Security Trust and Savings, also known as Security Trust, Security Pacific Bank, Security Bank Building, and Cahuenga Building, is a historic seven-story office building on the corner of

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

and

Cahuenga Boulevard Cahuenga Boulevard () is a major boulevard in Los Angeles, California, US. It connects the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley, with a southern terminus at Rosewood Avenue in Hancock Park. It simultaneously transitions into Ventura Bo ...

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. ...

. It is notable for its architecture, its history with Hollywood, and its association with fictional detective Phillip Marlowe.

History

Security Trust and Savings was built in 1921 and upon opening was the tallest building in Hollywood. It features

Italian Renaissance revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

architecture and was designed by

John and Donald Parkinson John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Colise ...

, who also designed some of the

Los Angeles 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, ...

's most notable landmarks, including

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

and the Memorial Coliseum. Originally the Hollywood branch of the six-location Security Trust and Savings Bank, this location was considered "a power center of the entertainment industry", with clients that included

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

the Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short-subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical, farce, and slapstick comedy. Six total ...

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

, W.C. Fields,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

Howard Hughes Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American Aerospace engineering, aerospace engineer, business magnate, film producer, and investor. He was The World's Billionaires, one of the richest and most influential peo ...

, and more. In 1982, the building was included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, and in 1984, the

Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District The Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District is a historic district that consists of twelve blocks between the 6200 and 7000 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. This strip of commercial and retail busines ...

was added to the register, with Security Trust listed as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

in the district. In 1987, the building was designated

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 ...

#334. In 2008, Hollywood's Economic Development Committee received two proposals to convert the building into a hotel, and in 2020, the building was bought for $53 million by Onni Group, who plan to preserve it while redeveloping an adjoining property.

Architecture and design

Security Trust and Savings is a

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

reinforced

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

office building that features an

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

design. The building features vertical

massing Massing is the architecture, architectural term for general Shape and form (visual arts), shape, form and size of a structure. Characteristics Massing is three-dimensional, a matter of form, not just an outline from a single perspective, a s ...

with a grey

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

exterior, additional terra cotta

ornamentation An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration * Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts * Ornamental turning * Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals ...

, and a dark

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

band that anchors the building to the street. The street level facade features slightly recessed and outsized windows between wide

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

, and recessed entryways highlighted by

fluted Fluting may refer to: *Fluting (architecture) *Fluting (firearms) *Fluting (geology) * Fluting (glacial) *Fluting (paper) *Playing a flute (musical instrument) Arts, entertainment, and media *Fluting on the Hump ''Fluting on the Hump'' is the ...

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s. The Cahuenga entrance also features an ornately decorated

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

with medallions and

garland A garland is a decorative braid, knot or wreath of flowers, leaves, or other material. Garlands can be worn on the head or around the neck, hung on an inanimate object, or laid in a place of cultural or religious importance. In contemporary times ...

s supported by

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. They come in four main pairs of shapes, as given in the box to the right, which also gives their n ...

, while the Hollywood Boulevard entrance was stripped of its cornice to accommodate a sign. An ornamental

stringcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...

separates the street level from the office floors above, with the office floors featuring pairs of slightly recessed vertically banded windows separated by thin twisted fluted columns and culminating decorative

capitals Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

and a double

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

. Beneath each office window is a rectangular panel bordered with terra cotta cast in a classical motif. A flat roof with deep projecting

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

caps the structure. Cornice decorations, including sculpted lion heads and carved brackets featuring recessed floral medallions, punctuate the roof line. The "rope" effect of the twisted columns is maintained in this area by two horizontal bands, and the classical motif of the office window panels is repeated in a horizontal band below the brackets. The interior bank lobby features original marble floors and freestanding covered columns as well as restored banded marble walls and high ceilings. Much of the rest of the interior has been renovated and remodeled.

In popular culture

This building is widely believed to be the inspiration for the Cahuenga Building, a fictional building that housed the office of

Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe ( ) is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The genre originated in the 1920s, notably in '' Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett's The Cont ...

, the hardboiled detective featured in a number of

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

's stories. Additionally, The Brasher Doubloon, a film adaption of Chandler's The High Window, features this building as that location. The intersection outside this building is named Raymond Chandler Square as a tribute to the belief that Phillip Marlowe's office was located here. This building's exterior was a common filming location for and can be seen in many

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent films during the 1920s, in which he performed physical comedy and inventive stunts. He frequently ...

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many Silent film, silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influent ...

, and

films.

References

{{HBCED National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles Landmarks in Los Angeles Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Buildings and structures in Hollywood, Los Angeles Buildings and structures in Los Angeles Office buildings in Los Angeles Commercial buildings completed in 1921 1920s architecture in the United States Renaissance Revival architecture in California Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States John and Donald Parkinson buildings Hollywood Boulevard Historic district contributing properties in California

History

Architecture and design

In popular culture

See also

References