the trianon, commissioned by the legendary hollywood couple, mary pickford and douglas fairbanks jr, as apartments for actors and actresses in a (then) conveniently located part of the 'wood. it was built in 1928 by noted architect, leland a. bryant, who specialized in luxury apartment buildings, but whose best known work is probably the sunset tower hotel in west hollywood.
french-inspired architecture was popular in hollywood during the twenties and thirties, but as most châteaux and castles were single family dwellings on a grand scale, they were reimagined as apartment complexes. although the building is named after the home of mme. du pompadour in versailles, it was actually architecturally inspired by chateau d’azay-le-rideau in the loire valley. i suppose d'azay le rideau isn't as catchy as trianon. certainly i can't get that damned fleetwood mac song out of my head.
anyway, i digress. the building is still fully occupied (you can live there, too!), and i imagine it to be quite a unique place to live. v. hollywood fantasy. v. hollywood fantastic.
the trianon
1750-1754 n. serrano ave (x-street loma linda)
hollywood 90027.
2 comments:
I lived in this place in the mid to late 1960's as a teenager with my mom. At the the time the main building had two apartments per floor off the main elevator. They were spacious but had not been updated since it was built in the late 1920's. I knew the owner of the place at the time a Mr. Kiely (I think this is the correct spelling), a very nice man who had once been the President of Rolls Royce of America and a talented engineer.
At that time, there were several famous people who maintained apartments in this place. The band leader Xavier Cugat kept the penthouse at the time (he may have had other places to live). I used to see him once in a while and he pretty nice. I would see him come down to get a paper with his pipe and ascot with a silk smoking robe. I seemed that he also had a chihuahua. At the time there were a lot of dogs in the building.
More frequently I would see Charro go up to the top floor. She pretty nice, but looked pretty sad at the time as well.
One other well know Hollywood celebrity kept (or had access) to apartments at this place. On the left front of the building a townhouse-style apartment. James Garner used to keep this place as I used to see him one in a while stay there. I was told that he kept it for his use.
At the time this place was very close to all the action at both the old Paramount and Fox studios (as well as others). I think a lot people who worked in the industry kept an apartment at this place to use as getaway, since you could park underground and go up without being seen (except by someone else who lived there). Also the place was set up for maids a servants to keep your place as there was an extensive laundry room and storage areas in the basement. The kitchens were "maids" kitchens, and were out-of date even in the 1960's.
I lived in this place in the mid to late 1960's as a teenager with my mom.
At the the time the main building had two apartments per floor off the main elevator. They were spacious but had not been updated since it was built in the late 1920's.
I knew the owner of the place at the time a Mr. Kiely (I think this is the correct spelling), a very nice man who had once been the President of Rolls Royce of America and a talented engineer.
At that time, there were several famous people who maintained apartments in this place. The latin band leader Xavier Cugat kept the penthouse at the time (he may have had other places to live). I used to see him once in a while and he was pretty nice. I would see him some mornings come down to get a paper with his pipe and ascot with a silk smoking jacket. I seemed that he also had a chihuahua or two. At the time there were a lot of small dogs in the building. In fact, I used to make a little extra money walking the dogs (mainly poodles) for people who lived in the place.
More frequently I would see Charro go up to the top floor. She had just recently married Xavier Cugat, and stayed more frequently in the penthouse. She was pretty nice, but looked very sad most of the time. I had forgotten about her until I saw a GEICO commercial the other day.
One other well know Hollywood celebrity kept (or had access) to an apartment at this place. On the left front of the building a townhouse-style apartment. James Garner used to keep this place. I would see him come and go at times. Again he a very nice guy.
At the time this place was very close to all the action at both the old Paramount and Fox studios (as well as others). I think a lot people who worked in the industry kept an apartment at this place to use as a getaway, since you could park underground and go up without being seen (except by someone else who lived there).
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