8358 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069, USA
Designed in 1929 by architect Leland A. Bryant, the Sunset Tower (as it was originally called) set the trend from the moment it opened. Its impressive location on the Sunset Strip and elegant Art Deco style, along with its proximity to famous restaurants and nightclubs of the 1930s and 40s, contributed to its iconic status. In their guide to Los Angeles architecture, David Gebhard and Robert Winter wrote that "this tower is a first-class monument to Zigzag Moderne and as much a Hollywood emblem as the Hollywood sign itself." It is situated in a prime spot on the Sunset Strip overlooking the city and is adorned with plaster friezes depicting plants, animals, dirigibles, legendary creatures, and Adam and Eve.
Leland Bryant specialized in luxury apartments, and the Sunset Tower was his crowning achievement. To attract a discerning clientele, the latest technologies and design of the time were used in the construction of the Sunset Tower. It featured modern amenities such as electrical outlets in every bathroom for electric shavers, and the windows were enlarged to enjoy breathtaking views.
Advertising the building to Hollywood celebrities, an ad in the February 1938 issue of the "Screen Actors Guild" magazine stated: "Impeccable location – absolute privacy... The most outstanding address in Hollywood." In 1933, the Los Angeles Times published an article about the trend of creating luxury penthouse apartments in the city and noted that the Sunset Tower boasted the highest penthouse in town: "It is the highest penthouse in the city, and thanks to the location of the fifteen-story building that supports it, its tenants live on the same level as the Los Angeles City Hall tower. Imagine the view!"
West Hollywood has always catered to celebrities seeking to attract attention with star power. The tower on Sunset Boulevard in the 1930s became a symbol of the "dream factory," counting among its residents John Wayne, Billy Burke, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Errol Flynn, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Paulette Goddard, ZaSu Pitts, and even gangster Bugsy Siegel. There is a legend that John Wayne kept a cow on his balcony to have fresh milk.
Leaning over the balcony of his room in the Sunset Tower, Frank Sinatra proposed to Ava Gardner, and later held his bachelor party there. Frequent guests of the hotel included millionaire Howard Hughes, about whom director Martin Scorsese made the film "The Aviator." Truman Capote, author of "Breakfast at Tiffany's," once said: "I live in the chic Sunset Tower establishment. As the locals say, all the sins and scandals that could happen have happened here." Another spicy detail about this building: "It was famous for housing the most well-groomed call girls in Hollywood," says actress Sondra Curry, who was one of the building's residents. "Even my father looked at me strangely when I moved in there. It took some time to convince him to calm down."
In 1944, Bugsy Siegel, described by the Los Angeles Times as a "sports figure," was accused of placing bets via interstate communication in the apartment of his partner Allen Smiley in the Sunset Tower. Also present in Smiley's apartment that day were well-known actor George Raft and Siegel's sister's husband, Sol Solloway. Neither Raft nor Solloway were arrested. Siegel called it "hooliganism," and witnesses testified that Siegel and his friends were merely playing a "friendly game of gin rummy." Siegel and Smiley later pleaded guilty and paid a $250 fine.
The Sunset Tower is a Hollywood landmark. Up until the 1950s, it was as much a tourist attraction as the Hollywood sign itself. It appeared in several films, including "To Rome with Love," "Get Shorty," "The Gambler," "Freaky Friday," and "Strange Days." Its first literary mention was in Raymond Chandler's film "Farewell, My Lovely" (1940). The adaptation of this novel, "Murder, My Sweet," released four years later, was its first film adaptation. In the TV show "Cannon," the main character (played by William Conrad) lived in the tower, and the building's exterior was prominently featured throughout the series. The hotel is also used for exterior shots of the penthouse in the series "Lucifer."
The lobby is decorated with photographs of many stars from George Hurrell's collection (but John Wayne's cow is absent).
After a period of decline in the early 1980s, the building was renovated and operated as a luxury hotel under the names The St. James's Club, The Argyle, and more recently, the Sunset Tower Hotel. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
By 1982, a plan to convert the building into condominiums had failed. The building fell into disrepair and was described as "looking like something from a war-torn country." At that time, local resident Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink from "Hogan's Heroes") said about the building: "Welcome to West Beirut."
The building was saved from destruction and possible demolition when it was purchased in 1985 from architect David Lawrence Gray, FAIA, by Peter de Savary, who promised to "lovingly restore" the building to its former glory, spending $25 million to transform the building into the first American branch of his luxury hotel chain. For several years, the St. James's Club operated as a high-end hotel popular with celebrities, including David Bowie. The Lancaster Group acquired the hotel from de Savary in 1992, renaming it the Argyle. In 2006, the Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail reviewed the restored Sunset Tower and noted: "This is not a place that needs to proclaim itself 'trendy,' because its great history speaks for itself — and continues successfully to this day."
As part of the restoration, the Tower bar was rebuilt to evoke an early-century atmosphere. After the Tower bar opened, the Los Angeles Times reported that it became one of the trendiest spots in Los Angeles: "Recently, in the cozy Tower bar, Jennifer Aniston dined 10 feet away from Joaquin Phoenix, while waiters in white coats bustled between tables like actors in a Broadway musical." The New York Times also reported on the hotel's transformation. On a Friday night in mid-December, Anjelica Huston and Courtney Love came to dine with a group of more than 30 people, far more sophisticated than the teenagers wandering the Sunset Boulevard." Among other celebrities visiting the Tower bar are Sean Penn, Victoria Beckham, Tom Cruise, and Jennifer Lopez.
Vanity Fair held its Oscar party at the Sunset Tower.
Sources:
https://realty.rbc.ru/news/5c2220639a79472d99e282d0?from=copy
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-19-ca-7851-story.html
https://www.sunsettowerhotel.com/history
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-10-02-we-45434-story.html
