Los Altos Apartments
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Los Altos Apartments
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Los Altos Apartments, May 2008
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| Location | 4121 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90010 |
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| Coordinates | 34°3′43.4118″N 118°19′2.9202″W / 34.062058833°N 118.317477833°WCoordinates: 34°3′43.4118″N 118°19′2.9202″W / 34.062058833°N 118.317477833°W |
| Built | 1925 |
| Architect | Rust, Edward B.; Mayo, Luther |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 99000765 |
| LAHCM # | 311 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 1, 1999 |
| Designated LAHCM | 1986-10-17 |
The Los Altos Apartments is a Mission Revival style apartment building on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.
Los Altos was built in 1925 and designed by Edward B. Rust and Luther Mayo. In 1999, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
When built, the Los Altos Apartments began as a co-op and were later used as a luxury apartment and hotel catering to stars like Clara Bow, Bette Davis, Mae West, Douglas Fairbanks, and William Randolph Hearst. The Spanish Colonial-style building went bankrupt during the Great Depression and fell into disrepair. In 1993, a local housing group Neighborhood Effort rescued the structure from demolition and obtained national historic site status by tracking down its original parts and design details such as floor tiles, doorknobs, and colors.
In the 1980s the building became a magnet for a bohemian list of residents. Jeff Ayeroff, who went on to co-found Virgin Records America, and The WORK Group lived in the building as did screenwriter Becky Johnston while she wrote the scripts “Under the Cherry Moon” for Prince and “The Prince of Tides” for Barbra Streisand. Artists Nancy Reese, Phil Garner, Eric Blum and Tom Shannon all rented living quarters and art dealers Tom Jancar and Richard Kuhlenschmidt opened the Jancar Kuhlenschmidt Gallery in the basement of the building. New York hotshots Richard Prince and Louise Lawler had their first L.A. exhibitions there. Actor Frederic Forrest was living at the Los Altos when he turned in his critically acclaimed performance in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1988 film “Tucker: The Man and His Dream”, as did musician Tommy Gear, who was a founding member of revered L.A. punk group The Screamers.
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