Château Élysée is a 1920s replica of a 17th-century French-Normandy chateau in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

. Owned by the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religiou ...

, it is the home of Celebrity Centre International and the Manor Hotel. It is located at 5930 Franklin Avenue in the Franklin Village section of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

History

In 1927, Elinor "Nell" Ince, commissioned architect

Arthur E. Harvey Arthur E. Harvey (1884–1971) was an American architect. He designed many buildings in Los Angeles, California, including at least three on Wilshire Boulevard. Early life Harvey was born in 1884 in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a first-generati ...

and contractor Luther T. Mayo, Inc. to build a luxury long-term residential apartment house for movie stars and the film industry.Chateau Elysee Apartment Hotel, Los Angeles, CA (1928)

Pacific Coast Architecture Database The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a Public university, public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West ...

Ince sold the property in 1943, and in 1951 the home was converted into a luxury retirement home called Fifield Manor. By the 1970s, the building was slated for demolition, and was purchased by the Church of Scientology.Scientology’s Hollywood Real Estate Empire
July 21, 2011,

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

On September 23, 1987, the City of Los Angeles declared the building as a

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cul ...

, number 329, encompassing the addresses 5925-5939 Yucca Street, 5930-5936 Franklin Avenue, and 1806-1830 Tamarind Avenue.

Church of Scientology

In 1969, the building began being used by the

for its Celebrity Centre International. They purchased the building in 1973 for $1 million.The Chateau Elysee: Scientology's Celebrity Centre Before it Went Clear
April 19, 2013,

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

In the 1990s, the building and grounds were renovated, and by 2013 the value of the property was estimated at $75 million. The Manor Hotel operates on several of the floors and the rest of the building is the Celebrity Centre. Guided tours are available to the general public. The Renaissance Restaurant, located in the conservatory, has described itself as an "Award-winning five-star restaurant serving fresh organic and preservative-free French-Californian cuisine." The restaurant was previously open to the public, but it is now only open to

Scientologists Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a scam, a business, a cult, or a religion. Hubbard initially developed a set of pseudoscientif ...

, their guests, and occasional visitors.I Ate Brunch At The Scientology Restaurant And Lived To Tell The Tale
September 5, 2018,

LAist KPCC ( FM 89.3) – branded LAist 89.3 – is a non-commercial educational radio station licensed in Pasadena, California. KPCC itself is primarily serving Greater Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley; through rebroadcating and translat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chateau Elysee Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles Châteauesque architecture in the United States Scientology properties Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Hotel buildings completed in 1927 Franklin Avenue (Los Angeles)