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Shangri-La Hotel 1301 Ocean Avenue Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report

Evaluation Report Parcel Map Sanborn Maps Photographs

Prepared for: City of Santa Monica Planning Division Prepared by: PCR Services Corporation Santa Monica, California October 1, 2009

Shangri-La Hotel City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report

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Shangri-La Hotel 1301 Ocean Avenue Santa Monica, California City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report

ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING

The subject property, the Shangri-La Hotel (Hotel Shangri-La), built in 1939 in the Streamline Moderne architectural style, is situated on the southeast corner of Ocean Avenue and Arizona Avenue between 2nd Street to the east, Ocean Avenue to the west, Arizona Avenue to the north, and Santa Monica Boulevard to the south. The Pacific Ocean is approximately one-quarter mile to the west. The seven-story reinforced concrete hotel is located in the Town of Santa Monica Tract, Block 148, on Lots V, W, and X and covers an area of approximately 150 feet by 200 feet. The Hotel Shangri-La has an L-shaped footprint and occupies roughly half of Lots X, W, and X.

REGULATORY SETTING

The Shangri-La Hotel has been identified and assessed under the City of Santa Monica’s ongoing survey process. The property was also previously surveyed in 1985-1986 during Phases 1 and 2 of the City’s Historical Resources Inventory. Both times the property was evaluated as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (National Register) and was given an evaluation code of 4 due to its age, less than 50 years, at the time of the evaluation.1 The subject property was reassessed during the Historic Resources Inventory Update (1995) and was given a National Register Status Code of 4S2 that identified the subject property as “individually eligible for the National Register if more historical or architectural research is performed on the property.”2

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION

Evoking the form of a grand ocean liner, the seven-story hotel, ca. 1939, was constructed in the Streamline Moderne style (Figure 1). Character-defining features of the style include stucco exterior surfaces, emphasis on curvilinear walls, projections above doorways and windows, casement windows, restrained detailing, horizontal accents, and flat roofs. The building’s L-shaped plan, built around a central courtyard, provides ocean views to the hotel rooms. Stepped massing, with the tiered sixth, seventh and penthouse floors stacked above the first five floors, creates roof decks for the penthouse rooms. The roof is flat with coping at the roofline. Curved horizontal pipe railings extend above the primary north and west elevations of the fifth, sixth and seventh floors. Bands of metal casement windows, pipe railings, and decorative “speed lines” on the primary north and west elevations all emphasize horizontality in the overall composition of the building.

1 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Historic Resources Inventory, 1983. 2 City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory Update, September 28, 1995.


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The hotel has a curved primary entrance located at the northwest corner of the hotel near the intersection of Ocean Avenue and Arizona Avenue (Figure 2). The entrance is recessed and has concrete stairs with stylized metal railings, square pedestals (alteration), double glass doors (alteration), a glass block door surround, and two large fixed windows (alteration). Engaged fluted columns flank the building’s double glass entry doors (alteration). An original semi-circular canopy with a Shangri-La marquee (alteration) covers the primary entrance. Above the primary entrance, the curved corner is constructed of alternating rows consisting of five casement windows and five fixed black glass windows.

The building’s overall massing, pipe railings, fenestration, and grooved “speed lines” create a strong sense of horizontality on the primary west elevation (Figure 3) facing Ocean Avenue and the north elevation (Figure 4) facing Arizona Avenue. The east and north elevations have bands of metal casement windows clustered in groups of two, four, and nine (Figure 5). The corners of the north and west elevations terminate into curved window ends. The short south and east elevations (Figure 6) have two bays of windows and “speed lines.” The rear elevation is comprised of the central elevator bay with a column of metal casement windows and the outdoor hallways.

The lobby exhibits many distinctive Streamline Moderne elements, including a terrazzo floor (alteration), recessed ceiling with decorative molding (alteration), and a glass block door surround on the primary entrance (Figures 7 to 9). Photographs of the lobby from circa 1940 show the original terrazzo floor and recessed ceiling. It appears that the existing floor and ceiling were designed to be similar in the recent rehabilitation but not replicate the original. The glass block surround is original.

ALTERATIONS

The building’s exterior has high integrity and exhibits few alterations. The curved corner of the primary entrance has glass double-doors, pedestals, marquee and fixed side windows, which are all later alterations. At construction, the fixed side entrance windows were glass block, but were replaced at an unknown date with plate glass. The marquee was replaced in 1951 with a neon sign and, in 1958, two signs were installed on the south and west elevations. In order to comply with fire code requirements, the exterior stair from the alley to the patio deck was replaced in 1987. Building permits indicate that the patio was altered in 1948, 1957 and 1987. Since construction, the building’s interior has been substantially remodeled.

The following table lists the completed building permits filed for the property from 1939 to 1987.3

3 City of Santa Monica, Department of Building and Safety.


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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

SANTA MONICA

In 1875, the original townsite of Santa Monica was surveyed, including all the land extending from Colorado Street on the south to Montana on the north, and from 26th Street on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west. Between 1893 and the 1920s, the community operated as a tourist attraction and was visited primarily by wealthy patrons. Those areas located just outside of the incorporated city limits were semi-rural in setting and populated with scattered residences. Following the widespread acceptance of the automobile in the 1920s, Santa Monica experienced a significant building boom, with numerous homes constructed in the tracts north of Montana and east of Seventh Street for year-round residents.

SANTA MONICA TOWNSHIP

The area that includes the property at 1301 Ocean Avenue was part of the original town of Santa Monica. In the late 19th and during the early years of the 20th century, Ocean Avenue had residences that faced Linda Vista Park (Palisades Park) and the Pacific Ocean (Figure 10). Miramar, the Shingle Style home of one of the City’s founders, Senator John P. Jones, was located on the corner of Nevada (Wilshire) and Ocean. The site of Miramar is occupied by the hotel which perpetuates the name and a landmark Moreton Bay Fig tree, which was planted in 1899 on the Jones’ estate. The surrounding neighborhood was originally a residential district. Small hipped roof cottages occupied many of the empty lots located directly east of Ocean Avenue.

The three lots (V, W, X) that comprise the subject property were vacant in the early years of the 20th century. The 1909 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map depicts a cottage on lot X with open land on neighboring Lots V and W. In ensuing years, low-density residential construction spread a few blocks to the north and east. In 1918, few buildings were erected east of

# Date Owner Architect Contractor Description Valuation

B651 2/15/1939 Tulsa-Santa

Monica Corp. William E.

Foster Tulsa-Santa Monica

Corp. 62 Family Apartment 200,000

B4053 5/21/1948 Tulsa-Oklahoma

Corp. Santa Monica

Remodeling Co. Alteration - Patio 5,000

B9885 8/31/1951 Shangri-La Hotel Santa Monica Neon

Co. Neon Sign 600

B21495 4/2/1957 Shangri-La Hotel

Apts. Peter Whitehill

(Eng.) Paddock Pools, Inc. Swimming Pool 3,300

B23817 5/12/1958 Tulsa-Santa

Monica Corp. Tulsa-Santa Monica

Corp. Install 2 Signs 500

B51787 2/22/1979 Shangri-La Garden

Hotel James Mount Basement Alterations 5,000 55640 1/20/1983 W.W. Baureich Western Homestead Fire Depart Requir 3,000

59043 2/10/1987 Amad Ayata Arnold E.

Foster Roy Hiljus Remove & Replace

Stair 6,000

59220 4/9/1987 Indus Investment Arnold E.

Foster Roy Hiljus Remove & Replace

Pavilion 20,000


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Lincoln Boulevard. In the 1920s and 1930s, the construction of numerous single- and multi-family residences on formerly open parcels created a dramatic imprint on the overall character of the local built environment. Many of the previously existing residences were either demolished or converted into multi-family units. In addition, the 3rd Street commercial area was burgeoning with commercial properties. By the mid 1920s, the block of the subject property was a lively mixed-use area that included both commercial and residential uses. In the 1930s, a significant minority of residences and commercial buildings were designed in the modernistic Art Deco or Streamline Moderne idiom. Extant examples of these styles constructed along Ocean Avenue include the Georgian Hotel (1415 Ocean Avenue) constructed in 1933 and the subject property, the Shangri-La Apartment Hotel, constructed in 1939.

THE SHANGRI-LA APARTMENT HOTEL

On October 30, 1938, the Los Angeles Times reported that plans were being prepared for one of the “largest apartment buildings constructed in Southern California in a decade” (Figure 11).4 A building permit for a new concrete apartment hotel for sixty-two families was filed on February 15, 1939. The developer, Tulsa-Santa Monica Corporation/F.A. Gillespie & Sons under the direction of Frank A. Gillespie, had the objective of “bringing to Santa Monica people of wealth and distinction from every part of the globe.”5 Roughly one year and $400,000 later, this objective became a reality. The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel, advertised as “America’s New Design for Living” opened on May 1, 1940 (Figure 12).6

Frank A. Gillespie, a rancher, oilman, and president of F.A. Gillespie & Sons of Tulsa, Oklahoma, spent his summers in Santa Monica. On July 5, 1950 he died at the Shangri-La Hotel.7

William E. Foster, a Beverly Hills-based architect and building investment counselor whose office was in the Beverly Hills’ Bank of the America Building, was the architect of record for the Shangri-La Apartment Hotel. Mr. Foster was educated at Yale University and Columbia University’s School of Architecture. Following his graduation, he worked as a draftsman in the office of McKim, Mead and White where he participated in the design of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition of 1915 in San Francisco.8 He subsequently worked for two years under Bertram Goodhue as a designer for the San Diego’s Panama-California Exposition of 1915.9 Upon completion of his work in San Diego, Mr. Foster relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he specialized in ecclesiastical design.10 Two of his churches are Church of the Covenant (Erie, Pennsylvania) and Church of the Tabernacle (Indianapolis,

4 Los Angeles Times, “Apartment House to Rise at Santa Monica,” October 20, 1938, pg. E2. 5 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 14. 6 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13. 7 Los Angeles Times, “Frank Gillespie Dies; Rancher and Oilman,” July 6, 1950, p. A7. 8 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 18. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid.


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Indiana).11 Mr. Foster eventually left Cleveland, returning west and settling in Southern California. Current research has identified three local properties attributed to Foster: 423 Ocean Avenue (American Colonial Revival style apartment building, ca. 1936/1950); 212 San Vicente Boulevard (a two-story, Streamline Moderne style apartment building, ca. 1937); and 1730 Wilshire Boulevard (the Gothic Revival style Pilgrim Lutheran Church, ca. 1953).12 In addition, Foster designed two buildings that are no longer extant: the Ocean Wilshire apartment building (Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard), and the Olympic Auto Hotel (Olympic and Lincoln Boulevard).13 Of all these buildings, Mr. Foster’s Shangri-La Apartment Hotel appears to be the best example of his known body of work. The building has been identified by architectural historians Paul Gleye, David Gebhard, and Robert Winter as a key example of Streamline Moderne style architecture in the Los Angeles area.

Shangri-La is a fictional locale described by author James Hilton in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon.14 In this novel, Shangri-La was an isolated earthly paradise populated by immortal and ageless residents. Four years after the novel was published, the film adaptation of Lost Horizon, directed by Frank Capra, premiered.15 In the wake of the Great Depression, Americans were taken with the idyllic imagery and exoticism of Shangri-La.

Built during the prolonged economic recovery from the Great Depression, the Shangri-La Hotel was recognized as the first “Class A” apartment building that was erected in Los Angeles County since the 1929 stock market crash.16 Architect William E. Foster designed a unique, high-quality building that was distinguished from other contemporary hotels (Figure 13 and Figure 14). In a 1940 Evening Outlook article, Mr. Foster stated, “there are buildings in Europe and South America that at first glance suggest the Shangri-La because of their modern treatment, actually, as far as we know there is no other building like it in plan and arrangement.”17

The building’s innovative design maximized open air circulation and views. Lacking interior halls, the building incorporated ocean breezes as a cooling element. In addition, the building’s L-shaped plan provided every room with both west-facing ocean and east-facing interior patio views. Originally constructed as apartments, the first five floors had nine double apartments and two bachelor apartments, with five luxury apartments on the sixth floor, and two penthouses on the seventh floor. The bedrooms and living areas were located along the building’s Ocean Avenue and Arizona Avenue facades with kitchenettes at the rear of the units.

11 Ibid. 12 Ibid. 13 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 18. 14 http://www.losthorizon.org/ accessed May 14, 2009. 15 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029162/ accessed May 14, 2009. 16 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13. 17 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 18.


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The firm of W. E. Ballard, Interiors, designed the building’s original interior architecture, which included contemporary amenities and decorative arts constructed of high-quality materials. The “Modern of California” furniture line designed by Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky, finished in a new “wheat” finish and produced by Heywood-Wakefield, was selected by interior decorators Green & Hinckle to furnish the building’s interior. (Figure 15). Each room had a kitchenette with modern gas and electric appliances (Figure 16), specialty lighting designed by the Colonial Lamp Studio, draperies designed by L.L. Frandsen, individually controlled built-in wall heaters (Figure 17), and Armstrong linoleum.18

The property has functioned both as an apartment and hotel, providing extended stay accommodations for guests and as a contemporary daily-rate hotel. During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), a military aviation arm of the U.S. Army, used the Shangri-La Hotel as a rehabilitation station. The Los Angeles Times reported on August 8, 1948 that a $125,000 improvement was completed after the USAAF vacated the property.19 Despite the change in use that occurred during World War II, the minimally altered exterior of the Shangri-La Hotel exhibits a high level of integrity (Figure 18).

RECREATION, LEISURE AND HOTELS IN SANTA MONICA

Santa Monica’s seaside location, mild climate, and proximity to Los Angeles were promoted by early entrepreneurs as key elements in the area’s promise as a beachfront attraction. During the 1870s, the first hotel constructed in Santa Monica was located in the Santa Monica Canyon, a popular camping area.20 As the area expanded in population, the Santa Monica Hotel, constructed in 1875 at the corner of Railroad (Colorado) and Ocean Avenue, served as housing for workers who built the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad from Santa Monica to Inyo County. The Railroad failed in the late 1870s. Tourism subsequently declined and, as a result, the Santa Monica Hotel closed, only to reopen in 1883.21

By the mid-1880s, tourism in Santa Monica was booming again. Roughly 2,000 to 3,000 tourists visited Santa Monica in the summer of 1887.22 The owner of the former Santa Monica Hotel, J. W. Scott, constructed a massive new hotel, the Arcadia Hotel, in 1887, located near the site of the original Santa Monica Hotel at the corner of Ocean Avenue between Colorado and Pico Boulevard.23 The luxurious Arcadia Hotel had 125-rooms and featured the latest amenities; however, the wood building was not properly maintained and was condemned and demolished in 1908. During the 1890’s, numerous small-scale hotels were constructed, including Hotel Jackson in the Keller Block (1893), the Windermere across from the Los Angeles and Pacific Railway Depot, the Ocean View House (converted into 18 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13. 19 Los Angeles Times, “Beach Apartment Hotel Approved,” August 8, 1948, p. E4. 20 Evening Outlook, “SM Hotels: Luxury Within Limits,” May 17, 1975, pgs. 11C-12C. 21 Scott, Paula A. Santa Monica: A History on the Edge. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004, pgs. 62-

63. 22 Scott, Paula A, pg. 63. 23 Scott, Paula A, pg. 63.


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apartments) on Ocean Avenue between Santa Monica Boulevard and Arizona Avenue, and St. Mark’s Hotel (currently art studios). As tourists flocked to the ocean, hotels and seaside attractions were constructed to attract and entertain, such as the Santa Monica Bathhouse (1877), the North Beach Bathhouse (1894), Camera Obscura (1899), Gateway to the Ocean Park Pier (1905), the Ocean Park Bath House (1905), and the Santa Monica Pier (1909).24

A 1907 Los Angeles Guidebook described the many attractions of Santa Monica, which had become one of the most popular seaside towns in Los Angeles,

Located on a high bluff, one hundred feet above the sea level, this quaint and charming resort looks down into beautiful wooded canyons and over a placid sea. . . As a town Santa Monica can point with pride to its school system, its churches, its public buildings, and its long driveways. It has a system of boulevards perfect for automobiling, which communicates with interesting points inland and with the beaches beyond. Travelers can always delight in the calla lilies and the acres of carnations which bloom in all seasons. Its hotels are picturesque and comfortable, and though it is the oldest it is also one of the most modern of the seaside watering places.25

During the late 1920s, a new wave of hotel construction commenced in Santa Monica. These hotels were typically aimed at the upper classes: the Carmel Hotel at 201 Broadway was constructed in 1922, the Casa Del Mar at 1910 Ocean Way was constructed in 1927, and the Georgian Hotel at 1415 Ocean Avenue was constructed in 1933. King C. Gillette converted the Miramar, a three-story Victorian house, ca. 1899, located at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Nevada (Wilshire Boulevard) into a hotel in 1921. A six-story building addition was added to the Miramar in 1924. With the construction of these exclusive hotels, amusements proliferated, such as the Santa Monica Pleasure Pier (1916) along with the La Monica Ballroom (1924) and various exclusive beach clubs that were constructed during the 1920s.

As was true of other tourist communities throughout the United States, the stock market crash in 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression adversely affected hotels and amusements in Santa Monica. With the downturn of tourism, the Santa Monica Amusement Company was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1935. The construction of hotels in Santa Monica was limited, and included the Georgian Hotel (Windemere Hotel, 1931) and Shangri-La Apartment Hotel (1939).

STREAMLINE MODERNE STYLE

Following the height of the Art Deco style in the early 1930s, the Streamline Moderne style was an economic and stylistic response to the ravaging effects of the Great Depression. A new style was needed to express optimism and a bright look toward the future. Streamline Moderne style structures continued to suggest modern values of movement and rejection of historic precedents, but with far less opulence and more restraint than the Art Deco style of

24 Scott, Paula A, pg. 63. 25 National Education Associates. Los Angeles a Guidebook. 1907.


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the late 1920s and early 1930s. Yet the Streamline Moderne style differed from the “High Art Modern Architecture” of the early 1930s in that it,

…continued to regard design as ‘styling’ and that architecture should represent or perform as an image rather than be a used as a space to radically change ones everyday life. The boosters of Streamline Moderne argued that their purpose was not to create an architecture that functioned in the same way as the ocean liner, airplane, or locomotive; rather, the buildings would symbolize those things and therefore remind one of the ‘modern’ future.26

Streamline Moderne style architecture took its cue from the emerging field of industrial design and borrowed imagery from things swift and free – in particular, the ocean liner. The Streamline Moderne style of the Shangri-La Hotel reflects the national trends of the style which reached its height during the early 1940s and continued in use into the early 1950s.

STREAMLINE MODERNE COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE

Streamline Moderne commercial architecture was relatively common in Santa Monica during its period of significance, dating from 1930 to 1950. One of few extant commercial buildings is J. C. Penney’s at 1202 3rd Street, designed by M. L. Anderson in 1948. Other Streamline Moderne style commercial buildings constructed in Santa Monica were Ralph’s Grocery, 1301 3rd Street (1935, Architect Morgan, Walls, and Clements); Merle Norman Building, 2525 Main Street, (1936, Architect H. G. Thursby); City Hall, 1685 Main Street, (1938, Architect Donald Parkinson); Shangri-La Hotel, 1301 Ocean Avenue, (1940, Architect William E Foster); Llo-da-mar Bowl, 507-517 Wilshire (1940, Architect W. Douglas Lee); and the Moderne Santa Monica Medical Center, 1137 2nd Street, (1941, Engineer W. D. Coffey).

The Shangri-La Hotel, constructed in 1939, falls within the 1930 to 1950 period of significance of Streamline Moderne style architecture in Santa Monica.

STREAMLINE MODERNE APARTMENT HOTELS

Apartment hotels designed in the Streamline Moderne style are rare in the City of Santa Monica, the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the United States at large. There are no other examples within Santa Monica. However, the Georgian Hotel at 1415 Ocean Avenue, ca. 1931, is an extant example of its stylistic precursor, the Art Deco style.

Streamline Moderne style apartment hotels are rare in Los Angeles. There are several good examples of other property types built in style’s precursor, the Art Deco style, which often had commercial rather than residential or hotel uses.27 One of the largest national 26 Patrick Pascal, Kesling. Modern Structures Popularizing Modern Design in Southern California 1934-

1962, (Los Angeles: Balcony Press, 2002), 10. 27 Extant Art Deco style commercial buildings include the Eastern Columbia Building (1930) at 849 S.

Broadway, Los Angeles; The Egyptian Theatre (1922) 6712 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood; and The Oviatt Building and Penthouse (1928) 617 South Olive St, Los Angeles.


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concentrations of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne-style hotels is located in Miami Beach, Florida’s National Register-listed Art Deco Historic District. The Art Deco Historic District reflects South Florida’s prosperity between 1935 to 1941, after the end of the Great Depression. Examples of Streamline Moderne style hotels in Miami Beach include the Crescent Hotel (ca. 1938), the Congress Hotel (ca. 1936); and the Raleigh Hotel (ca. 1940).28 Another example of a hotel in the Streamline Moderne style, The Normandie Hotel (ca. 1942) in San Juan, Puerto Rico was inspired by the design of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique ocean liner, the SS Normandie (Figure 19).29

Because there are so few extant examples of Streamline Moderne style hotels in Santa Monica, Los Angeles and the United States at large, the Shangri-La Hotel appears to be a rare example of a historical type, a hotel in the Streamline Moderne style.

EVALUATION OF SIGNIFICANCE

PERSON(S) OF HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE

Frank A. Gillespie was the original owner and developer of the Shangri-La Hotel. Mr. Gillespie, a successful rancher, oilman, and president of F.A. Gillespie & Sons of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was in his early 70s at the time of the Shangri-La Hotel’s opening in 1940. The Hotel does not appear associated with Mr. Gillespie’s productive life as a rancher and oilman. Current research revealed little information about Frank A. Gillespie and the Shangri-La Hotel appears to have been his only hotel development. Mr. Gillespie owned and operated oil wells near Tulsa, Oklahoma and Houston, Texas. He also owned extensive herds of cattle at Gila Bend and Tishomingo, Oklahoma.30 No further information was found in regard to Mr. Gillespie that supports a level of significance sufficient to meet City Landmark criterion 9.36.100(a) (3).

In addition, review of city directories to identify the occupants of the Shangri-La Hotel did not identify any persons of significant historical importance (see Appendix).

STATEMENT OF OTHER SIGNIFICANCE

No other evidence was discovered in current research of the property to indicate other significance.

IS THE STRUCTURE REPRESENTATIVE OF A STYLE IN THE CITY THAT IS NO LONGER PREVALENT?

The Streamline Moderne style is no longer prevalent in the City. Based upon a review of the City’s Historic Resources Inventory and a windshield survey of Santa Monica’s commercial areas, it appears that there are several good examples in Santa Monica of commercial 28 Linda K. Williams. South Florida: A Brief History. Accessed May 13, 2009.

http://www.hmsf.org/history/south-florida-brief-history.htm 29 Normandie Hotel, Accessed May 15, 2009. http://www.normandiepr.com/ 30 Los Angeles Times, “Frank Gillespie Dies; Rancher and Oilman,” July 6, 1950, p. A7.


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buildings in the Streamline Moderne style. These buildings include the include the Merle Norman Building at 2525 Main Street (Architect H. G. Thursby, 1936); City Hall at 1685 Main Street (Donald Parkinson, 1938); and J. C. Penney’s at 1202 3rd Street (M. L. Anderson, 1948). In comparison to these properties, the Shangri-La Hotel remains distinguished as an excellent example of a building in the Streamline Moderne style.

DOES THE STRUCTURE CONTRIBUTE TO A POTENTIAL HISTORIC DISTRICT?

The structure does not contribute to a potential historic district.

CONCLUSION

In summary, based on current research and the above assessment, the property located at 1301 Ocean Avenue appears to meet City of Santa Monica Landmark Criteria 9.36.100(a)(1), 9.36.100(a)(4), and 9.36.100(a)(6). The property was evaluated according to statutory criteria as follows:

LANDMARK CRITERIA

9.36.100(a) (1) It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.

The property appears to satisfy this criterion. The subject property, a Streamline Moderne style hotel, manifests the cultural, economic and architectural history of Santa Monica in its historical type and architecture. The building, an apartment hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is a 1930’s era example of Santa Monica’s recreation and leisure industry history. As was true of other tourist communities throughout the United States, the Great Depression adversely affected hotels and amusements in Santa Monica. Built during the prolonged economic recovery in the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Shangri-La Hotel is one example of Santa Monica’s economic recovery during the 1930s. The Shangri-La Hotel was recognized as the first “Class A” apartment building that was erected in Los Angeles County since the 1929 stock market crash.31

The Shangri-La Hotel also manifests the prevalent architectural style of its era. Following the height of the Art Deco style in the early 1930s, the Streamline Moderne style was an economic and stylistic response to the effects of the Great Depression. A new style was needed to express optimism and a bright look toward the future. In the 1930s, a significant minority of residences and commercial buildings in Santa Monica were designed in the modernistic Art Deco or Streamline Moderne idiom. Architect William E. Foster designed a unique, high-quality building that was distinguished from other contemporary hotels. The building’s innovative design maximized open air circulation and views. Apartment hotels designed in the Streamline Moderne style are rare in the City of Santa Monica, the City of Los Angeles, the State of California, and the United States at large. The Shangri-La Hotel remains distinguished as an excellent example of a building in the Streamline Moderne style

31 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13.


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and is the only example of a hotel designed in this style in Santa Monica. In addition, the property is representative of only a handful of Streamline Moderne style hotels in California. As a result, the property is unique in exemplifying the cultural, architectural and economic history of the City of Santa Monica. The subject property appears to satisfy this criterion.

9.36.100(a) (2) It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. This hotel is an excellent example of the Streamline Moderne style, and evokes the design of a modern ocean liner through the overall stacked massing, pipe railings, fenestration, and grooved “speed lines.” The Shangri-La embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to the study of the Streamline Moderne style, but the sum of the Streamline features do not possess artistic or aesthetic value to be eligible under criterion 2. Although the ocean liner characteristics are representation symbolizing modernity, the features all have a functional architectural nature. Therefore, the nature of the ocean liner aesthetics cannot be differentiated from its role as architecture.

Furthermore at construction, the building’s interior design reflected the Streamline Moderne style in overall design scheme and decorative arts. As is typical of hotels seeking to remain current regarding the latest design trends and styles, the building’s interior has been remodeled repeatedly since construction. As a result, the subject property lacks sufficient aesthetic or architectural value necessary for designation under this criterion.

9.36.100(a) (3) It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.

The resource does not appear to meet this criterion. Current research does not indicate that the building is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state, or national history.

9.36.100(a) (4) It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.

The property appears to satisfy this criterion. The subject property is an excellent representation of the Streamline Moderne style. The Shangri-La Hotel incorporates the massing, flat roof, stucco finish, metal casement fenestration, and horizontality associated with the Streamline Moderne style. As a hotel in the Streamline Moderne style, the Shangri-La Hotel is one of the few extant examples of its property type and style within the City of Santa Monica, the City of Los Angeles, and the United States. The Shangri-La Hotel is therefore significant as an example of the style at the local, regional, and national level. The Shangri-La Hotel appears to satisfy this criterion as a rare, extant example of the Streamline Moderne style.


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In addition, the property appears to meet this criterion as a rare example of a historical type, a Streamline Moderne Apartment Hotel. It is the only example of its historical type in Santa Monica, and is one of only a handful of examples in California.

9.36.100(a) (5) It is a significant or a representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.

The subject property appears eligible for local landmark designation under this criterion William E. Foster was a notable local architect, who designed several important buildings in Santa Monica, including the subject property, 423 Ocean Avenue (American Colonial Revival style apartment building, ca. 1936/1950); 212 San Vicente Boulevard (a two-story, Streamline Moderne style apartment building, ca. 1937); and 1730 Wilshire Boulevard (the Gothic Revival style Pilgrim Lutheran Church, ca. 1953). In addition, Foster designed two buildings that are no longer extant: the Ocean Wilshire apartment building (Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard), and the Olympic Auto Hotel (Olympic and Lincoln Boulevard).32 Based on existing documentation and extant buildings designed by William E. Foster, the Shangri-La Apartment Hotel is an excellent example of his known body of work. At the time of construction, the Shangri-LA was recognized in the major architectural periodicals, including California Arts and Architecture and Architectural Concrete. Therefore, the Shangri-La Apartment Hotel is eligible under this criterion as a rare and outstanding example of a notable architect’s work.

9.36.100(a) (6) It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.

The property appears to satisfy this criterion. The Shangri-La Hotel’s massing and proportions on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Arizona Avenue is a notable visual feature. As a result, the Shangri-La Hotel is an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood.

32 Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 18.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Architectural Concrete, “Design of the Shangri-La,” (6.4) 1940, pgs. 2-6.

California Arts and Architecture, “Hotel Shangri-La, a new apartment looks to the sea: William E. Foster, architect, W.E. Ballard, interiors,” (57) May 1940, pgs. 30-31.

City of Santa Monica Building and Safety Department. Building Permits.

City of Santa Monica Historic Resources Inventory: Phase 3 Survey, 1994.

Evening Outlook, “Building to Have Novel Design,” February 18, 1939.

Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pgs. 13-18.

Gebhard, David and Von Breton, Harriette. Los Angeles in the Thirties: 1931-1941, Santa Monica: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc, 1989.

Gebhard, David and Winter, Robert. An Architectural Guidebook to Los Angeles, Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith Publisher, 2003.

Gray, Barbara Bronson. 120 years of medicine: Los Angeles County, 1871-1991. Houston: Pioneer Publications, 1991.

Los Angeles County Tax Assessor. Property Information Records.

Los Angeles Times, “Projects Slated in Santa Monica,” March 29, 1936, pg. F1.

Los Angeles Times, “Projects Slated in Santa Monica,” March 29, 1936, p. F1.

Los Angeles Times, “Twelve Apartment Projects Estimated to Cost $252,600,” May 9, 1937 pg. E6.

Los Angeles Times, “Twelve Apartment Projects Estimated to Cost $252,600,” May 9, 1937, pg. E6.

Los Angeles Times, “Apartment House to Rise at Santa Monica,” October 20, 1938, pg. E2.

Los Angeles Times, “Beach Apartments Being Completed,” April 21, 1940, pg. E4.

Los Angeles Times, “Benton Corp. at Helm of Hotel Shangri-La,” December 8, 1940, pg. E3.

Los Angeles Times, “Beach Clubs House Flyers: Swank Spots Along Santa Monica Strand Now Aid War Effort,” January 9, 1944, pg. A1.

Los Angeles Times, “Army Takes Three More Santa Monica Hotels: Shangri-La, Miramar, and Ocean Palms Added to Army Air Forces Redistribution Center,” January 19, 1944, pg. A2.


page 14

Los Angeles Times, “Santa Monica Station Helps Readjust Flyers,” July 16, 1945, pg. A1.

Los Angeles Times, “Beach Apartment Hotel Improved,” August 8, 1948, pg. E4.

Los Angeles Times, “Frank Gillespie Dies; Rancher and Oilman,” July 6, 1950, pg. A7.

Los Angeles Times, “Obituary: Frank A. Gillespie,” July 7, 1950, pg. B7.

Los Angeles Times, “12 SM Buildings OKd as Fallout Shelters,” January 27, 1963, pg. WS_A13.

McMillan, Elizabeth. Deco & Streamline Architecture in L.A., Atglen: Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2004.

New York Times, “At the Shangri-La, Beverly Hills Seems Far Away,” July 13, 1987

Pascal, Patrick. Modern Structures Popularizing Modern Design in Southern California 1934-1962, Los Angeles: Balcony Press, 2002.

Polk. Polk’s Santa Monica City Directory. Los Angeles, (various years).

Rollins, Bill, Los Angeles Times, “Streamline Moderne Architecture in Santa Monica,” June 19, 1983, p. N1.

Scott, Paula A. Santa Monica: A History on the Edge. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2004.

Warren, Charles Sumner. Santa Monica Community Book. Santa Monica: Cawston, 1953.

PCR, Services Corp. Final Initial Study and Neighborhood Impact Study (Mitigated Negative Declaration): Hotel Shangri-La. May 2006.


page 15

CITY DIRECTORY RESEARCH

1301 Ocean Avenue

Year Occupant 1940 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel

- Green CD - Tulsa – Santa Monica Corp

1947-48 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Blakslee Edwin - Murdock LA Mrs.

1952-53 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Smith Walter A

1954 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Smith Walter A

1958-59 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Green Chas H Real Estate

1960-61 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Grover CW - Morin LO - Turner Chas - Green Marcilyn Mgr - Green CD - Codderis Victor - Card MS Mrs.

May 1965 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Oliver, Roda - Miller, J - Jacobs, Frances - Pratt, Irene F - Card, MS - Steigler, B - Myers, Mrs Kathryn S - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Janss, Marlowe C

APR 1966 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel - Jacobs, Frances - Card, MS - Reeder, Helen W - Steigler, B - Myers, Mrs Kathryn S - McEvoy, John H - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Janss, Marlowe C


page 16

Year Occupant APR 1967 Shangri-La Apartment Hotel

- Steigler, Bess - Miller, J - Jacobs, Frances - Card, MS - Robinson, GE - McEvoy, John H - Morin, LO - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Saventick, David

APR 1968 - Miller, J - Jacobs, Frances - Steigler, Bess - Meraw, Emily - Robinson, GE - McEvoy, John H - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Savetnick, David

APR 1969 - Jacobs, Frances - Steigler, Bess - O Leary, Josephine - Brennan, Mary C - Meraw, Emily - Gilfillan, S Colum - Robinson, GE - Savetnick, David - McEvoy, John H - Herbst, Grace - Scott, Margaret W - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Federated Investors

APR 70 - Jacobs, Frances - Steigler, Bess - O Leary, Josephine - Meraw, Emily - Gilfillan, S Colum - Robinson, GE - Savetnick, David - Herbst, Grace - Scott, Margaret W - Pindler, Matthew - Duhig, Mrs Walter L - Eisemann, Richard

ATTACHMENTS

Assessor’s Map

Assessor’s Index Map

Sanborn Map 1887

Sanborn Map 1891

Sanborn Map 1895

Sanborn Map 1909

Sanborn Map 1918

Sanborn Map 1950

Current Photographs

Historic Photographs

Streamline Moderne Hotels

Assessor’s Map

Assessor’s Index Map

Sanborn Map 1887

Sanborn Map 1891

Sanborn Map 1895

Sanborn Map 1909

Sanborn Map 1918

Sanborn Map 1950

Current Photographs

Figure 1. North and west elevation, view southeast

Figure 2. Northwest primary entrance, view southeast

Figure 3. West and south elevation, view northeast

Figure 4. North and east elevation, view southwest

Figure 5. East elevation, view west

Figure 6. South and east elevations, view northwest

Figure 7. Left: Interior lobby, view northwest, 2009; Right: Interior lobby, view northwest, crica 1940 (California Arts and Architecture, “Shangri-La Hotel, a new apartment looks to the sea: William E. Foster, architect, W.E. Ballard, interiors,” (57) May 1940, pg.30.)

Figure 8. Top: Interior lobby, view northwest, circa 2009; Bottom: Interior lobby, view southwest, circa 1940 (Top: http://www.shangrila-hotel.com/photos/, accessed September 30, 2009; Bottom: California Arts and Architecture, “Shangri-La Hotel, a new apartment looks to the sea: William E. Foster, architect, W.E. Ballard, interiors,” (57) May 1940, pg.30.)

Figure 9. Left: Interior lobby, view northeast, 2009; Right: Interior lobby, view northeast, circa 1940

(Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13.)

Historic Photographs

Figure 10. Corner of Arizona Avenue and Ocean Avenue looking North, across the street from the Shangri-La Hotel. Circa 1895. (LAPL Image Collection)

Figure 11. Los Angeles Times, “Apartment-House to Rise at Santa Monica,” October 30, 1938, p. E2.

Figure 12. Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 13.

Figure 13. California Arts and Architecture, “Shangri-La Hotel, a new apartment looks to the sea: William E. Foster, architect, W.E. Ballard, interiors,” (57) May 1940, pg.30.

Figure 14. California Arts and Architecture, “Shangri-La Hotel, a new apartment looks to the sea: William E. Foster, architect, W.E. Ballard, interiors,” (57) May 1940, pg.31.

Figure 15. Green & Hinkle, Inc. and Heywood-Wakefield Co. Ad for the Shangri-La Interior Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pgs. 13-18.

Figure 16. Shangri-La Kitchenette Photograph (Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pgs. 17.)

Figure 17. Andrews Heating Co. Ad for the Vented Circulating Wall Unit Used in the Interior of the Shangri-La (Evening Outlook, “The Shangri-La Apartment Hotel,” April 30, 1940, pg. 14.)

Figure 18. Shangri-La Apartments, 1301 Ocean Avenue (corner of Arizona and Ocean Avenues), Santa Monica, Calif. Circa 1958 (SMPL Image Collection)

Streamline Moderne Hotels

Figure 19. Other hotels in the Streamline Moderne style. The Crescent Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida and the Normandie Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Documents

1301 Ocean Shagrila Landmark Assessment Revised€¦ · Shangri-La Hotel City Landmark Assessment and Evaluation Report page 2 The hotel has a curved primary entrance located at the