Arthur Letts | |
---|---|
![]() Arthur Letts Sr. about 1907 | |
Born | Holdenby, Northamptonshire, England | June 17, 1862
Died | May 18, 1923 60) | (aged
Spouse | Florence Philp |
Children | Florence Edna, Gladys (Janss) and Arthur Letts Jr. |
Arthur Letts Sr. (June 17, 1862 – May 18, 1923) was an immigrant from England who made his fortune in Los Angeles, California, in the early years of the 20th century. He built his wealth by transforming a small, bankrupt dry goods store in Downtown Los Angeles into the prominent The Broadway department store, later adding the Bullock's store.
Arthur Letts Sr. was born in Holdenby, Northamptonshire, England. In 1882 he emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and found employment in a large dry goods store. When the Red River Rebellion broke out in the Northwest of Canada, he volunteered. He was awarded a silver medal and clasp for distinguished service, and a grant of land by the Canadian government. In the early 1890s, he emigrated to the United States in Seattle, Washington, and began retail employment in dry goods.
Letts arrived in the Los Angeles, California, area in 1896. At the corner of Fourth and Broadway, then on the far southern edge of the downtown Los Angeles business district, the J. A. Williams & Co. Dry Goods Store had gone bankrupt. With the help of an influential friend, who was impressed with Letts' knowledge of that type of business, a loan of $5,000 ($183,120 in 2023) was secured from the Los Angeles National Bank, and opened his business on February 24, 1896. He named the department store The Broadway [1] [2] [3] and would go on to greatly expand this location and open up numerous others throughout the southwest United States. [4]
Arthur Letts was the 'behind the scenes' financial founder and owner of Bullock's department store, and put John Bullock from his The Broadway to direct this store. After Letts' death, Bullock and a group of investors purchased the store from the estate.
The development of Westwood, Holmby Hills, and UCLA began in 1919 when Arthur Letts Sr. purchased a 400 acres (1.6 km2) portion of the Wolfskill Ranch, originally the Mexican land grant Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres. His master plan for the prime land he had purchased in western Los Angeles. was to create a mixed development of retail, apartments, residences, estates, and significant university. He personally christened the developments Westwood and "Holmby Hills," the latter loosely derived from the name of his birthplace, a small village in England called Holdenby. Arthur Letts Sr. died suddenly in 1923, before he could realize his vision.
Letts joined a number of organizations. He was a member of the Hollywood Masonic Lodge, the Knights Templar, the prestigious California Club in Downtown Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the elite Los Angeles Country Club, and the Midwick Country Club in Alhambra in the San Gabriel Valley. He was also a member of the exclusive Bohemian Club in San Francisco. He was involved with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, the Realty Board, the Hollywood Board of Trade, the Federation Club, and the Automobile Club of Southern California. Letts was vice-president of the Boy Scouts of America, and leader of his local troop. [5]
Letts married Florence Philp on August 25, 1886, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They had three children; Florence Edna (McNaghten), Gladys (Janss), and Arthur Letts Jr.
Arthur Letts was a skilled horticulturist and avid plant collector. The grounds of his Los Feliz district, Hollywood estate Holmby House [6] were formally laid out with wide variety of trees, shrubs, and flowers, and his cactus collection was known across the country. It was bound by Franklin Avenue, Vermont Avenue, Los Feliz Boulevard, and Laughlin Park. The gardens were open to the public for tours, with the Pacific Electric Railway stopping at it. It was his wish that the gardens be continued even after his death. Upon his death in May 1923, his wife, at the suggestion of son-in-law Harold Janss of Janss Investment Company (who lived at the back of the property), demolished the gardens and mansion in 1927 to subdivide and develop the land, and moved to a new residence in Holmby Hills. [7] She had remarried by June, 1924 to Charles Quinn. Henry E. Huntington purchased many of the rare specimen cacti for his Huntington Desert Garden at his estate and Huntington Library in San Marino
In 1927, Arthur Letts Jr. built a Tudor-style home at Charing Cross Road on the Los Angeles Country Club. [8] He and Harold Janss took over the Westwood project after his father's death in 1923.[ citation needed ] His estate became Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion [ citation needed ] before being sold in 2016 for $100 million (~$124 million in 2023) to the son of the owner of Hostess Brands. [9]
In 1911, Arthur Letts Sr.'s daughter Gladys married Harold Janss connecting the two families. [10] The Janss Investment Company continued developing planned communities across greater Los Angeles into the 1960s.
Westwood is a commercial and residential neighborhood in the northern central portion of the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Bordering the campus on the south is Westwood Village, a major regional district for shopping, dining, movie theaters, and other entertainment.
Holdenby is an English village and civil parish about 5.5 miles (8.9 km) north-west of Northampton in West Northamptonshire. The parish population measured by the 2011 census was 170. The village name means "Halfdan's/Haldan's farm/settlement".
Wilshire Boulevard (['wɪɫ.ʃɚ]) is a prominent 15.83 mi (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east–west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary, it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus.
John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Coliseum, and City Hall.
Sumner P. Hunt was an architect in Los Angeles from 1888 to the 1930s. On January 21, 1892, he married Mary Hancock Chapman, January 21, 1892. They had a daughter Louise Hunt.
Gordon Bernie Kaufmann was an English-born American architect mostly known for his work on the Hoover Dam.
The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant retailer in Southern California and the Southwest. Its fortunes eventually declined, and Federated Department Stores bought the chain in 1995. In 1996, Broadway stores were either closed or converted into Macy's and Bloomingdales, some of which were sold and converted to Sears, including the Stonewood Center and Whittwood Town Center locations.
Arthur Rolland Kelly (1878–1959) was an American architect, primarily in the Los Angeles, California area. Arthur designed approximately five hundred homes and other buildings.
Holmby Hills is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States.
The Janss Investment Company was a family-run, Los Angeles–based real estate development company that operated from 1895 to 1995.
Charles Edward Toberman was a real estate developer and stenographer who developed landmarks in Hollywood, California, including the Hollywood Bowl, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, Roosevelt Hotel, Bank of America Building, Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Masonic Temple. Toberman, along with H. J. Whitley has been called 'the Father of Hollywood'.
Allison & Allison was the architectural firm of James Edward Allison (1870–1955) and his brother David Clark Allison (1881–1962).
Allen George Siple was an American architect, working in Southern California from the 1930s to 1960s.
James Dolena (1888–1978) was a Russian Empire-born American architect who designed many houses in Los Angeles, California.
Roland Coate was an American architect. He designed many houses and buildings in California, three of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Holmby Park is a public park in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Owlwood Estate is a historic mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, United States. It was built in 1936 and designed by architect Robert D. Farquhar. Previous owners include actors Tony Curtis and Cher.
Ralf Marc (R.M.) Walker was an American department store executive.
7th Street is a street in Los Angeles, California running from S. Norton Ave in Mid-Wilshire through Downtown Los Angeles. It goes all the way to the eastern city limits at Indiana Ave., and the border between Boyle Heights, Los Angeles and East Los Angeles.
Retail in Southern California dates back to its first dry goods store that Jonathan Temple opened in 1827 on Calle Principal, when Los Angeles was still a Mexican village. After the American conquest, as the pueblo grew into a small town surpassing 4,000 population in 1860, dry goods stores continued to open, including the forerunners of what would be local chains. Larger retailers moved progressively further south to the 1880s-1890s Central Business District, which was later razed to become the Civic Center. Starting in the mid-1890s, major stores moved ever southward, first onto Broadway around 3rd, then starting in 1905 to Broadway between 4th and 9th, then starting in 1915 westward onto West Seventh Street up to Figueroa. For half a century Broadway and Seventh streets together formed one of America's largest and busiest downtown shopping districts.