Hermoyne Apartments nominated for monument status
The historic apartments of Greater Wilshire are having a moment. Fresh off last month’s declaration of the Clinton Manor Apartments as a Historic-Cultural Monument comes another HCM nomination for the Hermoyne Apartments at 569 N. Rossmore Ave., submitted by local preservationist James Dastoli. Set at the gateway of Rossmore’s curvaceous procession of multi-family buildings, The Hermoyne is among the “sensational six” of historic apartment projects that line the avenue.
Built on the eve of the Great Depression, in 1929, the Hermoyne apartments were the speculative project of tycoon Herbert “H.B.” Squires, whose eponymous electronics outlets in San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles provided technical equipment to the motion picture and other major industries. Squires hired architect Leonard L. Jones to design his apartment / hotel, which would offer residents the most modern and luxurious amenities and the touch of class of an address in Hancock Park.
HERMOYNE APARTMENTS on Rossmore date back to 1929 but have all of today’s modern amenities.
It is likely that Squires chose the architect upon seeing the Castle Argyle Arms, “the finest address in Hollywood,” designed by Jones the previous year. In fact, Squires must have liked the design so much that the Hermoyne was designed as a “twin,” with an almost identical façade and shape. Designed ostensibly in a hybrid Spanish / Mediterranean Revival Style, the Hermoyne’s composition was actually quite modern, eschewing much of the historicism and frippery of more pure revival designs. With minimal ornament, smooth stucco walls, meticulous linear placement of steel casement windows, projecting bay windows, and recessed loggia balconies at its corners, Jones references the past while placing the Hermoyne in the modern age. The building required 190,000 tons of steel, costing Squires the handsome sum of $425,000.
The origins of the name Hermoyne have evaded historians, being a combination of Herbert and moyne, which comes from the Anglo-French for monk or even moon. There is an Irish town called Moyne which means “little plain.” Could Hermoyne signify “Herbert’s Land?” Whatever its origins, the Hermoyne was clearly a building on which Squires meant to put his own stamp, through the offering of modern amenities rare even in other luxury apartment housing of the time. When finished, the Hermoyne offered 54 units with subterranean parking, a heated indoor pool, private gym, tennis courts and sundeck on the roof. Services included daily maid service, with a cook, butler and chauffeur on call. Residents could utilize catering services for entertaining in the Hermoyne’s private dining and club rooms. As one brochure put it, “The Hermoyne is a truly distinctive residential apartment of unusual charm … thoroughly attuned to present day requirements for gracious living, yet every detail is consonant with the spirit of home … .” Indeed!
LOBBY of Hermoyne Apartments reflects its luxury origins.
Located in close proximity to Hollywood studios, the Hermoyne immediately catered to a celebrity crowd, with Al Jolson, Estelle Taylor, Conchita Montenegro and Ruth Etting residing there throughout the 1930s. While the apartment hotel was a resounding success, Squires woefully fell into financial difficulties during the Depression, losing the Hermoyne to Pacific States Savings and Loan by 1932. Nearly a century later, the Hermoyne remains a choice address, having survived changing hands, scandal and even a murder in the building. Now under consideration by the Cultural Heritage Commission, the Hermoyne’s nomination will next be reviewed in April.
215 S. WILTON PLACE damage was repaired, and the historic Craftsman house from 1909 was passed to new owners in November.
A new dawn for 215 S. Wilton Pl.
It is my distinct pleasure to inform my readers that 215 S. Wilton Pl. has been sold. I covered the tragic and long saga of the wanton destruction of the property’s interior following its sale in 2021 to the family of Korean popstar Samuel Arrendondo. That triggered a public outcry and one of the most robust City of Los Angeles enforcement actions by the Office of Historic Resources. The result was that the interiors were meticulously restored under the guidance of preservation architect Michele McDonough. We can only hope that the new owners have been made well aware of their obligations under the terms of their Mills Act contract and will cherish the home as much as did its former longtime owner and champion Marita Geraghty.
Category: Real Estate