James Oviatt Building | |
Location | 617 S. Olive St., Los Angeles |
---|---|
Coordinates | 34°2′51″N118°15′14″W / 34.04750°N 118.25389°W |
Built | 1927–1928 |
Architect | Walker & Eisen; Feil & Paradise |
Architectural style | Art Deco Italian Romanesque |
NRHP reference No. | 83004529 [1] |
LAHCM No. | 195 |
Added to NRHP | August 11, 1983 |
The James Oviatt Building, commonly referred to as The Oviatt Building, is an Art Deco highrise in Downtown Los Angeles located on Olive Street, half a block south of 6th St. and Pershing Square. In 1983, the Oviatt Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is also designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
The building is home to the Cicada Restaurant and Lounge. [2]
The building is named after James Zera Oviatt (1888-1974) who, in 1909, came from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles to work as a window dresser at C.C. Desmond's Department Store. In 1912, Oviatt and a colleague, hat salesman Frank Baird Alexander, launched their partnership in men's clothing as the Alexander & Oviatt haberdashery, at 209 West Fourth Street in downtown Los Angeles. [3] Their 'silent partner' was Frank Shaver Allen, a wealthy and once socially prominent architect whose career had been destroyed by a sex scandal several years earlier.
During annual summer buying trips to Europe, Oviatt found stylish clothing to bring back to his prospering Los Angeles store. With the emergence of French Art Deco in the 1920s, Oviatt found the architectural style that would embody the interior design of his 1928 James Oviatt Building and its penthouse. [4] In the 1950s and ‘60s, he funded white supremacist militias and anti-Semitic groups associated with Wesley A. Swift and the Ku Klux Klan, and distributed hate literature by mail to his business's charge customers. Oviatt's actions caused a public outcry and led customers to boycott his clothing store, causing it to close in 1966. [5]
The Oviatt Building was designed by the Los Angeles architectural firm of Walker & Eisen. Excavation for the Oviatt Building's construction was begun in August 1927; the building was completed in May 1928. Its furnishings included a 12-ton illuminated glass cornice and glass arcade ceiling by architect Ferdinand Chanut and glassmaker Gaëtan Jeannin. René Lalique designed and created the molded glass elevator door panels, front and side doors, chandeliers, and a large panel clock. Many tons of 'Napoleon' marble and a massive, three-faced tower clock with chimes (manufactured by the pioneering electric clockmaker, Ateliers Brillié Frères ) were imported from France.
In the 1943 novel The Lady in the Lake by Raymond Chandler, the fictional "Treloar Building" on Olive Street near Sixth, with its "vast black and gold lobby" and elegant style, is often taken as a description of the Oviatt Building. [6]
A feature-length documentary on the Oviatt Building's history was directed by Seth Shulman and written/produced by Marc Chevalier in 2008. [7]
In 2015, the exterior of the Cicada was used as the exterior for the fictional Hotel Cortez on American Horror Story: Hotel . [8] [9] [10]
The Cicada featured in various films such as Bruce Almighty [11] and the Oscar-winning Mank . [12]
Under the Rose Productions, [13] an LA based theatre company produced an immersive play entitled “Castle in the Sky”, loosely based on James Oviatt’s residency in the top floor penthouse apartment during prohibition. A short making of documentary is included as bonus material with the feature-length documentary.
S. H. Kress & Co. was the trading name of a chain of five and dime retail department stores in the United States established by Samuel Henry Kress. It operated from 1896 to 1981. In the first half of the 20th century, there were Kress stores with ornamented architecture in hundreds of cities and towns.
The Pellissier Building and adjoining Wiltern Theatre is a 12-story, 155-foot (47 m) Art Deco landmark at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in Los Angeles, California. The entire complex is commonly referred to as the Wiltern Center. Clad in a blue-green glazed architectural terra-cotta tile and situated diagonal to the street corner, the complex is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the United States. The Wiltern building is owned privately, and the Wiltern Theatre is operated by Live Nation's Los Angeles division.
Broadway, until 1890 Fort Street, is a thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The portion of Broadway from 3rd to 9th streets, in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles, was the city's main commercial street from the 1910s until World War II, and is the location of the Broadway Theater and Commercial District, the first and largest historic theater district listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). With twelve movie palaces located along a six-block stretch of Broadway, it is the only large concentration of movie palaces left in the United States.
The Financial District is the central business district of Los Angeles It is bounded by the Harbor Freeway to the west, First Street to the north, Main and Hill Streets to the east, and Olympic Boulevard and 9th Street to the south. It is south of the Bunker Hill district, west of the Historic Core, north of South Park and east of the Harbor Freeway and Central City West. Like Bunker Hill, the Financial District is home to corporate office skyscrapers, hotels and related services as well as banks, law firms, and real estate companies. However, unlike Bunker Hill which was razed and now consists of buildings constructed since the 1960s, it also contains large buildings from the early 20th century, particularly along Seventh Street, once the city's upscale shopping street; the area also includes the 7th and Flower area at the center of the regional Metro rail system, restaurants, bars, and two urban malls.
The Eastern Columbia Building, also known as the Eastern Columbia Lofts, is a thirteen-story Art Deco building designed by Claud Beelman located at 849 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District of Downtown Los Angeles. It opened on September 12, 1930, after just nine months of construction. It was built at a cost of $1.25 million as the new headquarters and 39th store for the Eastern-Columbia Department Store, whose component Eastern and Columbia stores were founded by Adolph Sieroty and family. At the time of construction, the City of Los Angeles enforced a height limit of 150 feet (46 m), however the decorative clock tower was granted an exemption, allowing the clock a total height of 264 feet (80 m). J. V. McNeil Company was the general contractor.
El Cortez, a hotel and casino, is a relatively small downtown Las Vegas gaming venue a block from the Fremont Street Experience and Las Vegas Boulevard. Slots, table games, and a race and sports book occupy one floor of the main pavilion, at this historic casino. It opened on Fremont Street on November 7, 1941, and is one of the oldest casino-hotel properties in Las Vegas, along with the nearby Golden Gate Hotel and Casino. Primarily Spanish Colonial Revival in style, it reflects a 1952 remodel when the façade was modernized. On February 22, 2013, the structure was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mayan Revival is a modern architectural style popular in the Americas during the 1920s and 1930s that drew inspiration from the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.
The Hollywood Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre and Fox-Pantages Theatre, also known as The Pantages, is a live theater and former movie theater located at 6233 Hollywood Boulevard, near Hollywood and Vine, in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, the theater was the last built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages and also the last movie palace built in Hollywood.
El Cortez is a condominium building in San Diego, California. Built from 1926 to 1927, El Cortez was the tallest building in San Diego when it opened. It sits atop a hill at the north end of downtown San Diego, where it dominated the city skyline for many years and became a landmark hotel. The building is the 40th tallest building in San Diego, based on its height of 310 ft.
Spring Street in Los Angeles is one of the oldest streets in the city. Along Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles, from just north of Fourth Street to just south of Seventh Street is the NRHP-listed Spring Street Financial District, nicknamed Wall Street of the West, lined with Beaux Arts buildings and currently experiencing gentrification. This section forms part of the Historic Core district of Downtown, together with portions of Hill, Broadway, Main and Los Angeles streets.
The Sunset Tower Hotel, previously known as The St. James's Club and The Argyle, is a historic building and hotel located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States. Designed in 1929 by architect Leland A. Bryant, opened in 1931, it is considered one of the finest examples of Art Deco architecture in the Los Angeles area. In its early years, it was the residence of many Hollywood celebrities, including John Wayne and Howard Hughes. After a period of decline in the early 1980s, the building was renovated and has been operated as a luxury hotel under the names The St. James's Club, The Argyle, and most recently the Sunset Tower Hotel. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The Blackstone Hotel is the tallest hotel in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, at 268 ft (82 m) tall. Located on the corner of Fifth and Main Streets, it is noted for its Art Deco design with terracotta ornamentation and setbacks on the top floors. The hotel was constructed in 1929 and operated for over 50 years before it sat vacant for nearly 20 years. The Blackstone Hotel guest list is full of notable people including Presidents of the United States: Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon. The hotel was also host for a few movie stars such as Bob Hope, Clark Gable, and Elvis Presley. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 2, 1984. The building was restored in the late 1990s and is still in use today as the Courtyard Fort Worth Downtown/Blackstone, although it is still known as the "Blackstone Hotel" to those who live in or have ties to Fort Worth.
Walker & Eisen (1919−1941) was an architectural partnership of architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen in Los Angeles, California.
Morgan, Walls & Clements was an architectural firm based in Los Angeles, California and responsible for many of the city's landmarks, dating back to the late 19th century. Originally Morgan and Walls, with principals Octavius Morgan and John A. Walls, the firm worked in the area from before the turn of the century.
Rusty Frank is an American tap dancer, producer, writer, choreographer, lindy hopper, and dance preservationist.
The Freehand Los Angeles Hotel, formerly the Commercial Exchange Building, is a historic structure in Los Angeles, California, United States.
The Cecil Hotel is an affordable housing complex in Downtown Los Angeles. It opened on December 20, 1924, as a luxury hotel, but declined during the Great Depression and subsequent decades. In 2011, the hotel was renamed the Stay On Main. The 14-floor hotel has 700 guest rooms and a checkered history, with many suicides and accidental or unnatural deaths occurring there. Renovations started in 2017 were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the hotel's temporary closure. On December 13, 2021, the Cecil Hotel was reinaugurated as an affordable housing complex.
Percy Augustus Eisen (1885–1946) was an American architect. He is primarily known for his work in Los Angeles with Albert R. Walker as Walker & Eisen.
The fifth season of the American horror anthology television series American Horror Story, subtitled Hotel, is centered around the mysterious Hotel Cortez in Los Angeles, the scene of disturbing and paranormal events, overseen by its enigmatic staff. The location is loosely based on the Cecil Hotel, marked by deaths and tragedies. The ensemble cast includes Wes Bentley, Chloë Sevigny, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Matt Bomer, Denis O'Hare, Cheyenne Jackson, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, and Lady Gaga, with all returning from previous seasons, except newcomers Jackson and Gaga. Hotel marks the first season to not feature cast mainstays Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy. Breaking from the anthological format, the season is connected to Murder House and Coven.
Mullen & Bluett was a Los Angeles-based department store specializing in men's clothing.