If you drive south on Vine Street in Hollywood, it eventually becomes Rossmore Ave, which is home to a number of delightfully old-school apartment buildings. The most famous of them is the Ravenswood, mainly because of its celebrated residents: Clark Gable, Mary Wickes, Ethel Merman, bandleader Paul Whiteman, and most famously Mae West. What I didn’t know until I found this photo was that the Ravenswood featured a huge revolving “R” on its roof which lit up at night and could be seen from the Hollywood and Vine corner.
Mae West at her apartment at the Ravenswood, 1934:
For a comprehensive history of the Ravenswood, see Mary Mallory’s Ravenswood Apartments Attract the Stylish
Fantastic. I drive past this place often with a director I work with. Your posts always keep me inspired for my acting career. And I love that you post links of Mary Mallory too. I love getting to see a different perspective of the history of this town.
Thanks Stephen – I’m glad these posts are inspiring you! Mary’s articles are always interesting and very well researched.
Hello: Is there an apartment building of German-like architecture in the Rossmore-Vine district of L.A. ? i.e. decorated with bas relief sculptures, spires, gargoyles, etc.? If not there, might there be such an apartment building elsewhere in L.A.? Thank you.
Ed, there are a lot of apartment buildings in that area, as well, of course, in LA in general. I’m sure there is more than one that fits that description.