Los Altos Apartments

Los Altos was built in 1925 and designed by Edward B. Rust and Luther Mayo. In 1999, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Spanish Colonial building began as Los Angeles' first co-op, including a 3300 square foot, two-story suite for William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies as their city flat. [cite web url=http://www.laconservancy.org/learn/historic-places/los-altos-apartments/][cite web url=http://pcad.lib.washington.edu/building/16782/]

After the co-op went bankrupt during the Great Depression, Los Altos Hotel and Apartments became luxury housing for short- and long-term tenants, including Hollywood legends like Clara Bow, Bette Davis, Mae West, Douglas Fairbanks, Ava Gardner, and Judy Garland. </ref> {cite web |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/eb2ea5a3-d738-4a7f-86cd-6be88e1f0046/ |website=National Park Service NPGallery Digital Asset Management System |access-date=May 24, 2021 |pages=9 |format=PDF}}</ref> Blake, Lindsay "Brian Francist O'Byrne Frequents an Elegant Bar Inside Los Altos Apartments on 'Acquarius (TV series)" Dirt.com/gallery/locations/filming-locations/los-altos-apartments (May 3, 2021).

Over the years the building fell into disrepair and was purchased in 1977 by Thomas Stegan who hired historical architect Raymond Girvigian to oversee asbestos removal, seismic retrofitting and cosmetic resotration. </ref> ["After 13 Years, Renovations of Los Altos Apartments is Nearing Final Stages" Larchmont Chronicle. 32nd Annual Edition, p.10.]

In the 1980s the building became a magnet for a bohemian list of residents. Jeff Ayeroff, who went on to co-found Virgin Records America and the Work Group, lived in the building as did screenwriter Becky Johnston while she wrote the scripts "Under the Cherry Moon" for Prince and "The Prince of Tides" for Barbra Streisand.[3] Artists Nancy Reese, Phil Garner, Eric Blum and Tom Shannon all rented living quarters[3] and art dealers Tom Jancar and Richard Kuhlenschmidt opened the Jancar Kuhlenschmidt Gallery in the basement of the building. New York hotshots Richard Prince and Louise Lawler had their first L.A. exhibitions there. Actor Frederic Forrest was living at the Los Altos when he turned in his critically acclaimed performance in Francis Ford Coppola's 1988 film Tucker: The Man and His Dream, as did musician Tommy Gear, who was a founding member of revered L.A. punk group The Screamers.[3]

Again, bankruptcy stopped renovations and Stagen stopped work in 1990. Tenants gradually left and Los Altos remained mostly empty because of a city-issued citation barring new tenants until the building could be brought up to the seismic code. </ref> Ponce, Jeff. "New Owner Has Big Plans for the Los Altos" Wilshire Independent vol. 31 No.44 P.1, 3 (August 28, 1996).

The virtually deserted building had become a popular site for film productions seeking iconic Los Angeles settings.The city was planning to demolish Los Altos </ref> Oldham, Jennifer. "Old Spaces, New Housing" Los Angeles Times (May 27, 2001) until 1996 when construction lawyer Larry Silverton and his partner Stephen Frankel bought it for restoration. Silverton discovered the building when it was used for a Playboy Playmate video shoot. </ref> "Who Really Saved Our Local, Historical Los Altos Apartments?" Larchmont Chronicle (August 31, 2023) sec.2,pp2-3. Their company Dakota Investment reunited the apartment building with its historic 1920s parking garage that had been split off after WW II and did the seismic retrofitting that allowed Los Altos Apartments to have tenants again.

With renovations underway, in 1997 Silverton sold the building to nonprofit Neighborhood Efforts' Allen Gross and Arax Harutunian because they could apply for government grants and raise money from private sources for a more faithful restoration of the historic buildiing </ref> Oldham, Jennifer. "Old Spaces, New Housing" Los Angeles Times. May 27, 2001. </ref> "Who Really Saved our local, historic Los Altos Apartments? Larchmont Chronicle, (August 31, 2023) sec.2, pp.2-3.

The restoration was helmed by the Los Angeles-based architectural firm M2A who rehabilitated the 75-unit structure, and restored its original decor. The firm restored or recreated Los Altos' original light fixtures, hardware, carpets, plaster work, awnings, and ornamental iron work. The rehabilitation "successfully transformed the property from a vacant, blighted, graffiti-infested building into a healthy, mixed-income building serving the very low income population as well as the market population."[4] Today, Los Altos is once again home to artists, screenwriters, and actors, among other tenants. In 1999, Los Altos received several preservation design awards from the California Preservation Foundation and the Los Angeles Conservancy. The landmark also received a Historic Preservation Award of Excellence from the city of Los Angeles.

The television series Angel prominently featured exterior shots of the Los Altos Apartments in seasons 2–4. It acted as the exterior of the Hyperion Hotel, the home and base of titular character and his friends. The Los Altos Apartments building was also featured in a season 1 episode of Angel titled "I Fall to Pieces", where it was used as both exterior and interior for the apartment building of a guest character.

In the fifth episode of the second season of the television series Numbers, titled "Assassin", the building was used as the exterior of the Rancho Verde Assisted Living building.

In the Amazon series Transparent, the character Ali lives in the Los Altos Apartments; several exteriors, including scenes in the courtyard entry, are featured in seasons 1 and 2.

In the Netflix limited series Brand New Cherry Flavor, main character Lisa Nova lives in the Los Altos Apartments, and the exteriors and sign are prominently featured throughout the series.

In Steven Paul Leiva's 2022 novel, The Reluctant Heterosexual: A Tragicomedy in Four Movements A Prelude and An Interlude, the Los Altos is the first home of the parents of the novel's protagonist, Robert Leslie Cromwell.

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Los Angeles
• List of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments in the Wilshire and Westlake areas

Media related to Los Altos Apartments at Wikimedia Commons