Hollywood & Western Building facts for kids

Hollywood Western Building
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Hollywood & Western Building, 2012
Location	5504 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood
Built	1928
Architect	S. Charles Lee
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP reference No.	15000378
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 7, 2015

The Hollywood & Western Building, also known as The Mayer Building, and formerly known as the "Hollywood Western Building", is a four-story Art Deco office building located at 5504 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #336 on January 1, 1988, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Designed by S. Charles Lee, and built by Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg, the building opened on December 8, 1928. The building was the first location of Motion Picture Association of America, Central Casting, the Hays Office, and The Ben Hecht Company. Hollywood Billiards, Hollywood's oldest pool hall, was located in the lower basement of the building. Over the years its tenants have also included Toppy's (a corner coffee shop), Newman Drug Co., Rexall, Bargain Saver, Hollywood Rehearsal Studios, Studio 9, Rock City Arcade, and Cosmopolitan Book Depository.

By the 1970s, the building was slowly converted into individual recording studios and music rehearsal spaces as the area where the building was located became increasingly seedy and dangerous. The building was used in the films Double Indemnity, Ruthless People, and Hollywood Shuffle, and was a regular shooting location for numerous TV productions. It was also used as a rehearsal studio for such bands as Guns N' Roses and White Zombie.

The building was heavily damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake and was vacant for several years. It has since been renovated, and its tenants as of 2013 included the local offices of U.S. Representative Adam Schiff and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell.