Hollywood Studio Club
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Hollywood Studio Club
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Hollywood Studio Club, May 2008
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| Location | 1215–1233 Lodi Place, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
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| Coordinates | 34°5′35″N 118°19′22″W / 34.09306°N 118.32278°WCoordinates: 34°5′35″N 118°19′22″W / 34.09306°N 118.32278°W |
| Built | 1925 |
| Architect | Julia Morgan |
| Architectural style | Italian Renaissance Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 80000806 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 25, 1980 |
| Designated LAHCM | May 4, 1977 |
The Hollywood Studio Club was a chaperoned dormitory, sometimes referred to as a sorority, for young women involved in the motion picture business from 1916 to 1975. Located in the heart of Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, the Studio Club was run by the YWCA and housed some 10,000 women during its 59-year existence. It was the home at various times to many Hollywood celebrities, including Marilyn Monroe, Ayn Rand, Donna Reed, Kim Novak, Maureen O'Sullivan, Rita Moreno, Barbara Eden, and Sharon Tate. The building was designed by noted California architect Julia Morgan in the Italian Renaissance Revival architectural style, who also designed Hearst Castle. The Studio Club closed in 1975, and the building was used as a YWCA-run Job Corps dormitory until April 30, 2012. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and remains the property of the YWCA Greater Los Angeles.
The Hollywood Studio Club was formed in 1916. It began with a group of young women trying to break into the movies who gathered in the basement of the Hollywood Public Library to read plays. A librarian, Mrs. Eleanor Jones, worried about the young women living in cheap hotels and rooming houses with no place to study or practice their craft. Mrs. Jones solicited help from the local YWCA, and a hall was established as a meeting place. Hollywood studios and businessmen donated money to rent an old house on Carlos Avenue with space for 20 women. Mrs. Cecil B. DeMille and Mary Pickford were active in the club's operations, and Pickford later recalled, "Mrs. DeMille spent every day doing something for the club. And the motion picture industry supported us." A newspaper article in 1919 described the club this way: "The club is more of a sorority, with delightful picture 'atmosphere,' than anything else, and the same happy atmosphere will pervade the new home. A dominant note is the refining touch of home life and sense of protection, with assurance of assistance, not only in material way when need arises, but in one's work, as well. Financially, many desperate cases among young women have been tided over by the Hollywood Studio Club."
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