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| Culver Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
    | |
| Former names | Hotel Hunt |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| Address | 9400 Culver Blvd. |
| Town or city | Culver City, California |
| Opened | September 4, 1924 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 6 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Claud Beelman and Aleck Curlett |
| Other designers | Harry Culver |
| Coordinates | 34°01′26″N 118°23′39″W / 34.02385°N 118.39427°W |
| NRHP reference No. | 97000296 |
| Added to NRHP | April 14, 1997 |
The Culver Hotel is a national historical landmark in downtown Culver City, California. It was built by Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City, and opened on September 4, 1924,[1] with local headlines announcing: "City packed with visitors for opening of Culver skyscraper." Originally named Hotel Hunt, and later known as Culver City Hotel, the six-story Renaissance Revival building was designed by Curlett & Beelman, the architecture firm behind renowned Art Deco buildings throughout Los Angeles, including downtown Los Angeles's Roosevelt and Eastern Columbia buildings.
As Culver City became a movie-making mecca beginning in the 1920s, the hotel welcomed legendary stars, some maintaining private residences for months at a time. Culver himself kept his office there.
Over the next few decades, the property fell into disrepair. In the 1980s, it was boarded up for a time and at risk of demolition. In the 1990s, the hotel was partially restored and reopened, joining the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Hotel restoration began in earnest in 2007 after a hotelier family purchased the property. Plumbing and electrical systems were upgraded, guestrooms and public spaces have been redone, handmade windows replaced, and public spaces re-imagined while maintaining the property's architectural integrity. The Culver Hotel also hosts live jazz and special events.
The flatiron-shaped building is next door to the historic Culver Studios and a few blocks from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, now Sony Pictures. The Culver Hotel has appeared in films and television, including Under the Rainbow, the Our Gang short Honkey Donkey,[2] The Wonder Years, Party of Five, 7th Heaven, Last Action Hero, Sledge Hammer!,[2] Stuart Little 2, Bones, Cougar Town, Perry Mason, and Touch.
- ^ "PCAD - Hotel Hunt, Culver City". pcad.lib.washington.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
- ^ a b Smith, Leon (1988). Hollywood Goes on Location. Los Angeles: Pomegranate Press. p. 177. ISBN 0-938817-07-8.