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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake Incredibly, of the 37 West Hollywood buildings that Fickett designed during his lifetime, only a handful are known to currently remain standing, most leveled to make way for larger, more modern structures. Due to this unfortunate fact and the Riveria’s architectural significance, the West Hollywood Historic Preservation Commission designated it a Historic-Cultural Resource in 2010.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake As evidenced in this early image, little of the Riviera has been altered since its inception.
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty Along with the spectacular butterfly roof, the post-war-modern building, which sits steps from the famed Sunset Strip, boasts a myriad of Fickett hallmarks including a central courtyard with an irregularly-shaped pool, floor to ceiling windows, and canted balconies.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fabulous retro signage!
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty Though updated, Unit 39 sports some original detailing including a floating staircase, louvered windows, and a sloped ceiling. The top-floor corner unit also has a bonus space (currently used as a home office), storage areas, and spots for two cars (a true rarity in parking-strapped WeHo).
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake In “L.A. Story,” Sara stays at the Hollywood Riviera while in town from across the pond to write an article about Los Angeles for “The London Times.”
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake The vegetation surrounding the building certainly has grown in the almost thirty years since “L.A. Story” was filmed. Otherwise, it is very recognizable from its 1991 cameo.
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty Along with exteriors, the actual interior of Unit 38, which is pretty much a mirror image of #39, was utilized in the shoot.
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty The space’s abundance of natural light was showcased to perfection onscreen.
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty The pool and courtyard also make an appearance in the movie when Harris picks Sara up for a formal sit-down benefit dinner they are attending to raise city funds for an art museum that will not be open to the public.
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty The Hollywood Riviera also pops up as the temporary home of struggling actor Buddy Hudson (Andrew Stevens) and his wife, Angel (Catherine Mary Stewart), in “Hollywood Wives,” the salacious 1985 miniseries based on the Jackie Collins novel of the same name. The building looked quite a bit different at the time thanks to its rather drab color scheme and lack of tropical foliage.
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Image Credit: Orion Pictures The onscreen stalwart is also where Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) reside in that “most excellent” 1991 comedy “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.”
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Image Credit: New Line Cinema Detective Tania Johnson (Elizabeth Peña) lives – and dances vivaciously to KC and the Sunshine Band’s “Get Down Tonight” – at the Hollywood Riviera in 1998’s “Rush Hour.”
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Image Credit: Artisan Entertainment The building serves as the home of Elaine (Lesley Ann Warren) in Steven Soderbergh’s 1999 thriller “The Limey.”
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Image Credit: Amazon Studios And most recently, the Hollywood Riviera masked as the Shangri-La apartment complex, where Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) relocates at the beginning of the 2014 Amazon series “Transparent.”
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Image Credit: Coldwell Banker Realty To arrange a showing of Unit 39 (which could almost be considered a movie location tour!), click here or contact Michael Collins at (310)828-4200/Michael@michaelcollins.com or Allie Riley at (310)467-4567/Allie@AllieRiley.com. Prospective buyers should be sure to keep in mind that “deep sustained booming sounds” are only tolerated in the area after 9/9:15 a.m.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: The Hollywood Riviera, aka Sara’s apartment building from “L.A. Story,” is located at 1400 North Hayworth Avenue in West Hollywood. Harris’ house from the film can be found right around the corner at 1206 North Orange Grove Avenue. Disclaimer: Please remember these are both private properties. Do not trespass or bother the residents in any way.