Hollywood & Western Building

The Hollywood & Western Building, also known as The Mayer Building, and formerly known as the "Hollywood Western Building", is a four-story Art Deco office building located at 5504 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #336 on January 1, 1988, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Hollywood Western Building
Hollywood & Western Building, 2012
Location5504 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
Coordinates34.10118°N 118.309751°W / 34.10118; -118.309751
Built1928
ArchitectS. Charles Lee
Architectural styleArt Deco
NRHP reference No.15000378
LAHCM No.336
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJuly 7, 2015
Designated LAHCMJanuary 1, 1988

Designed by S. Charles Lee, and built by Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg, the building opened on December 8, 1928. The building was the first location of Motion Picture Association of America, Central Casting, the Hays Office, and The Ben Hecht Company. Hollywood Billiards, Hollywood's oldest pool hall, was located in the lower basement of the building. Over the years its tenants have also included Toppy's (a corner coffee shop), Newman Drug Co., Rexall, Bargain Saver, Hollywood Rehearsal Studios, Studio 9, Rock City Arcade, and Cosmopolitan Book Depository.

By the 1970s, the building was being used to produce pornography and was slowly converted into individual recording studios and music rehearsal spaces as the area where the building was located became increasingly seedy and dangerous. The building was used in the films Double Indemnity, Ruthless People, and Hollywood Shuffle, and was a regular shooting location for numerous TV productions. It was also used as a rehearsal studio for such bands as Guns N' Roses and White Zombie.

The building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and was vacant for several years. It has since been renovated, and its tenants as of 2013 included the local offices of U.S. Representative Adam Schiff and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell.

References

    Media related to Hollywood Western Building at Wikimedia Commons

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