Star-studded Deco
LA's Argyle harkens back to legends of the silver screen
From its opening in 1931, Sunset Tower (known today as The Argyle) was the Deco home of Hollywood's Glitterati -- Jean Harlow, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, the Gabor sisters -- who lived behind the smooth concrete walls and plaster friezes designed by Leland Bryant.
At the very peak of Sunset Boulevard, Sunset Tower offered resident movie royalty sweeping panoramas of Los Angeles and the Hollywood Hills, their kingdoms.
The Sunset's glamour faded with the golden years of movie making, reaching its lowest point in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the apartment building sat abandoned, a pale reminder of its former grandeur. But the Sunset's death was not to be -- after several attempts at demolishing the Art Deco marvel failed, St. James Club of Great Britain bought it and began a $40 million restoration to make it a hotel.
From its opening in 1931, Sunset Tower (known today as The Argyle) was the Deco home of Hollywood's Glitterati -- Jean Harlow, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe, Howard Hughes, Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, the Gabor sisters.... Now renamed The Argyle and under another new owner, the former home to the stars is now home away from home to travelers seeking a taste of life in grand Hollywood style. The Argyle's renovations kept the Deco style -- and the marble-bedecked bathrooms -- and reinforced it with painstaking reproductions and sought-out replacements. It has been upgraded with contemporary conveniences such as fax machines, modem lines and CD players.
The restoration uncovered a forgotten treasure: A rare palm tree with multiple trunks growing from a single root. The tree now occupies a place of honor to the left of the front entrance.
Another of The Argyle's claims to fame: It was built on rockers to sway under the region's frequent earthquakes, making it the city's first quake-protected apartment building.
The Argyle | The Pollard | The Peninsula | The Algonquin | The Watergate
Concierge | Front Desk
BACK TO TOP
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved.