Vintage Postcards
Then & Now
Formerly known as simply Gourmet Restaurant (or Beverly Gourmet), the intimate Beverly Hills eatery became part of the Frascati group in 1963 - owned by Jack Weiser.
Diners enjoyed delicious chateaubriand and crêpes suzette until 1969, when the spot briefly became the Living Room - a store selling quilts.
Two years later, the corner spot on Little Santa Monica and North Canon briefly reopened as the Carriage Shoppe - a women's fashion boutique.
The site was then home to Coldwell Banker until the 1990s when the building was drastically renovated by the Marina del Rey architectural firm, Rockefeller/Hricak.
The new tenant was Valerie Sarnelle, known as The Eyebrow Queen of Beverly Hills (who recommended eyebrows should be touched up every two or three weeks).
As someone that endorses a straight caramel-tinted brow without an arch, I'd be foolish to disagree.
FRASCATI RESTAURANT
460 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
The mid-1960's Frontier Motel had seen better days by the time it went the adult route in the 1970's.
In 1986, the Orange County motel was almost turned into a halfway house. Given the Frontier's proximity to Knott's Berry Farm and the Movieland Wax Museum (demolished in 2016), the idea was nixed. Newspapers reported that nearby Melody Manor Motel was another option to house federal prisoners while they prepared a return to society.
Today, the site has been rehabilitated as a McDonald's.
FRONTIER MOTEL
7861 Beach Blvd., Buena Park CA 90620
A Claremont institution, the first Griswold’s opened in 1962 just down the street and offered everything from dried fruits, cheese, and jams to fresh baked goods — seven days a week.
Officially known as Griswold’s Stone Cellar (previously on Bucknell Avenue), new dining facilities were added in 1964 and included The Garden Room, The Viking Room, and Copenhagen Square. The designer was Dorothy E. Cook.
Expansion continued with a hotel in 1968, followed by a new dining house and cocktail lounge three years later. The company later added locations in Redlands and Anaheim.
Local residents Alton Sanford and his wife Betty purchased the business in the 1950s and expanded. Sanford briefly turned the business over to his son in the 1980s, but competition from new hotels, plus a recession had the company filing for bankruptcy in 1992.
GRISWOLD’S
515 W Foothill Blvd, Claremont, CA 91711
Somehow, this 1947 building still stands with much of its original design in tact.
For a while, the motel was owned by a man named D. S. Nickolich, who also operated the Fortune Club in Gardena. Some time later, Palm Springs resident and sports figure Belmont Sanchez purchased the property.
HARVARD HOUSE MOTEL
5251 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90027
Originally the Highland Hall Inn, the Highland Hotel opened around 1938. Additions to the hillside structure in 1939 were done by architect Harold W. Burton.
One notable guest was William Faulkner, who rented a top-floor room with an adjoining terrace for $15 a week in the 1940s.
Became the Highland Terrace Apartments later on. Tragically, the hotel was the scene of a fatal fire in 1980. The 52-unit apartment complex was acquired by Hollywood Terrace Investments in 1982. The owners were cited for code violations in 1989 but sold the place without first repairing the violations.
The owner was later fined. Currently the Holiday Inn Express.
HIGHLAND HOTEL
1921 North Highland Avenue, Los Angeles CA
Located on a 2 ½ acre site on the corner of Airport and 98th, the Holiday Inn opened in January 1964. The eight-story hotel offered 355 guest rooms and was designed by architect David Jacobson, Jr.
Additional properties by Jacobson included; the Balboa Mission Shopping Center, the Country Cousins Newhall Lanes, and Thrifty Supermarket in Sunland.
Based in Arcadia since 1955, the New York-born architect most notably worked on a renovation of the Cal-Neva Lodge in Lake Tahoe in 1962. The casino was ready when Frank Sinatra said it would be ready.
Back at the Holiday Inn, the street level featured a travel agency, coffee shop, Dobbs restaurant, cocktail lounge, banquet room, barber, and a beauty salon. The hotel has been operated by Sheraton since 1969.
HOLIDAY INN, AIRPORT
9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045
Opened in 1963, the eight-story hotel was developed by actor Yale Wexler. Architects were Hausner & Macsai of Chicago and Los Angeles-based Maxwell Starkman.
The hotel also included El Gaucho Restaurante, with plush interiors being handled by Richard Kramer, who also applied his handiwork to Chez Voltaire in the nearby Beverly Rodeo Hotel.
By 1966, the Wilshire House became a Holiday Inn and segued into the Beverly Pavilion in 1984 (later operated by Radisson). Today, the corner spot is the upscale Sixty Beverly Hills.
HOLIDAY INN, BEVERLY HILLS
930 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90015
HOLIDAY INN, CHINATOWN
1640 Marengo Street, Los Angeles CA 90033
The 1967 Holiday Inn became the Plaza Hotel in 1985, a Howard Johnson's in 1988, and was razed to make way for the new USC Medical Center in 1997.
Built in 1958, the 29-unit Holiday Lodge on Alvarado was designed by Ashton & Wilson — also responsible for Anaheim's Wonderland Motel, and the Royal Viking Motel.
First revamped as a Vantage America Best Value Inn, the cozy motel endured another update and returned as the upscale Lexmar. Complimentary toiletries and plush towels are provided.
HOLIDAY LODGE
811 North Alvarado Street, Los Angeles CA 90026
Built in 1954, the Holloway Motel with its Colonial Revival design continues to operate as a nice place to stay.
By as late as 1970, railway tracks that used to carry Pacific Electric's "big red cars" still followed the spur line down the boulevard. The adjoining parking lot made way for International House of Pancakes in 1970.
By 1965, two high-rise buildings would occupy the background; one would be the 16-story Empire West by Daniel L. Dworsky & Associates. The $8 million building was put together by developer Sheldon Appel.
The second building was the 16-story Fountainview West, designed by Robert E. Donald & Associates. The Beverly Hills architect also designed USC's School of Library Science in 1973.
In recent years, the Holloway Motel was one of six properties recognized for historic designation by the WHPA (West Hollywood Preservation Alliance).
In 2023, the Holloway was being converted “into an interim housing and supportive services location for community members experiencing homelessness”.
HOLLOWAY MOTEL
1518 North La Brea Los Angeles CA 90028
HOLLYWOOD ASTORIA APARTMENTS
7100 Hillside Avenue, Los Angeles CA 90046
Opened in 1963, the Hollywood Astoria was described as an apartment dwelling shaped like a trapezoidal doughnut.
Built by developer Alfred Leon, the seven-story 48-unit building was designed by Beverly Hills architect Robert E. Donald and touted as the tallest building in Los Angeles utilizing the lift-slab technique.
The former Gold Medallion home has seen better days — the 'Astoria' sign has been dropped.
Built in 1952 by Phillip and David Sydel, the fairly nondescript 2-story motel is in the heart of Hollywood. The motel found itself in the news in 1964 when singer Sam Cooke was shot to death in December.
Cooke — who was found dressed in nothing but his top coat, accused a no-nonsense, barrel-toting Hacienda Motel manager of hiding his female companion — a fleeing 22-year-old woman who resided at the Hollywood La Brea Inn.
The young girl told police the singer picked her up at a nightclub (reportedly PJ’s in West Hollywood) and forced her to go to the Hacienda motel where he attempted to rape her. The story was disputed. Oddly, the hustling honey was charged with prostitution in 1965 (the case was dismissed).
And in the summer of 1975, after an eight-day search for a missing Redondo Beach child, the 18-month-old was found in a foster home, having been abandoned at the Hollywood La Brea Inn.
Adding to its impeccable reputation, the motel was the scene of an incident in January 1987 after two men pulled up to the parking lot in a cargo van. Police surmised they had argued after waiting to check in — one man shot and killed the other before committing suicide. Enjoy your stay…
HOLLYWOOD LA BREA INN
7110 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Formerly the site of Gates & Crane furniture store, the 17 unit motel was built in 1940 by the Pacific Construction Finance Company at a cost of approximately $40,000.
The motel endured its fair share of bandits and bawdy shenanigans, including one dodgy incident in 1950. With the bold headline “Slasher Strikes at Model”, the Los Angeles Times reported that 24-year-old Sherry Yvonne Duval was confronted by an overcoated visitor around 1 a.m. by repeated knocking. Miss Duval arose from her bed, "lightly clad" and was struck, in what she described as a “savage, early-morning attack”.
However, nothing remains of the building, which was demolished in 1973. The plot remained vacant for many years, until a shiny new fire station was built in 2011.
HOLLYWOOD TOWN MOTEL
5756 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90028
A proud member of the Friendships Inn of America, the 1957 U-shaped, space-age motel with 30 units was namechecked in “Big Bosoms and Square Jaws” — the illuminating 2006 biography of filmmaker Russ Meyer. The Vine was one of many hotels the director used for a tawdry rendezvous with his mistress, Janet Buxton.
Sadly, the motel — “an establishment of no pretensions”, was the place in 1977 where detectives informed the Miller family their daughter Judith was dead. The fifteen-year-old was the second victim of the Hillside Strangler.
The Vine would later succumb to the declining area in the 1990s (by that time, the motel was known for its hourly rates). It soon became the lowly Vagabond Inn, and was razed in 2013.
HOLLYWOOD VINE MOTEL
1133 Vine Street, Los Angeles CA 90038
Pasadena's newest motel opened in 1962 as the Chalet Motel. The 36-unit motor inn was the first of its kind for the Hyatt Chalet Motel chain. They soon expanded in the Southland and purchased five Paramount motels and unveiled their new coast-to-coast Hyatt Lodges line.
Other Hyatt Lodges included Tarzana, Fullerton, Long Beach, Pomona, Conejo Village, Fresno and Las Vegas.
For years, the Pasadena motel stood as the "Swiss Lodge" and then became "La Casa Inn". The A-line structure remains, yet all traces of cozy Alpine nostalgia are long gone.
HYATT CHALET MOTEL
2800 East Colorado Blvd., Los Angeles CA 91107
Developed to meet the needs of the changing patterns of industrial and commercial travel, the impressive Hyatt House hotel in the city of Commerce was that city's first high-rise building.
Built at a cost of $2.5M, the eight-story structure off the Santa Ana Freeway opened in 1964, and designed by Maxwell Starkman & Associates, with interior decor by Integrated Design Associates.
The hotel spiced things up a bit in the mid-1980s with "Sunday Afternoon Jazz" and added its own venue, "T.J. Peppercorn's II" (a name used by Hyatt since 1978).
Radisson took over the hotel in the early 1990s. The chain defaulted on loans and the place changed hands once again, this time as the Commerce Plaza Hotel (later razed).
The site remained vacant for a number of years, though new development has taken shape.
HYATT HOUSE HOTEL
6300 Telegraph Road, Commerce, CA 90040