Still focused on Pershing Square, I was researching the Auditorium Building (1906-1985) again and wondered what else Charles F Whittesey (1867-1941) had designed besides that one (I was also wondering if Whittlesey was aware of and approved of the Streamlining of the Auditorium Building in '38) and the Mayflower (now Checkers) Hotel (1927). It turns out he did the 600-room El Rey Hotel (1924) too (which I don't think has been mentioned here) down on the Nickel at San Pedro and 6th:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zilf/4885926306/
Never meant to be grand (it was built as a "moderately-priced" hotel), it still has a lot of dignity:
gsv
Whittlesey also did the 1906
Hayward Hotel on the SW corner of Spring and 6th (built on the site of the first Ralphs store). It still operates as a hotel. The Parkinsons built annexes on either end of the original building:
gsv
Whittlesey was a draughtsman with Louis Sullivan in Chicago for many years. CF Whittesey's son Austin (1893-1950), also an architect, apprenticed for seven years with Bertram Goodhue. He was Allison and Allison's lead architect for One Bunker Hill (1930) and also did the Filipe de Neve Branch Library (1929) in Lafayette Park among other buildings when he had his own firm. He was also a contributing architect to City Hall and the Hall of Justice.
http://www.flickriver.com/photos/mic...7632237642620/
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Noticed the beautiful Young Apartments DTLA (Grand and Venice). Great typeface on the signage.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PHX31
And that's a pretty cool concept - coin operated utilities.
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During my years in London, coin-operated gas meters were a standard feature of bed-sits. Apparently the meters' coin boxes were quite easy to break into and proved too tempting for some flat-broke tenants. Gangs of petty thieves also used to break into bed-sits during the day to empty the coin boxes. I think the meters were finally all phased out when the country was retrofitted for North Sea gas.