Its most popular feature would be its deep, wrap-around porch, which would become the hotel's social center for decades.Īt a reception on Dec. Designed in the Mission style by architects Dennis and Farwell, the Hotel Hollywood (it would be changed to the "Hollywood Hotel" in the 1920s) was promised to have a rotunda, grand staircase, children's dining room, barber shop, ice station, self- contained power plant, and stunning, therapeutic grounds. Hoover won the contract to build the first wing of the two-story, cement and plaster building. To further his intersection's chances, Whitley decided to build an elegant hotel at the northwest corner of Prospect and Highland. The main contenders were Whitley's Prospect and Highland versus Daeida Wilcox and Dr. Whitley was in a friendly battle with other Hollywood pioneers over which intersection would become the center of the town. (then called Prospect Avenue) was simply a dusty, unpaved road, dotted by the fine rural estates of wealthy pioneers, who aspired to a quiet life away from the hustle of Los Angeles.īut of course, there was more to this idealized Utopia than met the eye. In 1902, the small enclave of Hollywood was an elegant country resort, covered in barley fields and citrus groves. The hotel will be open for guests this morning.(L.A. The building proper is entirely completed, and the internal finishing's will be in place by another week. The large reception room and halls on the lower floor are in oak and pine, the natural colors of the wood being preserved. There are fifty rooms in the building, with modern fixtures, and finished in white pine. Hotel Hollywood is a two-story modern structure, and represents an outlay of $30,000. Those who had not seen the charming hostelry before, expressed surprise and satisfaction that Hollywood should possess such a commodious and up-to-date hotel resort. Even fewer are aware that less than 100 years ago, Hollywood and Highland was a bucolic rural paradise, and at its heart was the rambling, genteel Hollywood Hotel. At night, Hollywood and Highland becomes a seedier kind of trap, filled with stilettos clicking over the Walk of Fame stars that line the grimy sidewalks.įew know the legend of how these stars came into being. Atop it all is the Dolby Theater, home of the Academy Awards, which often leads visitors to ask incredulously, "Wait, movie stars walk through a mall to get to the Oscars? Past the Sephora?"Īfter a day fighting off filthy Cookie Monsters and shopping at the giant Gap, I have occasionally sat with loved ones in their rooms at the looming Lowes Hollywood Hotel, a 628-room haven of sleek, attainable luxury. I cannot be the only Angelino who has spent a sweltering Saturday afternoon ushering visiting relatives through the Hollywood and Highland Center, with its towering "Intolerance"-inspired architecture and rather commonplace, overpriced shops. Today, Hollywood and Highland is synonymous with the frenetic, yet somehow lazy, tourist trap that is Hollywood Boulevard. Hollywood Hotel,1956 | Photo: Herald-Examiner Collection/LAPL
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