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

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a metonymy, shorthand reference for the Cinema of the United States, U.S. film industry and the people associated with i ...

. 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 religious ...

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

Franklin Village Franklin Avenue is a street in Los Angeles. It is the northernmost thoroughfare in Hollywood, north of Hollywood Boulevard, and the southern border of the Hollywood Hills. It is the center of the neighborhood of Franklin Village. Franklin Avenu ...

section of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

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-genera ...

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, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle ...

Ince sold the property in 1943, and in 1951 the home was converted into a luxury retirement home called Fifield Manor. By the 1970's, 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 Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

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-Cult ...

, 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, and they purchased the building in 1973 for one million dollars.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 1990's, the buildings 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, their guests, and occasional visitors.Eat at L. Ron's
November 7, 2001,

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin, who served as president and editor until 1991. Voice Media Group sold the paper in late 2017 to Semanal Media LLC, whose pare ...

I Ate Brunch At The Scientology Restaurant And Lived To Tell The Tale
September 5, 2018,

LAist Gothamist LLC is the operator, or in some cases franchisor, of eight city-centric websites that focused on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. It was founded in 2003 by Jake Dobkin and Jen Chung. In March 2017, Joe Ricketts ...

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