Hollywood Hotel

Last updated
Hollywood Hotel
Hollywood-hotel-1905.jpg
Hollywood Hotel in 1905
Hollywood Hotel
General information
Architectural style Mission Revival
Coordinates 34°06′07″N118°20′23″W / 34.1020°N 118.3397°W / 34.1020; -118.3397
Opened1902
Demolished1956
Owner H.J. Whitley
Almira Hershey
George Krom
Charles E. Toberman
Design and construction
Architecture firm Dennis and Farwell
Other information
Public transit access Balloon Route

The Hollywood Hotel was a famous hotel, society venue of early Hollywood landmark, formerly located at 6811 Hollywood Boulevard, on the north side, extending from Highland Avenue to Orchid Avenue, in central Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

Contents

History

Early years

Original 1902 Hollywood Hotel. Hotelhollywood.jpg
Original 1902 Hollywood Hotel.

The Hollywood Hotel opened in December 1902. It was designed and built by Lyman Farwell and Oliver Perry Dennis [1] for early Hollywood developer H.J. Whitley, to support selling residential lots to potential buyers arriving from Los Angeles by the electric Balloon Route trolley of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad. [2] [3] It was developed on property owned by Harrison Gray Otis, George Hoover, and Whitley. [3] Located on the west side of Highland Avenue, the elegant wood structure with Mission Revival style stucco facades and broad verandas also fronted on unpaved Prospect Avenue, lined with California pepper trees. The hotel was sited among lemon groves then at the base of the Hollywood Hills, part of the Santa Monica Mountains in the area. Whitley was instrumental in improvements to Prospect Avenue, which in 1910 was renamed Hollywood Boulevard. Increasing business compelled the building of an additional 40-room wing onto the hotel in 1905. [3]

Whitley surrounded the hotel with 3 acres (1.2 ha) of cultivated gardens. He operated the establishment as a country resort hotel as the developing community of Hollywood first established itself. [4] [5] [6] [7]

In 1906 the heiress Almira Hershey, who was then living in a mansion on Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles, took a buggy ride to see the hotel that was being advertised in the Los Angeles Times. She was so impressed with the Hollywood Hotel she decided to buy it. [3] She hired Margaret J. Anderson who had worked for her at the Darby and the Fremont Hotels, which Hershey owned, as the manager. [8] Under Anderson's management, the hotel expanded from 16 rooms to 250 and became well known in the area, [9] but the two women had a contentious relationship and Anderson left to move to the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1912. [10]

Motion picture era

The fame of the Hollywood Hotel, like that of Hollywood, came from its identification with the Hollywood movie industry, beginning in the 1910s. Those who stayed at the hotel included Jesse Lasky, Carl Laemmle, Louis B. Mayer, Harry Warner, and Irving Thalberg. Producers, directors, writers and technicians held conferences on the broad verandas.

There was a 'stream' of silent film movie stars and movie moguls passing through. Some of the movie industry people resided in the hotel, and many attended the dances held Thursday nights in the ballroom. It was considered "the" place to be seen and the cultural center of Hollywood. To identify where certain people regularly sat to dine, the hotel had stars with the names of celebrities painted on the ceiling above their tables.

Among the scores of movie stars who stayed at the Hollywood Hotel through the years was Rudolph Valentino, who lived in room 264. He met his first wife, Jean Acker, in the hotel, where they were married in 1919 and spent their honeymoon. Other stars included Ethel Barrymore, Norma Shearer, and Valentino's second wife Natasha Rambova. The hotel also hosted notable guests from beyond Los Angeles and the United States.

Songwriter Carrie Jacobs Bond composed her famous song A Perfect Day, and sang it, while a guest at the Hollywood Hotel.

In 1922 Almira Hershey lost a breach of contract dispute with the hotel's long time manager George Krom, which allowed him to purchase the hotel. [3]

Screencap from promotional film Hollywood Snapshots (1922) Hollywood Hotel sign from promotional film 1922.jpg
Screencap from promotional film Hollywood Snapshots (1922)

Decline and demolition

In the early 1940s, Charles E. Toberman, a real estate developer who was known as "Mr. Hollywood," acquired all the stock of the Good Hope Company, which owned the Hollywood Hotel property. He wanted to tear it down then and redevelop the block, but was halted because of the restrictions on building materials during World War II.

By the 1950s, the hotel was run down and faded from its former glory. Developers were adamant that renovating and restoring the property was out of the question.

Though the Hollywood Hotel was an architectural landmark and had housed many of the great Hollywood stars in its day, it was razed in August 1956 to make way for a US$10 million development. It was replaced by a twelve story office building for the First Federal Savings & Loan Association of Hollywood, a shopping center, and parking lots.

In 2001 those were demolished, and the Hollywood and Highland Center shopping and entertainment complex was built on the site. It includes the Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre), the current home of the annual Academy Awards ceremony.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood, Los Angeles</span> Neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, US

Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a neighborhood and district in the central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, are located in or near Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunset Boulevard</span> Thoroughfare in Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Los Angeles, United States

Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in the cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, as well as several districts in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Freeway</span> Freeway in California

The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley. It is considered one of the most important freeways in the history of Los Angeles and instrumental in the development of the San Fernando Valley. It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles. From its southern end at the Four Level Interchange to its intersection with the Ventura Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley, it is signed as part of U.S. Route 101. It is then signed as State Route 170 north to its terminus at the Golden State Freeway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Boulevard</span> Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, United States

Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills and its eastern terminus is at Sunset Boulevard in Los Feliz. Hollywood Boulevard is famous for running through the tourist areas in central Hollywood, including attractions such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Ovation Hollywood shopping and entertainment complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Derby</span> Chain of restaurants in Los Angeles

Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain was started by Robert H. Cobb and Herbert K. Somborn in the 1920s. The original Brown Derby restaurants had closed or had been converted to other uses by the 1980s, though a Disney-backed Brown Derby national franchising program revived the brand in the 21st century. It is often incorrectly thought that the Brown Derby was a single restaurant, and the Wilshire Boulevard and Hollywood branches are frequently confused.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodeo Drive</span> Shopping district in Beverly Hills, California

Rodeo Drive is a two-mile-long (3.2 km) street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The name is most commonly used metonymically to refer to the three-block stretch of the street between Wilshire Boulevard and Little Santa Monica Boulevard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ovation Hollywood</span> Shopping mall in Hollywood, Los Angeles

Ovation Hollywood is a shopping center and entertainment complex at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilshire Boulevard</span> Major thoroughfare in the United States

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Monica Boulevard</span> Thoroughfare in California, United States

Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Hollywood. A portion of it is designated as California State Route 2, while the full avenue was Historic Route 66.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beverly Hills Hotel</span> Famous California hotel

The Beverly Hills Hotel, also called the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, is located on Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California. One of the world's best-known hotels, it is closely associated with Hollywood film stars, rock stars, and celebrities. The hotel has 210 guest rooms and suites and 23 bungalows and the exterior bears the hotel's signature pink and green colors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pico Boulevard</span> Major Los Angeles street

Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from the Pacific Ocean at Appian Way in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. It is named after Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of Alta California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highland Avenue (Los Angeles)</span> Road in Los Angeles, California, United States

Highland Avenue is a north–south road in Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare between Cahuenga Boulevard/U.S. Route 101 in Hollywood at the north and Wilshire Boulevard in Mid-Wilshire at the south, and a residential street from Wilshire Boulevard to Washington Boulevard in Mid-City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin Avenue (Los Angeles)</span> Street in Los Angeles, California, United States

Franklin Avenue is a street in Los Angeles. It is the northernmost thoroughfare in Hollywood, north of Hollywood Boulevard, and the southern border of the Hollywood Hills. It is the center of the neighborhood of Franklin Village.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">H. J. Whitley</span> American businessman and land developer

Hobart Johnstone Whitley was a Canadian-American businessman and real estate developer. Whitley is best known for helping create the Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles. He is among those known as the "Father of Hollywood."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitley Heights, Los Angeles</span> United States historic place

Whitley Heights is a residential neighborhood and historic preservation overlay zone in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Central Los Angeles, California. Known as a residential area for actors and other people in the motion-picture industry, it is divided between a hillside single-family district and an apartment area. It is notable for an attempt by its homeowners' group and the city to close off public streets to outside traffic, an effort that was ruled illegal by the courts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Café Montmartre</span> Restaurant and nightclub in Hollywood, California

Café Montmartre was a restaurant and nightclub on Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US. Opened in 1923, it became a "worldwide center for celebrity and nightlife" during the 1920s and a place where tourists would visit to try to break into Hollywood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Almira Hershey</span> American businesswoman and philanthropist (1843–1930)

Almira Hershey was a civic leader, businesswoman, property developer, Hollywood hotel proprietor, and philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret J. Anderson</span> American hotel owner, businesswomen, and socialite

Margaret Jane Anderson was an American hotel owner, businesswomen, and socialite, from the U.S. state of Iowa. The widow of Lewis Anderson, she was the owner and developer of two properties in Los Angeles County, California: The Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hollywood Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District</span> Historic district in Los Angeles, California

The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District is a historic district that consists of twelve blocks between the 6200 and 7000 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This strip of commercial and retail businesses, which includes more than 100 buildings, is recognized for its significance with the entertainment industry, particularly Hollywood and its golden age, and it also features the predominant architecture styles of the 1920s and 1930s.

References

  1. "Historic-Cultural Monument Application for the Hollywood Art Center School" (PDF). City of Los Angeles. April 18, 2019.
  2. "Millennium Hollywood,net: "HJ Whitley and the Original Hollywood & Highland, The Hollywood Hotel"". Archived from the original on 2015-09-10. Retrieved 2015-07-26.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Google Books: Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood, by Linda McCann, Dace Taube, Claude Zachary, Curtis C. Roseman]
  4. Los Angeles Herald (August 31, 1951)
  5. California Historian Volume 54, Number 4 published by Conference of California Historical Societies (2008)
  6. Los Angeles Times Magazine (January 4, 1987)
  7. "California and Californians," by Rockwell Dennis Hunt and Nellie Van de Grift Sanchez (1930)
  8. Vaught, Steve (29 April 2012). "Happy 100th Birthday to a Grand Old Lady – The Beverly Hills Hotel!". Paradise Leased. Paradise Leased. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  9. Wanamaker, Marc (2005). Early Beverly Hills. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. p. 25. ISBN   978-0-738-53068-0 . Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  10. "Quarrel Closes Hotel in South". San Francisco, California: San Francisco Chronicle. 1 May 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 2 August 2015 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg