The caption on this photo said we’re looking at the back side of Desmond’s department store at 1001 Westwood Blvd in Westwood. I guess that’s because the big sign on the top of the building is facing away from us. But that angled display window on the Weyburn Ave corner looks very nice to me, especially with that wrought iron balcony on top. This photo was taken in 1925, which explains the up-to-date flapper fashions in the window.

MrWestwood2001 on Instragram said this: “Thank you for posting this dramatic nighttime image of the historic original 1929 Desmond’s Westwood department store. Originally founded in 1862 as a hat company by Daniel Desmond, the store evolved into a highly popular Southern California fashion chain with multiple locations that featured three separate departments: a stylish men’s haberdashery, a women’s shop, and a boy’s department.

Here are two corrections to the caption on the back of the photo: (1.) this Desmond’s Westwood building opened in December 1929, not 1925. In fact, Westwood Village itself did not open until September 1929. (2.) This image shows the storefront facing Westwood Boulevard as well as the (long) side elevation facing Weyburn Avenue. The “back side” (not shown) was at the far right of the photo beneath the chimney that faced the parking lot.

Here are a few other fun facts about Desmond’s Westwood: this handsome Village building was designed by the legendary father and son architectural team of John and Donald Parkinson (who also famously designed Los Angeles City Hall, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, iconic Bullock’s Wilshire, and dozens of historic buildings in Downtown Los Angeles and on the USC campus, including the landmark Bovard Administration Building). The design choice of Spanish Colonial Revival style for Desmond’s Westwood reflected the “Mediterranean” architectural motif mandated by the Janss Investment Corporation, founders and developers of Westwood Village. Desmond’s Westwood originally featured a distinctive green Spanish clay tile roof that honored the proud Irish heritage of store founder Danny Desmond. Other notable characteristics of this charming Spanish Colonial Revival structure included thick stucco walls, rounded arches, multi-paned windows, a second story balcony, hand wrought iron railings, and colorful glazed ceramic Spanish tiles in a Bruin blue-and-gold motif around the main entrance. While several of the original design elements have been altered over the years, many of the major Spanish Colonial Revival architectural elements of this original Westwood Village building remain intact.”

This is the building that now stands at the corner of Weymouth and Westwood. What a shame that lovely balcony is gone. This image is from January 2021.