The Lotus & El Palacio apartments are historic and iconic buildings in West Hollywood. Built in the 1920’s and 1930’s and situated at the corner of La Cienega Boulevard and Fountain Avenue, the two buildings have long been bought and sold together. They are unrelated properties – sharing only a property line and a famous architect/developer.
The El Palacio was designed by William Hauptman in 1931. The list of actors and celebrities that have lived at the El Palacio reads like a who’s who of Hollywood Royalty of bygone eras – Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Dandridge perhaps the most well known. James Mason is a previous owner. Completed in 1931, El Palacio was built by William R. Hauptman, one of the earliest developers of multi-family residences in West Hollywood.
The building’s gorgeous Spanish Baroque architecture, mahogany doors, cast stone ornamentation, balconets, a tiled gable roof and gardens later earned it a place on the National Registry of Historic Places.
The Lotus Apartments, directly north of the El Palacio and well hidden behind gates and plants, was built in 1928. The Japanese-style architecture paid tribute to the Emperor of Japan with its highly stylized pagoda-like structure. Original design elements such as decorative banding, corbels, and metal cresting adorn the exterior, while peaked and undulating gables, wood window grilles, and wood-frame large picture windows with arched headers capture the essence of a bygone era. Wood balconies, panel doors with hammered doorknobs, hand-finished plaster walls, antique lanterns, and decorative Japanese metal relief insets further enhance the property’s allure.
REINBUILT was part of an investment group that purchased these 2 buildings in 2008 and was engaged to complete an historic restoration of both properties. The more minimalist modern style REINBUILT has developed since represents a real break from the detailed and elaborate ornamentation that both these properties represent.
The Nirvana, designed by Architect E. M. Erdaly represents another historic project that reinhartbuilders embarked on. The property is well known and around the corner from Grauman’s Chinese Theater. We purchased the property in 2005 and were able to get it approved for Mills Act status that year and registered as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
