We fell in love with downtown virtually as soon as we arrived
in Los Angeles a few years ago. We’re fascinated by both how quickly and how
slowly it seems to change amid the layers of history, neglect and steps toward
gentrification. We love visiting the flower market and the garment district,
riding Angel’s Flight, spending time at the Central Library, and eagerly await
the return of Clifton’s Cafeteria. Eventually, we’d love to move our studio
somewhere downtown, but haven’t found the right place yet. One of our favorite
things, is simply to walk around, enjoying the architecture, signage, and
overall built environment under the shadow of snow-capped mountains and high
rise beaux art and moderne buildings.
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| Rosslyn Hotel neon roof signs today. |
When we first started talking about what we might want to
make as a valentine card, we kept coming back to the idea of working with the two
neon roof signs of the Rosslyn Hotel located on buildings that sit across from
each other at the intersection of 5th and Main Street. We thought that they’d
be perfect, since both signs include giant neon hearts as well as well as being
some of our favorite neon signs in the city. They appear overhead just down the
street from one of our very favorite breakfast treats, the Nickel Diner and our
favorite art supply store Raw Materials. Every time we head downtown for
brunch, we can’t help stopping by for art supplies and then walking over to
take a look at these signs.
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| Rosslyn Hotels luggage tags and postcard. |
Built by brothers George and Dwight Hart in 1913 at the cost
of one million dollars, the Rosslyn Hotel was designed by John Parkinson, who
also designed Union Station, City Hall and the Bullocks Wilshire department
store among other notable buildings. The annex building across the street was
built in 1923, with a marble subway connecting the two buildings underground. In
those days, downtown Los Angeles was a grand destination, and the Rosslyn along
with the Alexandria, the Cecil, the Huntington and the Hayward as well as other
luxury hotels, accommodated film stars, businessmen and tourists from all over.
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| Rosslyn Hotels postcards and a still from Harold Lloyd's Safety Last filmed in Downtown L.A. in 1923 |
When Los Angeles began to decentralize in earnest after the
second world war, the city lost a great deal of its vast public transportation
system, and slowly the downtown core lost much of its early luster. Amidst the
general decline of downtown, the Rosslyn Hotel hit hard times with the main
building closing in 1959. The two buildings were acquired by separate owners
during the 1970s and eventually joined many of downtown’s other grandes dames
as little more than flop houses and residential hotels. In the intervening
years, downtown Los Angeles has seen many attempts at gentrification. For the
most part, these seem to appear and disappear in fits and starts. The Rosslyn
Hotels have appeared in many films, music videos and television shows. Since
2009, the main Rosslyn Hotel building has been renovated and reinvented as Rosslyn Lofts and offers a mixture
of market rate and affordable income micro-lofts.
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| DTLA Valentine Cards, Rosslyn Hotel. |
