Quote:
Originally Posted by overthere
... I ran into this wonderful house???
It's at 6720 Sunset Blvd, just east of Highland. I've seen postcards of the motel but are there any other photos of the old house??
I actually went into the 'lobby' the other week just to ask about the house. No info/luck at all. But what a wonderful feeling it was to be near such a grand structure,,, lovely.
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I haven't run across any earlier pictures of the house. It could have been moved back on its lot from Sunset at some point; an early resident (1915) was Frank A McAllister, a real estate man with an office at 6420 Hollywood Blvd. Another interesting resident was Caroline Halberstadt:
Los Angeles Times Feb 7, 1959
One wonders how the very old lady from such a background came to be living at the Hollywood Center Motel...
The motel figured in the the movie
L.A. Confidential, info that is available by googling.
A few other interesting noirish items:
An excerpt from the
Times of June 11, 1978:
This is from an article entitled "24 Hours With Rescue Vehicle 27"
From the article "New Allegations Surface in 'Billionaire' Club Murder Case" in the
Times of Dec 7, 1986:
"The name of Dean Karny, the prosecution's star witness in both cases, has come up in connection with the murder of Richard Mayer, 21, whose decomposed body was found Oct. 18 stuffed in a trunk in a room at the Hollywood Center Motel."
And from the Fall 2005 issue of
River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative, there is the story of HCM resident Michele Grey, as told by her daughter Kelly Grey Carlisle. An excerpt:
"Victim is a Hollywood prostitute who was living with three companions at the Hollywood Center Motel. At 10:00 p.m. she told her companions she was going next door to turn a trick to help pay the rent because they did not have enough money. Her friends thought she meant a hotel up the street. They did not see the victim alive again....
"This is what I know about my mother: when she was a little girl she had a cat, when she turned eight she had a birthday party. She spelled her name, Michele, with one L. On my birth certificate she spelled my middle name, Michelle, with two. She had brown hair that, like mine, shone red in the sun. She named me after a steak house by the 405 Freeway called Kelly's. She was a prostitute; she was addicted to drugs. Against all reason she carried me to term. She took care of me as best she could. She died at night, with only her murderer for company. This is what I know about my mother: I am her daughter, and her memory rests with me."
Finally, a short video of two dorks visiting the Hollywood Center Motel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=3iyAd82GcUs
