THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO JOINED US FOR LAST NIGHT’S PRESENTATION!

It was an excellent event with wonderful speakers! Not able to attend? No worries! We have a recording of the event as well as some special full-length interviews.

On Thursday, March 10 we offered a presentation on this Millard Sheets mid-century, New Formalist building and its Hollywood history-themed stained glass and mosaic tile artwork. The presentation was given by Katie Ahmanson, the great, great-niece of Howard Ahmanson, the founder of Home Savings and Loan. You will also learn about the deep connection that 1500 N. Vine Street has to the “barn” that currently houses the Hollywood Heritage Museum! Joining her was architect and architectural historian Alan Hess, as well as Adam Arenson, author of Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California. In addition, the President of The Ahmanson Foundation, Bill Ahmanson, also joined the panel, to add another layer to the presentation.

REPLAY BELOW

ADDITIONAL FULL INTERVIEWS WITH ADAM ARENSON and SANDY STEWART

We’re thrilled to report that the Cultural Heritage Commission voted unanimously and enthusiastically to take our application for Historic Cultural Monument designation under consideration this morning following Kathryn Ahmanson’s presentation on her great, great uncle’s Home Savings and Loan, Millard Sheets designed building at Sunset and Vine. Step two is a second hearing Cultural Heritage. You can still write a support letter - so check out how to do that below!

WE STILL NEED YOUR HELP FOR THE HCM NOMINATION!

Hollywood Heritage is proposing the Home Savings and Loan Building (CHC-2021-10737-HCM) on 1500 - 1518 Vine Street (Vine and Sunset) be designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) by the city of Los Angeles. It is the current home of Chase Bank. 

Why support this nomination? Because not only is the site itself the location of significant developments in the history of Hollywood, but it is also the home to works of art that celebrate the incredible heritage of creativity that Hollywood is famous for. 

A Vision Beyond a Simple Bank Building. 

Howard Ahmanson had a vision for his Home Savings and Loan banks. He wanted buildings that would still be exciting to customers 75 years on - something timeless, yet modern. He commissioned over 150 locations but did not live to see them all completed. 

Ahmanson hired the Los Angeles-based architectural designer, painter, and muralist Millard Sheets to execute the assignment of developing a new look for Home Savings and Loan in the mid-20th century. Sheets’ Studio created a jewel box design in the New Formalist style of architecture. What this means is that the building was isolated on the property - like a jewel - and the design was characterized by classical ornaments on a basic modern frame.

The first of the New Formalist Home Savings and Loan buildings opened in Beverly Hills in 1956. Surveyed customers were wild about the bank, responding that “They wanted to be associated with something beautiful.”

Unique Murals Celebrating the Lineage of Hollywood

For Hollywood’s branch, which opened in 1968, Sheets was able to make it a monument to the community with the incorporation of artworks that spoke to the historic significance of the Hollywood site where film, radio, and television history were made.

1500 Vine Street is just south of - and shared the same lot as - where a very famous barn (now the Hollywood Heritage Museum) was once situated. The barn became Jesse Lasky and Cecil B. DeMille’s silent film studio in 1913 and was where the first full-length feature film was shot in 1915. The film The Squaw Man is celebrated in a Millard Sheets mural inside the bank, depicting DeMille directing and imagery from four of the scenes of the film.

Another of the building’s character-defining outside features is the granite Mosaic Movie montage, rendered in strips that reference strips of film. It depicts some of the legends of silent cinema as characters from famous roles. Stars range from Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks to Chaplin, Dolores Del Rio, Bette Davis as well as Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins, a nod to her then-recent role in the 1964 film. Even more star names are etched into dark stone strips that alternate with lengths of white travertine.

On the backside of the building, where patrons entered from the parking lot, is a stunning stained glass mural depicting chase scenes in movies that range from the Keystone Cops to Moby Dick. The floor-to-ceiling stained glass window is by artist Susan Hertel who was part of the Millard Sheets Studio group of artists.

In front, a 1925 Paul Manship sculpture of Europa riding Zeus, has been incorporated into a fountain on the plaza. Manship designed the iconic sculpture of Prometheus that resides at the heart of Rockefeller Center in New York City. 

A Personal Connection

Hollywood Heritage has submitted this wonderful mid-century historic building for recognition by the City of Los Angeles as a Cultural Heritage Monument. In addition, our wonderful intern Kathryn Ahmanson, who is also the great-great-grand niece of Howard Ahmanson, helped author the nomination on behalf of Hollywood Heritage. She is currently a USC grad student in Preservation and Conservation. 

SUPPORT FOR THIS IMPORTANT NOMINATION

We received an insightful and supportive letter from Adam Arenson, a Manhattan College Professor and author of the book Banking on Beauty: Millard Sheets and Midcentury Commercial Architecture in California (University of Texas Press, 2018). As a foremost expert in the creation of this important heritage monument, we appreciate his persuasive letter. We have added it HERE.

TAKE ACTION!

1) CALL IN - THE JANUARY 20th MEETING IS OVER BUT WE WILL ADD UPDATES ON HOW TO CALL INTO THE NEXT MEETING. CONTINUE BELOW FOR HOW TO WRITE A LETTER! YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL PROPOSAL TO GET BETTER INFORMED.

2) WRITE A SUPPORT LETTER

If you support the Chase Bank (Home Savings and Loan) Building being designated as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument, please send an email to the Cultural Heritage Committee and Office of Historic Resources staff, plus council district 13, listed below by Thursday, Jan 20th!

Use the sample text below. You are encouraged to personalize the letter with your own experiences with the building, murals, and sculpture. 

SAMPLE TEXT: 

Subject: Support the Hollywood Savings and Loan HCM - CHC 2021-10737-HCM

Dear Councilmember, 

Please vote to support the nomination for the Hollywood Savings and Loan Building (CHC-2021-10737-HCM), located at 1500 - 1518 North Vine Street, as a Historical-Cultural Monument. For decades this building has held the vision and heritage of Hollywood through its artwork, which celebrates the innovation and creative spark renowned throughout the world. It is essential to protect the building and its artwork for all the generations that are to come. 

A designation of HCM allows for important acknowledgment of not only the current structure but also the role this particular location has played in Hollywood throughout the decades. Please protect this treasure so that it can inspire many others. 

Thank you for your time and support. 

(Your Name)

(Your address, neighborhood, or zip code are very important if you live in the area - Council District 13)

EMAILS TO USE: 

chc@lacity.org, Craig.bullock@lacity.org, Melissa.jones@lacity.org, Ken.Bernstein@lacity.org, lambert.giessinger@lacity.org

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME SUPPORTING THIS IMPORTANT INITIATIVE!