Garfield Building (Los Angeles)

The Garfield Building is a thirteen-story Art Deco style historic structure in Los Angeles, California. Designed by American architect Claud Beelman, construction lasted from 1928–30. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[1]

Garfield Building
Garfield Building, 2017
Location403 W. 8th St.
Los Angeles, California 90014
ArchitectClaud Beelman
Architectural styleArt Deco
NRHP reference No.82002191[1]
LAHCM No.121
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 25, 1982
Designated LAHCMMarch 17, 1982

Architecture and history

Garfield Building entrance.

In addition to the detailed ornamentation around the street-level entry way, the Garfield Building has an art deco lobby. It was a working office building for many years, but it's empty now. The building has 99,970 square feet (9,288 m2) of rentable space for filming or other events. Located just off of South Hill Street at 403 West 8th Street, it is in the downtown Jewelry District, which in recent years, has had a revival, with lofts, artist's work spaces, and new shops, restaurants, and businesses around the Garfield.

The main entrance is marked by an elaborate wrought iron entrance canopy above and a terrazzo sidewalk below. Floral and grapevine patterns decorate the open grillwork above the entrance. The lobby is graced with polished nickel fittings, elegant display cases, and Gothic-style chandeliers in tones of gold and silver. The walls and floors of the lobby are clad in alternating bands of black and purple marble, and the twenty-foot lobby ceiling has a low bas relief pattern in plaster.

The building was sold in 1991 and since then has been vacant. The Los Angeles Downtown News named the building one of the "Ten Worst Eyesores" of downtown Los Angeles.[2]

It has been declared as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 121.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Tobar, Hector (August 30, 2010), "This old flag is no glory", Los Angeles Times, retrieved September 30, 2010


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