Bumiller Building
| Bumiller Building | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| Type | Mixed |
| Location | 430 South Broadway Los Angeles, California |
| Coordinates | 34°02′55″N 118°15′00″W / 34.04863°N 118.24994°WCoordinates: 34°02′55″N 118°15′00″W / 34.04863°N 118.24994°W |
| Completed | 1906 |
| Opening | June 1906 |
| Cost | $150,000 |
| Owner | 430 Broadway Lofts |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 6 |
| Lifts/elevators | two (four when it opened) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Morgan & Walls |
| Developer | Bumiller Estate |
| Main contractor | Carl Leonhardt |
Built in 1906, the Bumiller Building, designed by the architects Morgan & Walls, was constructed of reinforced concrete in Renaissance Revival style. It is today part of the Los Angeles Historic Broadway Theater District.
In 1906, the Bumiller Building was the home of a department store, Le Bon Marché, owned by the Le Sage Brothers. Le Bon Marché occupied the first three floors and basement. Two freight elevators at the back of the building ran from the basement to the third floor for use of the store. After Le Bon Marché moved out, the freight elevators fell into disuse and were eliminated. Two Otis passenger elevators in the lobby ran from the basement to the sixth floor.
As the Broadway Theater District evolved, New York-based Eden Musée, a theater for motion pictures and vaudeville acts, moved in. With "a show on every floor," Eden Musée attracted audiences with afternoon and evening performances. After Eden Musée left, the Bumiller Building was home to the Wonderland Theater, then the Jade Theater, named for the jade hue of the building's facade. During Prohibition in 1921, firemen were called to the building to put out a blaze caused by a whiskey still, under which a gas fire had been lit. Tenants heard an explosion and when firemen arrived, one room was in flames. Firemen found sour mash and the ten gallon still blown to bits. The man who rented the room had already disappeared.
The owners of the Bumiller Building reflected the changes in the district.
Caroline Bumiller Hickey (née Gerstenberg, 1848–1932) was a wealthy German-born Los Angeles socialite, the widow of Jacob Bumiller, a Bavarian wine merchant, who had moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn around 1871. Her house, 1049 South Elden Avenue, is now an historic-cultural monument of the Wilshire Historic District. She controlled the Bumiller Estate and had a highly publicized divorce from her second husband, George C. Hickey. At trial she claimed she was deaf and appeared in court elegantly dressed with an ear trumpet. Following 18 years of marriage, George Hickey accused his wife of desertion, and the court agreed. Nevertheless, George Hickey returned the lot at 430 South Broadway, which Caroline averred he had swindled from her. The owners of record of the Bumiller Building in 1912 were Caroline's children from her first marriage, Arthur W. Bumiller, Edna B. Sullivan, and Stella B. Burks.
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