I’ve been at this location hunting gig for a long time now but occasionally a filming site manages to fool even me! Such was the case with the famed Los Altos Apartments, the lobby of which was transformed into an elegant 1960s-era bar for an episode of the NBC drama series “Aquarius” (now streaming on Netflix). Despite my long familiarity with the building, I failed to recognize it at first glance, which, considering its iconic beauty, is rather surprising.
Located at 4121 Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles’ Windsor Square neighborhood, the striking Spanish Revival complex was designed by architect Edward B. Rust for building contractors Luther T. Mayo and Preston S. Wright of Mayo-Wright Properties, Inc. Originally conceived as a co-op comprised of 75 custom-designed, individually-owned apartments (the first of its kind on the West Coast!), the structure was completed in 1926. According to an L.A. Times article from that year, the lavish site was built at a cost of approximately $1,000,000 (and we’re talking 1920’s money!) and “established a new standard of beauty and dignity in Los Angeles apartment-house construction.”
The building also set a new level of luxury for its tenants. Early residents were treated to grand balls in the soaring lobby, hair styling in the onsite beauty salon, relaxing refuge in the rooftop solarium, tennis games on the rear court, fine dining in the in-house restaurant and parking for 100 cars in the adjacent garage. As such, the Los Altos attracted many of the movers and shakers of the day. A 1979 L.A. Times article described the building as providing “elegant shelter” to “the beautiful people of the ‘30s.” Indeed, everyone from original “It Girl” Clara Bow to two-time Oscar-winner Bette Davis to screen legend Judy Garland called the place home during its early years. William Randolph Hearst is also said to have commissioned a “lavish 10-room, six-bath suite complete with a screening room” on the premises for his longtime love Marion Davies.
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Image Credit: Zillow The Great Depression wound up bankrupting the handsome property just a few years after its grand opening and the place soon transitioned from a co-op to an apartment hotel, with units available for lease to both short and long-term guests. Though the years that followed were not kind to the building as it began to fall deeper and deeper into disrepair, it remained well-loved. Upon first coming across it in the 1970s, journalist Kristine McKenna said, “The Los Altos struck me as glamorous beyond words – five floors of slightly decayed and crumbling Spanish grandeur that reeked of Nathaniel West.”
Despite its worsening condition, the Los Altos also remained well-occupied. When reporter Suzanne Muchnic spoke to building manager Neva Szymanski in 1979, she was told the Los Altos, which by then was inhabited mainly by artists and served as a live-work building, had no vacancy. Perplexed, Neva disclosed, “I can’t understand it. We have no garbage disposals, no dishwashers or air conditioners but people keep calling.”
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Image Credit: Zillow A failed renovation attempt in the late ’80s wound up rendering the Los Altos vacant and by the early ’90s, it was facing demolition. Enter Allen Gross and his wife, Arax Harutunian, founders of the non-profit development company Neighborhood Effort, who purchased the building in 1997 and set about on a massive “seismic upgrade, restoration and rehabilitation” venture helmed by the M2A architecture firm. The extensive project was completed in 1999 and M2A garnered numerous accolades for their efforts, including the City of Los Angeles Historic Preservation Award of Excellence. Today, the Los Altos, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is a glittering representation of early Twentieth-Century architecture in L.A.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake Dotted with a smattering of palm trees and centered around a sparkling fountain, the inviting entrance courtyard dances with light. But the building’s real beauty can be found just beyond its front doors.
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Image Credit: Zillow Capped by 20-foot beamed ceilings, the Los Altos’ stunning lobby boasts ornate pillars, original ceramic tile flooring and what M2A describes as a set of “monumental stairs.” Elsewhere, mahogany doors, leaded glass and exquisite plasterwork are tucked into virtually every nook and cranny. The units themselves, which, per Apartments.com, range from 654 to 3,200 square feet and currently lease for between $2,600 to a whopping $22,000 a month, feature countless unique details from fireplaces to boiserie-clad walls to elaborate tiling.
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Image Credit: Zillow The Hearst suite (above) has also been restored to its original grandeur and, with its parquet and terrazzo flooring, carved front door and wood-paneled entry with groin vault ceiling, serves as the building’s crown jewel. The opulent four-bedroom, six-bath space, which is spread across two stories, is currently available for lease for private events as well as short-term stays.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake Thanks to its iconic neon roof signage, the Los Angeles Conservancy has deemed the Los Altos “one of the most instantly recognizable buildings on Wilshire Boulevard.” As such, it is repeatedly pegged for inclusion in productions that seek to highlight the city as a backdrop.
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Image Credit: ITV Studios Global Entertainment -
Image Credit: Zillow For the season two episode of “Aquarius” titled “Piggies,” which was set in 1968, the building’s gilded lobby was transformed into an elegant bar where Ken Karn (Brían Francis O’Byrne), the California Campaign Finance Chair for Richard Nixon, meets with an associate and discusses Bobby Kennedy’s recent assassination.
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Image Credit: ITV Studios Global Entertainment -
Image Credit: Facebook The episode made spectacular use of the space, showcasing it in a way that rendered it unrecognizable to me during my initial viewing. It was not until I took a closer look that I realized where filming of the bar scene had taken place, which illustrates the Los Altos’ immense versatility.
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Television Studios Other productions to feature the building include the 1983 sci-fi miniseries “V” on which it played the home of television reporter Kristine Walsh (Jenny Sullivan).
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Image Credit: 20th Television The locale is perhaps best known for portraying the abandoned Hyperion Hotel, aka the headquarters of Angel Investigations, throughout seasons two through four of the popular WB series “Angel.” Only the exterior of the building was utilized on the show – interiors were filmed on a set built at Paramount Studios in Hollywood.
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Image Credit: 20th Television Interestingly, about a year before it popped up as Angel Investigations, the Los Altos was featured as the home of Melissa Burns (Tushka Bergen), a stalking victim whom Angel (David Boreanaz) helps in the season one episode titled “I Fall to Pieces.”
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Image Credit: CBS Media Ventures The site masqueraded as the Rancho Verde Assisted Living Facility, where FBI agent Don Eppes (Rob Morrow) and his team arrest a forger in the season two episode of “Numb3rs” titled “Assasin.”
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios Ali Pfefferman (Gaby Hoffman) lives there on the Amazon series “Transparent.”
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Image Credit: Paramount Pictures And Amy Phillips (Alison Brie), the love interest of Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), calls the place home in the 2014 drama “The Gambler.”