowhead press man L. J. Burrud to devise unique ballyhoo gimmicks to land stories and photographs of the Hollywoodland development in newspapers and magazines across the United States. Copying tactics from his past as a newsreel cameraman, actuality and documentary filmmaker, Burrud conceived of one of the first mass media campaigns to brand the special nature of the community. Besides planting stories in newspapers, the publicity man shot a film documenting construction of the Hollywoodland demonstration home, arranged for sports motor cars to traverse the rough, unpaved hills, and even created a Hollywoodland Community Orchestra to play grocery store openings and radio shows.

In later years, advertising man John Roche claimed in interviews that Times publisher Harry Chandler asked him to design a gigantic billboard visible from miles away, but it seems strange that someone would wait decades to state such information. Unfortunately no paperwork from the Hollywoodland development exists, so until it shows up, there is no definitive proof of who conceived the look of the sign and when. While virtually all other major real estate developments built thin, red-colored name signs, Hollywoodland’s would be gigantic 45 foot letters spelling out the world Hollywoodland, making it much more visible all over Los Angeles. Falling back on his filmmaking experience, publicity chief Burrud conceived the brilliant idea for newsreel coverage documenting the construction of the sign, a gimmick to help announce the opening of their stupendous development to the world.

Holly Leaves, November 1923.

I discovered that construction of the Hollywoodland Sign began in November 1923, after finding a photograph taken from the Hollywood Athletic Club published in the November 16, 1923 Holly Leaves revealing a barren hillside above the development, devoid of any sign or construction equipment. Fox Movietone newsreel footage exists of the Hollywoodland Sign’s construction, revealing workers, mules, and caterpillar tractors laboring to carry sheet metal, telephone poles, pipes, and chicken wire up the precipitous slopes to build the giant sign in a jagged line on the steep hill.

Realizing that filmmakers usually employ a slate in front of their footage listing title, date, and running time, I contacted Greg Wilsbacher, director of the Fox Movietone Newsreel Collection at the University of South Carolina, to inquire about a slate or paperwork for the newsreel footage shot of this event. Wilsbacher revealed that cameraman Blaine Walker shot the Sign’s construction, stating that the undeveloped negative arrived at the Fox Movietone Newsreel office dated “November 27th-23,” with the punch record of the New York Fox office also showing a late November 1923 date. Train travel across the United States took approximately three days at that time, meaning the footage would have departed Los Angeles on November 27 and arrived at the end of the month. As Wilsbacher also stated, a newsreel cameraman’s job was to get unique footage first and rush it to production offices for immediate distribution to theatres, meaning Walker filmed it immediately before sending it off to New York.

Not only were the developers constructing an enormous billboard to advertise Hollywoodland by day, but also one to blaze its name at night. They hired Crescent Sign Company to devise a way to build the Sign on the hill, and Woodruff hired Electrical Products Corporation to illuminate it with electric lights, creating what the December 9 Los Angeles Examiner calls the “largest electrically outlined word in the world.”

Historian Torrence discovered the actual date of first illumination when investigating when the letter “H” was actually blown off the Sign after a question posed by a reader. He, I, and everyone else mistakenly believed the letter was demolished by winds in 1949, though his examination of Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Los Angeles Times proved it actually happened in 1944.

A worker stands in crossbar of the letter “D” in the Hollywoodland Sign, Practical Electrics, September 1924.

While there, he decided to peruse the November/December 1923 Evening Herald to find information on the final days of the Sign’s construction after my discovery of the November date for the newsreel footage. He discovered the missing link, connecting the Sign’s November/December 1923 construction to its first electric illumination. Torrence came across a December 8, 1923 Evening Herald story stating that the sign, “believed to be the largest in the world,…will be illuminated tonight.” The article includes photographs showing the full length of the sign as well as an image of a worker dwarfed by the gigantic letter “D” he stands in.

On Saturday, December 8, 1923, S. H. Woodruff and his crew flipped the switch turning on the illuminated lights which spelled out the words “Holly,” “Wood,” “Land,” “Hollywoodland,” with Woodruff stating in an article in the December 9 Examiner, “it was only fitting that the first blaze of electric lights to shine forth from the tremendous sign should be in commemoration of some important event in the development of Hollywoodland,” namely the opening of Unit No. 4 to sales. In an ironic twist, the Los Angeles Herald and Los Angeles Examiner note the first lighting of the Hollywoodland Sign, while the Los Angeles Times, owned and published by Harry Chandler, one of the major partners in the development, failed to report it.

An ad in the Dec. 12, 1923, Los Angeles Times notes the completion of the Hollywoodland Sign.

Paul D. Howse, president of Electrical Products Corporation, bought an advertisement in the December 12, 1923, Los Angeles Times with an illustration of the electrified sign. He congratulates Woodruff for completing the stupendous sign, declaring “You had the vision to undertake and accomplish the greatest realty enterprise in California…” and then stating, “…We thank you, Mr. Woodruff, for having given us the opportunity to engineer and install this great electrical sign. May your expenditure be appreciated by those who love to see Los Angeles lead in enterprise and really “big” things.

A description of the Hollywoodland Sign in Practical Electrics for September, 1924.

Further sealing the November/December 1923 construction date, the September 1924 issue of Practical Electrics provided me by another historian describes what it calls “the mammoth Hollywoodland Electric Sign” in detail, noting its eight months of display. The article employs some creative hyperbole to state that “the sign is over one-sixth of a mile long, and nearly 4,000 lamps are required to light it.”

It reports that the billboard is visible at a distance of more than twelve miles, supported by a framework of telephone poles 60 to 80 feet high. “Two by six inch timbers, placed 16 to 24 inches between centers, are the horizontal elements of the frame. To this the letters, made of galvanized iron, are nailed. Each stroke of a letter is 13 feet wide. To illuminate the 13 great letters 3,700 10-watt lamps are used, placed along the edge of each stroke….There are 55 outlets to each circuit and the wiring is all open on the back of the structure. Everything centers in a junction box near the center of the sign…Taken on a straight line, the sign is 975 feet long and the letters are 45 feet high.” While the letters were 45 feet high, it’s very doubtful the sign was that long.

While erroneously reported to have been constructed in July 1923, thanks to these discoveries, we now know that the Hollywoodland Sign was constructed in November/early December 1923, and illuminated for the first time on Saturday, December 8, 1923. Paraphrasing Electrical Products Corporation President Paul Howse, Hollywoodland not only conceived the largest electrical sign in the world in 1923, but one that now serves as the iconic representation of Hollywood and its film industry while also reigning as Los Angeles’ most popular tourist attraction today

A drawing of the electrical adobe home, Journal of Electricity, Jan. 15, 1921.

Real estate brokers often look for a unique hook or gimmick on which to sell their developments. Any special amenity or feature which can grab headlines and attract the attention of serious buyers, such as a giant electric advertising sign or exclusive, high-end features, is dreamed up.

S.H. (Sidney H.) Woodruff reigns as one of the early Los Angeles masters of ballyhoo, perhaps most well known for his involvement with, and perhaps conception of, the creation of one of the world’s largest electrified advertising signs spelling out the name of the Hollywoodland development in 1923. Woodruff dreamed up fanciful gimmicks promoting his real estate schemes, some of them leading to legal troubles.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester goes on sale Feb. 1.

A photo of the Electrical Adobe House, Feb. 5, 1921, Los Angeles Herald.

Sometimes he inflated his architectural background and experience, leading a San Francisco businessman and financier to sue him for fraud and cost overruns in 1912 in a case which ended up in California’s Supreme Court. In 1919, he was arrested for defrauding through the United States mail in a case regarding bogus land sales.

Veteran real estate salesman Tracy Shoults signed Woodruff in 1920 to help promote his new Windsor Square project, an offshoot of his upscale developments in Marlborough Square and Windsor Heights. Solid and dependable, Shoults began selling small lots around south Los Angeles in the 1890s, gradually working his way up to more prestigious areas like these near Hancock Park. Shoults needed some flash and sizzle to attract more public attention and the gregarious, creative Woodruff fit the bill.

The June 13, 1920, Los Angeles Times reported, using press release hyperbole, that the Tracy Shoults Company intended to construct “the most pretentious adobe structure erected in California since 1856,” conceived by mastermind Woodruff in the Spanish Revival style. The modern two-story showplace at Second Street and Larchmont Boulevard would serve as a demonstration model of an all-electrical home, filled with every new appliance, part of a “convenience outlet campaign” as described in the January 1, 1921, Electrical Review. Juan Fernandez would lead construction of the adobe home, for owner R. (Ralph) K. Snow. Unknown to the public, this so-called “owner” was actually a bookkeeper with Title Insurance and Trust Co. which handled titles for the development, and would rise to assistant trust officer in Glendale by 1921.

The Electrical Adobe House, Feb. 5, 1921, Los Angeles Herald.

This unique showplace was actually a prime advertising showcase for both the Tracy E. Shoults Co. and their fellow sponsors, particularly the electrical industry, who provided their products and services free of charge in exchange for listings in newspaper and magazine stories and ads directed at upper middle class and wealthy home owners. Architect Harley Bradley described in the January 15, 1921, Journal of Electricity that the home “incorporates in its construction all the most modern electrical features of present-day building methods including 117 outlets, 37 of which are convenience outlets of the latest plug-in type for the efficient use of all household electrical appliances and laborsaving devices, underground electrical service and complete telephone wiring.”

“This home will be completely furnished and decorated, “ready to live in” by Barker Bros. of Los Angeles….In addition to the furnishings, this home will be equipped by the electrical industry with about fifty of the very latest and most practical household appliances, which can be seen in actual operation.” These devices included dishwasher, silver polisher, knife sharpener, mixer, vacuum electrical fan, vacuum cleaner, phonograph, heater, range, sewing machine, warming pad, electric piano, refrigerator, boiler, washing machine, dryer, ironing machine, tire inflator, battery recharger, and car polisher. These unique and special features and “artistic decoration” would hopefully draw high end, exclusive customers.

An ad for homes in Windsor Square, Los Angeles Herald, Feb. 5, 1921.

Woodruff recognized the value of free advertising and cross-promotion, allowing more bang for the buck. Companies taking part in the construction of the home joined in co-op advertising of the home tour in local newspapers, describing their products and the convenience and safety of electricity. These businesses included the Southern California Contractor and Dealers’ Association, Apex Electric Suction Cleaner, Electric Supply Lighting Co., F. E. Newbery Electric Co., F. A. Clarke Co., and Unit System of Heating and Manufacturing Co.Two automobiles provided by Hudson Motor Co. on display in the garage would be included in the sales price. Beverly Hills Nurseries would design and plant the garden.

This adobe home would be built to modern specifications, with concrete lintels and plates all the way to the foundation, and bearing plates of redwood or cypress would be employed for water resistance. The concrete foundation would also be water-proofed to guard against deterioration.

It would serve as a gateway to the new community, with viewing opportunities by the general public to tour, hopefully leading to real estate sales in the tract. Shoults described the idea as a successful advertising stunt in Electrical Merchandising, from organizing the tract around distinctive architecture to working on the largest scale project of this type in Los Angeles with the California Electrical Co-operative Campaign as an “opportunity to educate the public in the use of the latest electrical appliances…and to encourage the building of electrical homes.”

“White coal” powers a house, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 21, 1921.

Shoults proudly reported on the attention grabbing campaign which basically advertised an advertisement in newspaper and magazines, a wonderful cross-promotional stunt for everyone involved. Ads would describe the home in detail and each of the advertising partners, while tours of the facility would hopefully generate sales.

The Shoults Company allowed tours January 20 to February 13, 1921, from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays, with groups such as women’s groups and service organizations allowed to reserve their own special tours. Special illumination in the evenings from 6 to 10 p.m. further drove spectator interest by making it even more conspicuous. Crowds appeared to be huge, with the company estimating that $25,000 had viewed the home by February 5. A February 13, 1921, Los Angeles Herald ad called it “the most famous house in Southern California now for sale.”

The Hudson automobile replaces the ox cart in modern adobe! Los Angeles Herald, Jan. 29, 1921.

During the three weeks the home was open, sales for lots amounted to $250,000 with prospects of more per the Electrical Merchandising story. High-class attendees who owned automobiles costing more than $4,000 each seemed to dominate visiting lists. The company believed that of the more than 75,000 visitors who toured the home, a vast majority became acquainted with the real estate tract and if they did not buy, would at least recommend to their friends.

In the end, it appears the house sat for a time before selling, and virtually no listings for it appear in Los Angeles city directories but it did serve as a successful advertising stunt for the Windsor Square development. City directories and newspapers fail to list owners through 1970. Per the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety Records, a demolition permit was pulled March 10, 1970, for the gorgeous two-story home. Perhaps the lot sat empty for several years, because not until April 10, 1976, does a new construction permit pop up for Adriana Caselotti, the voice of “Snow White” in Disney’s animated feature of the same name, to build a simple one-story frame structure.

This fascinating sales gimmick for 201 S. Larchmont Blvd. drove public viewings at the same time it advertised and educated the powers of electrical products, soon to be a boon in middle class American homes, also demonstrating the safety and exotic possibilities of adobe construction. It also foreshadows publicity and advertising gimmicks for Tracy Shoults and S. H. Woodruff in what would become perhaps their most successful real estate development, Hollywoodland, enhanced in late 1923 with the construction of the largest electrical advertising sign in the United States, which stands to this day.

Cecil B. DeMille meets students who will attend DeMille Junior High School, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Sept. 9, 1956.

Schools are often named after historic or famous figures that offer inspiration, hope, and good examples to students of that neighborhood or district. While many buildings are named after Presidents, authors, inventors, and the like, sometimes world famous film folk like Cecil B. DeMille are honored as well. In the 1950s, two Southern California schools were named after the legendary director at the peak of his popularity.

In 1955 Long Beach, California required a new junior high for its expanding district. After much consideration, school Supt. Douglas Newcomb announced on January 3, 1955, that they would honor both the motion picture industry, the largest Southern California industry, and the great director by naming their new school the Cecil B. DeMille Junior High School. It would be located on land they hoped to acquire from the city of Long Beach.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester goes on sale Feb. 1.

Cecil B. DeMille and Elizabeth Hudson at the dedication of Cecil B. DeMille Junior High, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Sept. 15, 1956.

The January 25, 1955, Long Beach Telegram reported about Newcomb’s appearance in front of the City Council meeting the night before. Newcomb announced that the district would pay $4,700 an acre for 24.4 acres, including money to relocate water mains required for water development programs, to acquire the land required for building a school to house 1,200 students in the northeast part of the district. The school district intended to start construction immediately in order to open in the fall of 1956.

At the time, the acreage at Parkcrest Street and Los Coyotes Drive on the west side of the San Gabriel River in Heatwell Park sat mostly undeveloped, and the Long Beach Parks and Planning Commission opposed the idea of the school on park land, though it sat unused and undeveloped. The City Council, however, gave their approval for the new project.

On April 24, the Long Beach School District paid over $98,000 to purchase the land from the Long Beach Board of Water Commission. The School District Board approved the spending of approximately $1.6 million to construct the Cecil B. DeMille Junior High building in May.

A fire a DeMille Junior High, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Aug. 20, 1961.

Building commenced quickly, and proceeded rather smoothly until a minor disaster on the evening of January 30. Vandals broke into the construction site and started fires in two school rooms adjacent to one another, causing over $10,000 in damage. It took firefighters several hours to put out the blazing fire during rain downpours.

Even with the vandalism, construction finished on time for the Friday, September 14, 1956, dedication ceremony, less than a month before the premiere of DeMille’s monumental “The Ten Commandments.” The school finished a tad over budget in completing its eight buildings and 36 classrooms, the first building to be named after any motion picture industry performer or leader.

The September 15, 1956, Los Angeles Times reported that over 2,000 people attended the event and printed excerpts of speeches by Newcomb and master director DeMille. Flood lights illuminated the building for the grand ceremony. Newcomb stated the school board honored DeMille for his “inspiration to youngsters and for his continued demonstration of high principles and vast accomplishment over three quarters of a century of living.” DeMille informed the audience, “I am grateful to have my name linked with those of the dedicated teachers and the thousands of young people to whom they will be imparting the foundation of good citizenship.”

Motion Picture Daily also printed DeMille’s praising of the film industry that day. “I know full well that the naming of this school is not recognition of any personal merits of mine so much as it is recognition that motion pictures have come of age as an industry, an art, and educational force in American life and throughout the world. Motion pictures have become the greatest and most effective means of conveying thought from one mind to another, and that is what makes them so powerful and educational. They speak a universal language… .”

Like its namesake, the school chose a knight on horseback as its mascot, and also called themselves the knights. They also honored the director by hanging an oversize portrait of him in their front office.

Cecilia Harper, Charlton Heston and Ada B. Clegg at the dedication of DeMille Elementary in Westminster, Los Angeles Times, April 29, 1959.

On November 2, 1957, Supt. John Lawler of Midway City, California near Westminster announced that his school district would construct a new building and name it the Cecil B. DeMille Elementary School. It opened in August 1959 at 15400 Van Buren Street eight months after DeMille’s death. In dedication ceremonies, Lawler stated what an inspiration DeMille offered students. DeMille’s daughter Cecilia Harper and Charlton Heston, who played Moses in the director’s last epic, attended the dedication ceremony.

The DeMille Junior High School evolved over the years, becoming a Middle School late in life. It even survived another fire on August 20, 1961, when vandals once again struck, setting a two-alarm emergency requiring five fire companies to put down during a two hour fight. Four of ten half-completed classrooms were destroyed, suspicious in that it happened just weeks before the start of a new school year.

The June 17, 2010, Long Beach Press Telegram reported that the school district would demolish the Cecil B. DeMille Middle School during the summer of 2012 in order to build a new school that would serve as a math and technology center. While the school no longer stands, it still survives through vintage yearbooks as well as film clips on the internet.

Larger than life, monumental film director Cecil B. DeMille achieved the rare designation of seeing schools named after him in recognition of his powerful inspiration of initiative, daring, and perseverance in fashioning his great career as well as the beginnings of the Hollywood motion picture industry and Paramount Studios.

The Edward A.D. Christopher home, photograph by Mary Mallory.

With the speed of change in technology, transportation, and society, it’s often amazing that something historic survives. The Edward A. D. Christopher home at 11015 Aqua Vista Street in Studio City is such a specimen, a simple farmhouse which is a survivor and witness to the evolution of San Fernando Valley history for over 109 years. Time perhaps could be catching up to the home, and it needs your help to prevent demolition at the Thursday, February 9, 2017, Planning Commission meeting.

The Christopher home remains as one of the last vestiges of an original ranch home constructed when the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company began colonizing the former Rancho de San Fernando with white farmers in the late 1800s. On July 2, 1869, the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association purchased all interest in the ex Mission de San Fernando Rancho from Pio Pico. They also brought a suit for partition against the heirs of Eulogio de Celix and received full title to the southerly portion of the Valley.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

A photograph of the 1938 flood, possibly showing the Christopher home.

The Los Angeles Farm and Milling Company succeeded the San Fernando Farm Homestead Association in 1880, and on February 7, 1880, stockholders of the dissolving association deeded the southern half of the Valley to it. Early in 1888, the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company, composed of J. B. Lankershim, Isaac Van Nuys, F. C. Garbutt, L. T. Garnsey, S. W. Luitweiler, William Bogel, C. W. Smith, and W. S. De Van, purchased 12,000 acres of the lower part of the former Rancho de San Fernando to subdivide into farms.

On April 1, 1888, the organization offered ready-made small farms for sale, ranging in size from 40-120 acres, already planted with nut and deciduous fruit trees—mostly walnuts, peaches, apricots, and pears—which they claimed in advertisements could survive the hot, rainless summers of the San Fernando Valley. In this way, they hoped to attract white “gentlemen farmers” to this vast southeastern section of the Valley, thereby making the San Fernando Valley an important agricultural supplier to the rest of the country, per the book “From Cows to Concrete: The Rise and Fall of Farming in Los Angeles.”

For almost the next 50 years, the vast tract operated as farms and ranches to white immigrants who ventured West seeking a better life and a new adventure. They mostly became wheat and alfalfa farmers instead, dry farming because of the lack of irrigation. The circa 1908 Christophers’ fruit ranch was an example of one of the small gentlemen farms operating independently throughout the former Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company property.

Over the next 150 years, what was an undeveloped and arid valley of ranchos was transformed into a dense urban population and economic powerhouse, home to some of the nation’s largest agricultural producers, major motion picture studios, as well as aeronautic, defense, and automobile industries. It served as a relentless real estate growth machine rapidly subdividing the Valley and selling its image of prosperity and plenty to people throughout the United States and World.

The Lankershim Ranch land in the southeastern part of the San Fernando Valley remained mostly an agricultural operation, starting as sheep farm but switched over to wheat after a major drought in the 1870s, eventually becoming the largest producer in the world per Kevin Roderick in his book, “The San Fernando Valley: America’s Suburb.”

Edward Christopher and his wife Clara purchased their acreage in 1908 from the McCormick family, who had originally bought it from the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company to develop as their own small ranch. That year Christopher constructed his simple Craftsman-style house, possibly the oldest extant house in Studio City and a very rare, surviving example of a pre-annexation single-family residence in the San Fernando Valley (the City of Los Angeles annexed the San Fernando Valley in 1915).

The Christopher home on Aqua Vista as seen via Google Street View.

Originally from New York and the East Coast, the Christophers relocated to Fresno in 1900 before moving to Los Angeles in 1904 in search of good land, sunshine, and prosperity. Mr. Christopher sold real estate all over Los Angeles and worked as a contractor when the couple purchased the property in 1908. They built a simple rectangular shaped home facing Vineland Avenue, with its south wall facing both Rio Vista Street and the Los Angeles River. It featured decorative touches like original double-hung, wood sash windows with distinctive flared vertical trim that narrows as it tapers from the wider window sill to the top trim, along with river rock columns and porches, very rare in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley. The house sits at the exact location where it was built in 1908.

Mr. Christopher listed himself as a fruit farmer on the 1910 United States Federal Census, which lists the then address of the home as 4203 Vineland Avenue. The Christophers also owned multiple lots in the River View Tract surrounding the home, providing water from the well on their property.

The house stands as witness to major changes in the San Fernando Valley, pre-dating major transportation, industrial, and infrastructure introductions that would lead to massive changes over the next century. In 1910, the Southern Pacific Railroad purchased all of Henry Huntington’s interests in a vast chain of electric railways spreading over four counties in the Los Angeles basin. They consolidated all of their Southern California holdings into one system, the Pacific Electric Railway on September 1, 1911, per Raphael Long’s “Red Car Days.” They completed construction of a leg connecting Hollywood with the town of Lankershim and Van Nuys, opening it on December 16, 1911. The line crossed the Cahuenga Pass, and ventured north up Vineland Avenue on its way to Lankershim. Pacific Electric obtained part of Christopher’s front acreage to build its right of way on Vineland, and in return, created the Rio Vista stop on the property (the shelter still survives at the Travel Town Museum).

Construction of the current Universal Studios also post-dates the Christopher home. The Universal Film Manufacturing Company purchased the 750-acre Taylor Ranch in 1914, and began constructing their new ranch and film studio, to replace the smaller one in what is now Forest Lawn Cemetery. This state-of-the-art studio opened its doors March 15, 1915, more than eight years after the construction of the Christopher residence.

A tract map of the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Co., via UCLA Special Collections and the Online Archive of California.

While the Christophers possessed a windmill and well with which to water their crops, most San Fernando Valley farmers relied strictly on dry farming, limiting the types of plants and produce they could grow. Those near the river or creeks could cultivate various types of fruit, but those farmers farther away focused their attention on wheat and alfalfa, which required little rain to produce. San Fernando Valley residents voted for annexation by the city of Los Angeles in 1915 in order to obtain water from the new Los Angeles Aqueduct which stretched to the Owens River Valley. The Christopher residence predates the aqueduct by seven years.

The Christopher home survived major floods of the Los Angeles River in El Nino years as well. Floods in the 1910s caused damage throughout the San Fernando Valley. A major flood in mid-February 1927 washed out several bridges along the Los Angeles River in what is now Studio City, including the Vineland Avenue streetcar bridge, which has just been constructed in steel the year before. Massive floods in early March 1938 washed out virtually every bridge from Barham Boulevard to beyond Laurel Canyon Boulevard, once again demolishing the Vineland Avenue streetcar bridge. The Christopher residence survived the floods thanks to its location north of Aqua Vista street.

Over the decades, the area surrounding the home and the community itself evolved into a suburb of Los Angeles, filled with residential homes, apartment buildings, and commercial enterprises like CBS Radford Studios, the old Republic Studios, becoming completely urbanized. In 1962, part of the property east and north of the house was subdivided to create an apartment building.

Over the last two years, I have attended city meetings and planning sessions trying to save the home, as well as attempted to gain Historic Cultural Monument designation for it. This hearing on Thursday, February 9 could determine its final fate: either to remain or possibly be demolished for a condo development. Voices in support would be greatly appreciated. You can email heather.bleemers@lacity.org using the Subject Line: Case No. TT-72928-CN-1A urging retention of Studio City’s oldest extant home, one of the last vestiges of the gentlemen farms created by the subdividing of the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company. Without your support, a witness to the vast evolution of the San Fernando Valley could be itself erased from history.

Note: This is an encore post from 2013.

The Hollywoodland housing development possessed many unique features when it opened in 1923. The neighborhood was the first themed housing development built on hillsides, the first to include a shopping center in its environs, and the first to house an art gallery. While the developers planned the first two elements on their own, the art gallery came into existence because of the dream of its builder, John F. Kanst. Kanst was Los Angeles’ veteran established art dealer when he bought land on Mulholland Highway to construct his dream home and art space.

Kanst arrived in Los Angeles in 1895 at the age of 32 intent on teaching the finer points of art to the public, training them to recognize and appreciate great works to buy for decoration of their homes. He arrived at a time when most people hung “chromos” or copies on their walls instead of original works. Kanst began buying paintings from Southern California artists and slowly began the process of educating the public about what art was and why it was important. As he would state, “An original painting of good quality is a living presence in the home.”

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

To fund this ambition, Kanst joined a man named McClellan in 1896 to establish a proprietorship called the McClellan-Kanst Co. that offered framing, moldings, mirrors, and yes, pictures, to the public as a manufacturer and jobber. The company also sold little gifts and novelties at their store on 111-113-115 Winston St., opposite the Main Street post office.

In March 1907, Kanst bought out McClellan to establish his own company at 642 S. Spring St. called Kanst Art Co. He continued some of the same practices as he slowly began buying original watercolors and oil paintings and selling them. As he struggled through that first year, Kanst hustled for business by buying ads announcing he was cutting prices and even framing postal cards. In certain ways, Kanst was like Lamps Plus, always holding a sale. Kanst’s finances weren’t helped in 1909 when employee Allen J. Harvey was arrested and later sentenced to five years’ probation for taking paintings from the store.

Kanst sold off a large number of paintings in 1910 to travel to Europe for an art tour. When he returned, he began speaking to clubs and groups such as the California Art Club and Art Students League, as well as local women’s meetings. Kanst lectured on how dealers could educate and inform clients to improve their taste in art, as mentioned in an April 10, 1910, Los Angeles Times article. “In a land so new as our own, where deep culture is a rare quantity, the dealer has, in fact, to conduct a sort of ‘general store,’ where everyone may choose to suit his advancement; but where at the same time there will be some of the best for those who appreciate it.”

The gallery owner mentioned a buyer who began buying “commercial” pictures from a proprietor who sold copies. As the eye and taste of the collector grew, he moved from watercolors to oils and eventually to original works by local painters. Kanst also lectured on how architects needed to design more wall space in homes on which art could be hung.

As Los Angeles Times columnist Arthur Miller wrote in Kanst’s 1933 obituary, “Kanst believed art expressed refined taste but also was one of the best investments a home owner could make.” It also helped create an atmosphere and impression of culture.
The Friday Morning Club arranged with Kanst to hold an exhibit of American painters in November 1910, starting his practice of regular openings, both here and at his new Pasadena location at Hotel Green in 1911. Another regular practice arose that year when he began hosting auctions of artwork, mostly for those who had to liquidate their holdings. By 1913, Kanst was listed in “Who’s Who on the Pacific Coast” and later the “San Francisco Blue Book.”

Kanst required a larger space for all his many activities, and in February 1915, moved to 826 S. Hill St. to a two-story brick office building constructed by Mrs. Susanna Van Nuys and designed by Morgan, Wells, & Morgan. One room at the new location functioned as gallery for serious art, another as store and gathering place, as Kanst held lectures and other social functions there. Kanst preached that Southern California would become the center of the art world in 20 years, though he was off by a few decades.

Kanst also provided artwork for a model bungalow in the Walnut Park development of Huntington Park in December 1917 as a way to sell his business. He needed it, because selling original art was a slow growing proposition. In 1917 and again in 1919, Kanst auctioned all of his paintings to pay his bills. This latter sale included Japanese chinoiserie and an Albert Bierstadt painting.
The cultural maven also provided a literary and cultural salon for Los Angeles’ residents, adding occasional meetings of the Drama League of America in 1921, and book talks and recitals in 1922. Unfortunately, money troubles caught up with him again in the fall 1923, and Kanst auctioned his works, moving his gallery to 2875 W. 7th St.

Kanst read many articles in 1923 about an exclusive housing development rising in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Hollywood Hills, with elegant homes possessing gorgeous views of Los Angeles and surrounding areas. He was hooked. In 1924, Kanst purchased property at 6182 Mulholland Highway to construct his long-held dream, a beautiful gallery located in an elegant home. Hollywoodland main architect John L. De Lario and Harbin F. Hunter designed a simple but lovely Spanish Revival home that accentuated its knockout views.

Arthur Miller noted in the Oct. 22, 1933, Los Angeles Times, “It was a favorite device of Mr. Kanst’s, after showing his guests the paintings, which, of course, they really came to see, to draw aside a curtain and astonish them with what he deemed his finest picture – the vast view below and beyond his house.” Kanst gladly provided  a similar quote to Hollywoodland developers which they employed in their 1925 sales booklet.

Not only was this home the first one in Hollywoodland constructed on Mulholland Highway, but also the first residence in Los Angeles County built on the road.

In this gallery, Kanst exhibited the work of artist Charles M. Russell and many other recognized artists. Chicago illustrator and painter Joseph Birren arrived in May 1925 for a monthlong exhibit of his work. While in Hollywoodland, Birren painted three works documenting the area, “Lake Hollywood,” “Mulholland Dam,” and “Hollywoodland,” which were later exhibited there in 1926. I spoke with the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010 about them while researching “Hollywoodland,” and the museum could find no records that they have ever come up for auction. Only an illustration of “Hollywoodland” exists in the Nov. 14, 1926 edition of The Los Angeles Times.

Besides operating his gallery, Kanst continued educating the public through talks at clubs as well as loaning paintings for display in the Art Committee Room 351 in City Hall in April 1928.

Kanst’s Mulholland Highway home was a difficult place to reach unless one owned a sturdy car, so sometime in 1932 Kanst moved his gallery to 3349 Wilshire Blvd.  He held an exhibit of masters like Reynolds, Corot, Inness, and Moran here late that year. Unfortunately health and financial issues forced him to sell all the paintings from the Wilshire gallery on Feb. 28, 1933.

Sadly, on Sept. 11, 1933, John F. Kanst passed away, and was laid to rest at Rosedale Cemetery. Miller’s Times Sept. 17 obituary noted that many of the best established artists gained their first exhibits with him, and that Kanst probably sold more paintings in Southern California than anyone. He acknowledged Kanst as one of Los Angeles’ best art educators as well. Kanst’s widow, Lura M. Kanst, vowed to carry on the gallery at her Mulholland Highway home, but no ads or stories ever appeared again about it.

940 N. Highland Ave. via Google Street View.

Long a striking icon on Highland Avenue, 940 N. Highland Avenue’s attractive facade highlights the building’s original use as a dog and cat hospital. Simple and elegant, its sleek modernistic look hints at streamline moderne with its horizontal window and door lines, as stylish now as it looked at its 1930 opening.

Veterinarian Dr. Alexander (Alex) Moxley purchased the property to expand his veterinary practice beyond his 1410 E. Washington Blvd. office location. Born November 2, 1888 in Missouri, Moxley arrived in Los Angeles around 1910, as he and his wife Helen are listed in the 1910 U. S. census as living in Los Angeles. The 1910 Los Angeles city directory lists his veterinary practice at 528 S. San Pedro St. In 1912 his business is located at 1900 S. Central Ave., where he was also operating an auction house. Moxley had some renown, as a wire photo ran in multiple newspapers showing him operating on a zoo elephant. The 1917 directory lists his veterinary business at 1410 E. Washington Blvd.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

July 27, 1915: The Los Angeles Herald publishes a story about Dr. Alex Moxley operating on an elephant.

On March 17, 1930, Ted R. Cooper Company, acting as both architect and contractor, pulled a permit to construct a two story stucco building at 940 N. Highland Ave. to serve as dog kennels. A March 20 permit states they will build a steel frame marquee over the entrance to the dog kennel.

City directories list the Moxleys living at the address as well, meaning that the second floor served as an apartment. A June 30, 1952 Los Angeles Times article mentions that vet Dr. Vance Hall shot intruder Harold Keen with his .22 caliber pistol four times after finding Keen in the apartment at 3 a.m. on June 29 and then attempting to flee. Keen said he merely wanted to “see my dog.”

Moxley’s son Elmer began assisting with the business around 1940, which they occasionally also listed in the Westwood city directory. Moxley is last associated with 940 N. Highland Ave. in the 1942 Los Angeles city directory, and by 1945, he is conducting business at a vet at 7912 Sepulveda Blvd. in Van Nuys. He died in Tulare on July 17, 1951.

Sometime in the 1940s to 1950s, Dr. Paul C. Lockhart takes over the business at 940 N. Highland. Born November 5, 1896, in Iowa, Lockhart and his wife arrived in Los Angeles by the late 1930s. He operated a veterinary practice at 945 N. Fairfax Avenue before the move to Highland.

Lockhart applied for an alteration permit with Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety on November 3, 1959, asking for a permit to construct a neon sign of a Dalmatian dog to sit atop the business. The permit notes that Electrical Products Corporation will construct an “illuminated double face sign of non-combustible material used throughout.” The permit includes a drawing illustrating the look of the dog to grace the building. It appears that prior to the neon sign construction, a papier mache dog sat atop the building, as the permit so notes.

It appears that the structure remained a veterinary practice through 1986, when it served as the Dog and Cat Studios per building permits. 1990 permits begin referring to it as an office building, and alteration permits from that year state that the first floor will see demolition and reconstruction for offices. By the late 1980s, entertainment related companies begin occupying the structure.

Though no longer a veterinary building, 940 N. Highland Ave.’s 1959 iconic neon dog sign atop it reflects the building’s original function. Both it and the stylish facade offer a glamorous presence to that stretch of Highland Avenue.

A postcard of the Hillview Apartment Building, from the California State Library.

Long an elegant sight on Hollywood Boulevard, the Hillview Apartment Building’s (now the Hollywood Hudson Apartments) central location in Hollywood and its graceful look attracted entertainers of all fields looking for a comfortable but stylish home. Almost 100 years old, the structure still operates as an apartment building for those trying to climb the rungs of the Hollywood entertainment ladder.

Hollywood functioned mostly as a sleepy little farming community until the moving picture industry discovered it in the 1910s, turning the burg into a busy industrial center by the early 1920s. Movie-struck people from around the country poured into the community hoping to gain their fame in the Hollywood game. As the town grew, its main street, Prospect Avenue, filled with stately Victorian mansions and parks, evolved into the commercially driven Hollywood Boulevard. Between 1915-1935, Hollywood Boulevard between Argyle Avenue and El Centro functioned as the film industry’s main street, a prime shooting location, entertainment center, and shopping mecca.

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The Hillview, 6553 Hollywood Blvd., via Google Street View, 2009.

Originally a real estate office, 6533 Hollywood Blvd. was purchased by William F. Tifal, who requested a permit from the Los Angeles Planning Department on April 30, 1917, to construct a four story apartment building with brick walls. Tifal and his brothers Charles and Gustav owned a construction company downtown. He soon started what seems to be a never ending process for the building: turnover of ownership as well as turnover of address, ranging from 6529 to 6533 Hollywood Blvd. It appears that the lot sat empty until 1920, when new owners H. Goldman, S. Rabinovitz and Famous Players-Lasky co-founder Jesse L. Lasky decided to complete the project.

They pulled a building permit on June 29, 1920 to “complete and finish a 4-story tenement house” according to previous plans, but converting an office into storage and reducing the size of closets by adding built-ins, under the direction of contractor Halton Brown. Worked included furnishing pipe to drain water. Because of its central Hollywood location and special amenities, one can assume that the owners hoped to attract successful stage and film people from the East Coast looking for a new home in the thriving moving picture community.

The new Hillview Apartments announced their opening with a large advertisement in the November 13, 1920, Los Angeles Herald, with a lovely illustration of the striking Mediterranean Revival building listing “restricted exclusive apartment homes.” These were not just apartments for lease; individuals could also purchase units to live in or as an investment on the co-operative plan. The ad pointed out its central location in Hollywood near schools, churches, theatres, and streetcars and that every apartment on the second through fourth floors possessed great views of Hollywood. The prime location on Hollywood Boulevard adjacent to the streetcar line served as a major plus for those without automobiles.

The Hillview in the Los Angeles Herald, Nov. 13, 1920.

Apartments cost anywhere from $16 to $24 a month for purchase, or $125 to $200 a month to rent, pretty steep for those days. Owners would put 25% down and pay 1% each month towards the purchase price, with down payments starting at $4,000. Most units ranged from two to four rooms, wih each unit containing its own bath. The Hillview possessed outstanding, up-to-date amenities like writing room, ballroom, billiard room, large parlor lobby, ladies’ waiting room, dressing rooms with mirrors, breakfast nook, steam heat, incinerators, refrigerators, automatic elevators, French doors, indirect electric lighting, large closets, hardwood floor with carpet optional, artistic decorations, and interior finish of mahogany or ivory. Apartments featured built-in ironing board, medicine cabinet, and breakfast table and seats.

On December 30 of that year, operating under the name Hillview Apartments, the owners requested a permit for Haupt Construction Company and Trifell Brothers’ architects to install a sprinkler system, drainage, and adjust a store area near the entrance. Southwest Builder and Contractor also lists that Haupt Construction Co. will be repairing 6529 Hollywood Blvd.

By July 1921 Herman Fisher becomes the owner, and he hired architect Charles Plummer to add new plumbing and work on drainage and by October 28, 1921, permits list G. Norman as owner. J. M. Neland served as owner for a period of time in 1922 and E. H. Bransatter became the new owner in 1923.

Stores begin opening in the lobby of the building to serve its successful clientele in 1921. Cawston Ostrich Farms operated a branch of their successful fashion line here, and City Dye Works opened a dry cleaning business that remained open for more than 10 years. Smith and Sons ran a shoe repair store for a short time, and the Mensa Hungarian Restaurant served meals for a period of time beginning in 1929 as well. City Directories list Mrs. Nellie Deering as manager of the building from 1923-1925.

Evelyn Brent films closeups while living at the Hillview because she is too ill to come to the studio, Exhibitor’s Trade Review, Sept. 1, 1923.

Reaching out further to the moving picture crowd, the Hillview Apartments announced the opening of the Hillview Grill with an ad in the May 12, 1923 issue of Camera under the management of Mrs. Ella Klumb. Prominently mentioned that the restaurant operates “Especially for Motion Picture People, the ad lists Mrs. Klumb’s wide experience and the delicious home-cooked meals the cafe offers. Service included a merchant’s lunch from 11:30 am to 2 pm and dinner from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. Unfortunately the Grill operated only a few years.

Film folk flocked to the building. Fan magazines list such people as Mae Busch, Viola Dana, Alice Lake, Evelyn Brent, and Billie Dove living in the Hillview. Motion Picture magazine in a May 1922 story mentions interviewing Lake and Dana in the lobby of the structure, and the September 1, 1923 Exhibitor’s Trade Review displays a photo of a cameraman shooting closeups of Miss Brent in her room for the Metro film “Held to Answer” when doctors forbade her to going to the studios when ill. They claimed that the six close-ups required to finish the film and shot in the apartment represent the first of its kind in completing a picture.

Many films shot around the apartment building thanks to its location on Hollywood Boulevard. Comedian Lloyd Hamilton shot scenes for “My Stars” on the street near the building in 1926. Robert Florey’s 1936 film “Hollywood Boulevard” features the building in its location shots around the film center. Newsreels and other films probably showed it in tracking shots and drives down the boulevard as well.

As the studios begin moving away from the heart of Hollywood, businesses all along Hollywood Boulevard suffered, and the city began its slow decline. Film people begin moving into their own homes in the hills and away from the Boulevard, with the Hillview losing its more successful clientele. By the mid-1930s, most residents appear to be mostly long term residents and more middle/bottom rung performers, with some even taking out ads announcing that they offer singing/voice/music lessons out of their apartments. Doria Ball Weaver’s February 9, 1930 advertisement in the Los Angeles Times states that she is taking voice pupils between films.

In the 1940s, the Hillview operated as much as business locations as home locations, with ads and listings in the city directory showing this trend. A listing in the February 18, 1945 Los Angeles Times reported that the USO operated out of the building’s basement. A July 16, 1947, building permit reveals that Mills Music Publishing would alter apartment #202 into an office. Music publishers, optometrists, chiropractors, composers, and the like run ads in Billboard, trade magazines, and newspapers. The American Hospital Association rented a space to offer free diphtheria shots for a month in 1948. Possibly to help its own business prospects, owners requested a permit on August 7, 1950 to install a neon sign atop the building.

Long term residents also begin dying in the late 1930s and 1940s. Composer Harry Cokayne died in his residence in November 1938. Madame Cecille Lorraine, an opera singer who sang at a command performance for Queen Victoria, died in her apartment February 13, 1941.

Just as the permits announce changes in ownership, they also reveal lack of care, caused by foolish handling of cigarettes or hot plates. Owners pulled a 1936 permit to repair fire damage on the first floor. In 1947, another permit is pulled to repair fire damage in apartment 205, followed by repair work for fire in 1949.

Los Angeles Times, May 8, 1921: An ad for Cawston Ostrich Farm includes a location at the Hillview.

Police arrested tenant William Francis Paul on March 9, 1962, after Mary Pickford reported that her former butler had absconded with a 25 carat sapphire ring given her by Douglas Fairbanks. In court, Paul testified that he merely took the ring to Zurich, Switzerland to obtain a correct appraisal, but unfortunately the newspaper does not reveal the ending to the case.

By the late 1980s-early 1990s, the Hillview declined into a shabby shadow of itself along with the rest of Hollywood Boulevard, as drug dealers and transients took over the area. Mostly elderly residents lived in the building, which suffered major damage from subway construction, the Northridge earthquake, and an arson fire. Under the threat of possible demolition, new owner Jeffrey Rouze rehabilitated and renovated the building and reopened it as the Hillview Apartments on July 14, 2005, recognizing the distinguished history of the structure. Forced into foreclosure due to poor business, new ownership took over in 2010, before another change a few years later. They too attempted restaurants and a speak easy in the building, which failed to catch on.

Pretty in pink, the Hollywood Hudson Apartment building still provides a lovely look back at Hollywood’s glorious past, when Hollywood Boulevard reigned as one of the world’s most important streets.

Note: This is an encore post from 2012.

Buster Keaton seemed to have it all in the mid-1920s. His career was riding high, as the public loved his film comedies, making him one of America’s top film personalities. He had a beautiful wife, Natalie Talmadge, and two lovely boys, though the public didn’t know that behind the scenes, the marriage was shaky. All he needed was a grand house to complete the image of the successful gentleman.

The Keatons first built a nice though average size home that Natalie considered too small for the family and staff once completed. After selling it off, Buster began planning an elaborate estate for his wife, one to rival that of her more successful sisters Norma and  Constance, as well as top stars Harold Lloyd and Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford.

Keaton’s home in a display ad, Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1927

The Keatons bought land at 1004 Hartford Way in Beverly Hills, and hired architect Gene Verge as architect. Verge designed homes around Los Angeles, as well as schools, churches, and club buildings, mostly in the Italian Renaissance or Spanish style. The Jan. 3, 1926, Los Angeles Times stated that Verge had drawn plans for a home to cost around $200,000 in the Italian Renaissance style, with “spacious forecourt,…terraces, cascade dropping from a height of fifty feet to the pool beneath…extensive grounds will have room for tennis, archery and numerous other sports.” Supposedly Keaton’s special effects man Fred Gabourie lent assistance to the project.

The 10,000-square-foot home named “the Italian Villa” by Keaton was completed in late 1926 at a cost of $300,000 per Marc Wanamaker in his “Early Beverly Hills” book. The house contained 20 rooms over three acres, with a pool, tennis court, guest house, and a small shed in back where Buster would cut his films as well as store his own private film prints. Detailing included painted ceiling beams in the dining room, wrought ironwork for staircases, and an elaborate, motorized movie screen that retracted into the screening room wall when not in use.

A long driveway ended in a circular forecourt and fountain in front of the estate’s grilled ironwork door. The sunken entrance gallery led up a few steps to a fountain, with large salon-like rooms opening off each side. Off to the right was the large screening room and drawing room, with small music room off to one side. A family room off the screening room functioned as card and billiard room. A dining room and salon opened off the other side of the gallery, and a glass enclosed patio occupied the rear of the house. Beautiful gardens lay just outside the windows.

Natalie’s personal bedroom suite occupied almost the entire west wing, while Buster made do with just a small bedroom.

As Marion Meade states in “Buster Keaton: Cut to the Chase,” “On the knoll of a hill, overlooking a rolling lawn, the pale green stucco mansion rose like a fifteenth-century suburban house transplanted from the Venetian countryside. Against a backdrop of cypresses and palms a staircase of exactly sixty steps descended to a thirty-foot Romanesque swimming pool, flanked by classical nude statues and inlaid with mosaic tiles. The steep terraces had been landscaped by a gardener who once worked for Pope Pius X11.”

Meade also states that the grounds included a trout stream winding through the property could be “turned on and off at the push of a button.”

Buster was proud of his home, proudly showing it off in his film, “Parlor, Bedroom and Bath” in 1931.

By the 1930s, the Keaton marriage was in serious trouble. In April 1932, Buster took his sons and their nurse flying to San Diego to visit an Encinitas Ranch. Natalie and her sister Constance Talmadge rushed to Dist. Atty. Buron Fitts’ office, asking him to have police meet the plane in San Diego and bring the children back. When interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, Buster claimed, “I only took the boys on the plane trip to show who wears the trousers in our house…I just wanted to see who’s boss.”

Natalie Keaton finally filed for divorce in July 1932, with the official end of the marriage in August.

She was awarded the home in the divorce settlement, but soon sold it. Various celebrities lived there over the years, including Barbara Hutton and Cary Grant and Marlene Dietrich.

In 1949, owner John Reynolds Owens died, and the entire estate was auctioned off, furniture and all. Actor James Mason successfully negotiated down the price of the house from around $200,000 to under $100,000, but to help finance costs, some of the acreage was subdivided, including the lovely stairs cascading to the pool. They made alterations inside, as had former owners. In later years, Pamela Mason, who won the home in a divorce settlement with James, deferred maintenance, shutting the doors and not entering rooms which needed major work. She eventually sold it to buyers who restored old estates. After more than two years’ work, they sold to the current owners.

Much has been restored in the home, with a false ceiling removed in the dining room, revealing the beautiful painted ceiling beams. A room has been added off the screening room, matching the wooded paneling and beams almost exactly.

The Los Angeles Conservancy featured a tour of the home and grounds Saturday, Oct. 6, 2012, as an elaborate fundraiser. Participants were allowed to tour the entire first floor of the home, projection room, grounds, and the exterior of the shed, where Mason found much of Keaton’s films. The grounds once again resemble those of an Italian villa, with paths leading to small nooks and private areas. Outdoor seating areas offer places of respite and beauty. Walking through the home, one could almost feel Buster making a sandwich in the kitchen and taking it with him to his large screening room, where he could watch rushes of his films or see a completed work. A lovely home and monument to an incredibly talented man.

The opening of “King of Kings at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Photo courtesy of Bruce Torrence.

Still ready for its close-up, the TCL Chinese Theatre, originally Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, turns 90 on May 18, looking as glamorous and exotic as when it premiered on Hollywood Boulevard in 1927. Under construction for almost 16 months, the Chinese Theatre stands as perhaps legendary theatre impresario Sid Grauman’s ultimate masterpiece, a fabulous moving picture palace that outshines virtually anything produced by the Hollywood studio system.

While not the first film theatre devised and built by visionary Grauman, the Chinese Theatre represents the pinnacle of motion picture theatre construction, an atmospheric pleasure dome for the senses which still overwhelms with its unique beauty. Opening just two years before the start of the Great Depression, the theatre stands as a fascinating concoction of hallucinatory dream and kitsch, the ultimate symbol of success for those hoping to make it in motion picture business. Like the Hollywood Sign, the theatre acts as an iconic symbol for the city in which it was created, drawing people from around the globe hoping to soak up just a tiny bit of its special stardust.

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Sid Grauman, Charlie Chaplin, Norma Talmadge, Conrad Nagel and Anna Mae Wong were among the celebrities at the groundbreaking for the Chinese Theatre. Photo courtesy of Bruce Torrence.

The Chinese Theatre sprang out of the imagination of inquisitive Sid Grauman. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana March 17, 1879, Grauman and his family immigrated westward in search of fame and fortune in entertainment. Ending up in Dawson City, Alaska during the 1890s gold strike, the Graumans survived by providing shows to lonely miners before making it to San Francisco and opening small theatres before the Great Earthquake of 1906 destroyed them. Quick on his feet, Sid located a moving picture projector and began showing films in a tent. The family quickly prospered and acquired several film theatres around the area before Sid decided to seek his fortune in the western motion picture capital, Los Angeles.

Obtaining finance through partnering with Famous Players-Lasky, who purchased the family’s San Francisco chain of theatres, the Graumans purchased the Rialto and constructed their first elaborate moving picture theatre in downtown Los Angeles in 1918, the Million Dollar. Sid introduced what became to be his calling card, the world famous “Prologues,” which combined dance, singing, and showmanship to provide a thematic introduction to the films. Over the next nine years, Grauman would go on to open other elaborate theatres, including the Metropolitan and his first Hollywood showplace, the Egyptian Theatre, the site of his first grand Hollywood premieres.

An early postcard of the Chinese Theatre.

By 1924, Grauman had sold his interest in the downtown theatres to Famous Players-Lasky and concentrated his full attention in Hollywood, running the Egyptian and conceiving of new schemes before selling out the Egyptian to West Coast Theatres but continuing management. The January, 22, 1924 Hollywood Daily Citizen reported that Grauman had relinquished control of the downtown theatres and planned to open two new elaborate theatres in Los Angeles and one in Long Beach to realize long time dreams “to compete with any cinema palace in the country.” Grauman departed for a long European vacation to visit theatres.

His long percolating idea began taking shape that fall. The September 23, 1924 Exhibitors Trade Review stated that master showman Grauman intended to construct a 2,500 seat theatre in Los Angeles. On November 2 in Chicago, he announced plans to construct a new Hollywood theatre to cost approximately $2 million. Thanks to the help of renowned Hollywood real estate man C. E. Toberman, Grauman had obtained property at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. between Sycamore and Orange, and obtained a demolition permit on July 19, 1924 to remove the L. C. Jones residence, which has also been purported to be the residence of Francis X. Bushman.

For the next year, Grauman bided his time, lining up financing and working with architect Raymond Kennedy of Meyer and Holler to devise a fantastical design. Meyer and Holler had designed the gorgeous Egyptian, and logically worked on the Chinese as well. Main architect Kennedy focused on the more delicate Chippendale style of Chinese architecture, as well as more imaginative designs.

Sid Grauman, who followed the Million-Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles with the Egyptian and then the Chinese.

As usual, financing and construction matters took longer than anticipated to transpire. Film Daily announced Grauman’s elaborate plans to document construction on September 6, 1925. Grandstands would be constructed to allow journalists and the public to observe concrete pouring for the foundation, with a jazz band and other divertissements providing entertainment.

On October 13, 1925, Film Daily reported the formation of Grauman’s Greater Hollywood Theatre Inc. in Sacramento under the partnership of Grauman, United Artists executive Joseph Schenck, and producer Sol Lesser with $1 million in financing. The November 21, 1925 Moving Picture World called forthcoming construction of the Chinese Theatre “to make the finest palace of entertainment on earth… .” To creatively get things going, steel for the theatre’s trusses was feted at the new McClintic Marshall Company plant in south Los Angeles on Armistice Day, with Grauman and Chinese American actress Anna May Wong posing for photographs.

By December, financing plans had been finalized, with ownership split evenly between Grauman, Schenck, and West Coast Theatres in the construction of the Class A Theatre for $900,000. The December 16, 1925 Variety reported that Banks, Huntley and Co. submitted a $450,000 bond issue for the theatre, with some reports stating that the theatre would cost into the millions of dollars.

The foyer of the Chinese Theatre.

Newspapers across the country splashed stories regarding the elaborate groundbreaking at 7 pm on Tuesday, January 5, 1926, with 10,000 people coming to watch. Master showman Grauman lined up MGM actor Conrad Nagel as master of ceremonies, with Chinese bands and acrobats and prologue dancers from the Egyptian Theatres’ “The Big Parade” to perform in an elaborately staged Oriental garden flooded by spotlights and decorated with Chinese lanterns and banners. Chinese tea, cakes, and candy were served, before the ringing of large gongs announced the ceremony’s beginning.

Anna May Wong once again participated, this time in support of actress Norma Talmadge, Schenck’s wife. Talmadge lifted the first spadeful of dirt with a golden shovel and then pulled a level of a giant steam shovel to start excavation work. Thousands of exploding Chinese firecrackers completed the ceremony. Celebrities such as Louis B. Mayer, Schenck, A. P. Giannini, Charlie Chaplin, William Farrell of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and Dr. Wong Fook of the Chinese community attended, per wire reports.

A detail of one of the murals in the theater.

The February 6, 1926 Moving Picture World described construction plans for the 2,500 seat theatre, with an Oriental garden planned for the forecourt, and forty foot tall walls protecting it. The 40’ x 140’ stage would be one of the largest in the world, surrounded by a 65 foot tall proscenium arch. Fanciful Chinese sculpture and design would decorate interiors. Ticket prices for the flamboyant theatre would range from $1.65 to $2.50 and include Grauman’s legendary prologue before the two a day screenings. United Artists would now operate the theatre, as part of an original idea between Grauman, Schenck, and Shubert Theatres to open a chain of 22 movie palaces across the country. The Chinese would play top end “run” pictures intended to play for weeks or even months.

Grauman pulled his first permit March 29, 1926 for the theatre, with estimates of 109 tons of reinforced steel and 7,400 bbls of cement required for construction. Additional permits were pulled on July 16, to increase the size of the orchestra pit, stage doors, and for other alterations. The June 7 Los Angeles Times estimated that 800 tons of steel would be required for construction. On March 25, 1927, Electrical Products Corporation pulled permits to erect two vertical electrical signs.

While the Chinese was under construction, Grauman and Schenck joined with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and others to finance the building of the Roosevelt Hotel across the street, intended to serve as the abode for stars participating in premiere or special events at the Chinese. The Roosevelt opened shortly before the theatre.

Director Cecil B. De Mille at the premiere of “King of Kings,” the film that opened the Chinese.

Construction deadlines evolved over time, with optimistic projections of opening in late 1926 continually pushed back until May 18, 1927. In October 1926, Liu Yu Clung, a renowned Chinese scholar, appeared to examine approximately 46 models of statuary planned as decoration, all constructed by the model shop on the property devised by Meyer and Holler in order to study lighting and effect work.

On February 12, director Cecil B. DeMille and Grauman signed an agreement for “King of Kings” to receive its West Coast premiere at the opening of the theatre as work moved madly forward to reach May completion. By March, Grauman was ensuring secrecy on decoration by posting guards and barriers to prevent people from seeing the facade until the grand opening.

On April 30, 1927, Sid Grauman hosted America’s Sweetheart Mary Pickford and dashing action hero Douglas Fairbanks in the first hand and footprint ceremony in the theatre’s forecourt, with photos sent by wire across country. Grauman announced that he hoped to obtain the prints of Hollywood’s major stars to decorate the theatre’s exterior before the theatre’s opening, but only Norma Talmadge’s ceremony beat the May 18 premiere.

Motion Picture News saluted Grauman on May 11, 1927 for the upcoming opening of the Chinese. They noted how Grauman was the first to recognize the importance of the organist in accompanying silent films, the first to introduce trousered usherettes, the first to use the overhead spot, creating the prologue, and the like.

Grauman’s Chinese was featured in Variety.

Hollywood businesses joined in to celebrate the Chinese Theatre’s opening. The May 13 Los Angeles Times noted that the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and its Retail Merchants’ Bureau heartily joined in, hoping to promote their own businesses with a week long list of celebrations. Each agreed to decorate their own buildings, street lamps, electric poles, cafes, hotels, and the like in Chinese decoration, along with street parades, floats, night celebrations, bands, orchestras, and all street lights the length of Hollywood Boulevard in the main business district to be turned into Chinese lanterns for the week. A gigantic dragon more than several hundred feet long would also take part in the parade.

The Wednesday, May 18 ceremony sold out within two days of its announcement at $11 per ticket, one of the highest ever. It dazzled the thousands of people outside the theatre, 22,000 lining the sidewalks 10 deep. Huge spotlights crisscrossed the sky as stars arrived for the grand opening to walk the red carpet and be interviewed by radio. A veritable Who’s Who of Hollywood participated in the grand ceremonies, included the Chinese actor Sojin and San Francisco Mayor James Rolph.

A gorgeous color program promoted the theatre’s opening and the “King of Kings” premiere. Striking Oriental drawings decorated the pages, along with detailed and hyperbolic descriptions of the theatre. A pagoda like box office sat in the forecourt with bronze roof aged to the color of green jade to match that of the main theatre. Stone dragons and statues graced the exterior walls of the theatre, with the massive front doors flanked by gigantic red lacquer columns. The 2,200 seat auditorium “gives the impression of entering a gigantic shrine of the time of the Five Emperors…” and a giant chandelier in the form of a Chinese lantern hung in the massive lobby.

Mary Pickford waves from a biplane promoting Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

The fireproof curtain was described as replicating twin doors of an immense lacquered cabinet, opening to a stage four times the size of the average Los Angeles theatre. Power and lighting for stage shows operated from its own power plant. Furnishings were provided by Barker Bros. Oriental shop, including cow horn lanterns. Per the May 11 Variety, “The decorating scheme of the house is a color symphony based on the dominating color of Chinese art, red, interpreted in ruby, crimson, pale scarlet and coral lacquer, with complementary hues to to provide contrasting values… .”

Before the prologue, director Fred Niblo introduced D. W. Griffith as master of ceremonies, who then introduced director Cecil B. DeMille to describe the film. MPPDA director Will Hays said a few words before introducing Mary Pickford, who rang a bell to announce the curtain and start the prologue, which was supposed to start at 8:30 pm, but started late to arrivals having difficulty wading through the crowds. 200 people participated in the “Glories of the Scriptures” prologue, accompanied by the Chinese 100 piece orchestra, and Pryce Dunlavy Jr. at the mighty Wurlitzer organ, performing the score created by Dr. Hugo Reisenfeld. The 24 minute prologue focused on events in the Old Testament and included a dance sequence by Theodore Kosloff and his dancers and 125 performers for the first scene alone.

In the August 13, 1933, Lee Side of L.A. column, the otherworldly nature of a Grauman house was described. “…When you enter a Grauman house, you know you are leaving the world of reality behind and entering the world of make believe.” Still a stupendous achievement in architecture and atmospheric design, Grauman’s Chinese still enthralls all who enter its doors in search of superior and wondrous motion picture entertainment.
Hollywood Heritage will host a 90th anniversary celebration of the Chinese Theatre on May 1. Tickets are $20 to $50.

Superimposed photograph showing the Bank of Hollywood building as it will appear with the completion of the 12-story annex, photo courtesy of Mary Mallory.

One of Hollywood’s first height limit buildings, the lovely Equitable Building, has proudly stood at the northeast corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street for over 88 years. Built in two parts over two years at the start of the Great Depression, architect Aleck Curlett’s gorgeous building stands as one of Hollywood’s architectural treasures.

Various small businesses operated at the address 6253 Hollywood Blvd. and on the block long before the Equitable arose, showing the evolution of Hollywood and its world famous Boulevard, which began life as Prospect Avenue, from small town street to major business hub and center. J.F. Kent built a residence at 6251 Hollywood Blvd. per an October 25, 1912 building permit. On June 5, 1913, Clara Holt obtained a permit to construct a one-story brick building on the lot to hold several stores, with the permit estimating a cost of $6,000. From 1917-1923 at least, Ida Fortwengler operated a hairdressing business in the building. In 1924, new owners Foster and Kleiser obtained a permit to erect a metal sign atop the building after reinforcing it.

Hollywood at Play, by Donovan Brandt, Mary Mallory and Stephen X. Sylvester is now on sale.

The entrance to the Equitable Building, courtesy of Water and Power Associates.

In late 1926, the Bank of Hollywood took over the location, after changing their name from Central Commercial and Savings Bank. The Board of Directors, composed of such people as actor Jean Hersholt, pioneer film producer J. Stuart Blackton, and drugstore chain magnate, Sam Kress, owner of multiple outlets of Kress Department stores, considered the name more forward thinking, taking it on years after Hollywood’s first bank by the same name went out of business because of fraud. That original bank reopened under the name First National Bank.

A demolition permit was pulled March 21, 1928, to remove the home at 6251 Hollywood Blvd., and another was pulled July 25 to demolish the store building. Hollywood Central Building Corporation, owned by G. K. Dexter and Kress, purchased the property, announcing in the August 30, 1928, Los Angeles Times that they proposed building a 12-story height limit building at the site, with the Bank of Hollywood occupying the first floor. 187 feet tall at its highest point, the building would be named the Bank of Hollywood Building, with the current bank agreeing to the demolition and new construction.

The owner’s September 18 building permit listed Aleck Curlett, designer of such buildings as the Los Angeles Elks’ Lodge #99 and Merchants Bank, as architect for the construction of a reinforced concrete and terra cotta building, with composition roof and concrete with cement finish floors. A penthouse on the roof would feature a copper roof over concrete. The permit estimated a cost of $350,000 to build one tower of 200 rooms immediately adjacent to the corner. Construction estimates included 210 tons of steel and 4600 Bbl of concrete. The October 8 permit for the project lists Scofel/Twaits Engineering Corporation as contractor, noting that the first floor would include a bank vault, a mezzanine, marble and linoleum floors, as well as cabinetry. California Electric Sign Company took out a permit April 1, 1929 to build a $900 sign atop the building.

Sept. 30, 1928: An artist’s rendering of the Bank of Hollywood Building.

The first tower opened May 28, 1929, now under the ownership of Hollywood Holding Co., the new name of Dexter and Kress’s concern. It contained what could be considered the first ATM, with a safe attached to the building allowing customers to make deposits even after closing. Upscale businesses such as investment companies, doctors, dentists, real estate firms, and attorneys moved into the new facility, located at one of Hollywood’s most prominent locations. Fanchon Royer of the renowned dance team Fanchon and Marco even leased an office in the fledgling building. Thanks to city efforts to widen major streets to help traffic flow in the area, Vine Street now served as one of Hollywood’s most important thoroughfares.

The Bank of Hollywood Building thrived throughout 1929 and into 1930, even with the stock market crash and plummeting of the economy. What The Times called the world’s largest sign was unveiled March 18, a neon sign 50 x 43, with lit letters standing up to 27 feet tall. The article estimated that the piece of land had skyrocketed in worth by more than 27,000% since 1919, thanks to Hollywood’s booming construction business, the worth of the valuable location, and the beauty of the new building. Building on their investment, owners announced plans in the April 5, 1930, Los Angeles Times for the construction of a second twelve-story L-shaped building at the site, joining together with the first tower to create a new U-shaped structure. June 13, 1930, plans included creating an arcade north of the building which would connect with a planned hotel at the site, which never saw the light of day. Owners estimated this new tower of 320 rooms to cost $5,000,00 and open by December 28, 1930.

Beginning construction June 1 over the existing one story reinforced structure at the site, builders rolled with the punches regarding tenants and owners. The Bank of Hollywood suspended operations December 9, 1930, after major financial irregularities, which were not formally resolved for years. On November 29, 1930, new tenant to be Myron Selznick and Company received a permit to add wood paneling in Room 749, Selznick’s office, just one of the firm’s suite which occupied the entire seventh floor.

Pat O’Brien at the Butler Health Club atop the Equitable Building, Modern Screen.

On January 10, 1931, the Bank of Hollywood Building welcomed its first closeup of its new second tower, and by January 31, William M. Davey, investor and Gloria Swanson husband, purchased the property for $1.5 million. A March 8 Los Angeles Times story welcomed incoming new tenants Rheingold jewelry and Myron Selznick-Frank Joyce Agency, with Chicagoan J. C. Thompson listed as building manager.

On March 15, The Times now reported that henceforth, the structure had been rechristened the Equitable Building, with Citizens National Bank moving in to the empty Bank of Hollywood location on the first floor. To go along with its name change, publicists announced on April 18 that the world’s tallest neon sign, 76 feet tall and over 7 stories high, would replace the roof’s current sign.

May 29, 1929: Plans for a neon sign billed as the world’s largest.

With the announcement of the Selznick talent agency, which represented such people as William Powell, Ruth Chatterton, Lewis Milestone, and Ben Hecht, moving into the building, more agencies large and small moved their headquarters into the structure as well, following their industry’s largest player into fancy new digs. Ancillary businesses related to talent agencies followed as well, making the building one of the more important entertainment addresses in the city. Across the street, other entertainment trade organizations like AMPAS opened swanky new facilities. To assist these industry players hoping to stay slim and trim, owners announced October 4, 1931, that Butler Health Institute, one of the first businesses that operated training facilities, would move into the whole roof and parts of the twelfth floor. Though called Butler Health Club, the private establishment operated strictly as a conditioning business, not as a gym, with with steam rooms, conditioning and treatment rooms, guest rooms, and places for individual exercise, as well as a solarium on the roof along with squash courts.

In the mid-1930s, with Twentieth Century-Fox moving to Century City and Beverly Hills rising in popularity, most talent firms closed in the Equitable Building and opened luxurious new headquarters in Beverly Hills and adjacent areas. As agents moved out, radio studios and companies moved in, taking advantage of office space near the major radio broadcasting stations and studios. Insurance agents, detectives, tax companies, and advertising firms like Young and Rubicam also opened offices in 6253 Hollywood Blvd, in 1942. When television took off in the late 1950s, radio companies departed, opening up space.

While the gorgeous architecture remained, owners and tenants cycled in and out of the facility over the next several decades. On August 15, 1954, Chicago investor Louis Glickman purchased six buildings around Los Angeles, including the Equitable, for $13 million. He sold to American Airlines in 1956, which added their own sign on the exterior.

Tom Gilmour purchased the property in 2000, restoring it over the next two years, with the Hollywood and Vine Diner opening in 2002. Palisades Development Group purchased the building and converted it into lofts by 2008.

A gorgeous Art Deco and neo-Gothic masterpiece, the Equitable Building represents the heyday of Hollywood’s glamorous Golden Age, a sleek, high-class building adaptively reused and offering style and refinement, showing that historic architecture still makes a striking impact today.