The 120-year-old Crafts home within the Hollywood Center Motel has survived earthquakes, floods, riots, murder investigations and the high energy of the rock-n-roll era.
But early Sunday morning, the historic motel once visited by Neil Young and Crazy Horse was reduced to ashes as people sheltering illegally in the home ran to escape the burning building on Sunset Boulevard.
“It’s a Hollywood preservation challenge,” said local historian Brian Curran, who recently applied to have the house designated as a historic and cultural monument.
Last month, the city of LA’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted to move forward with considering such a designation. This week, commissioners were scheduled to visit the site.
But now it’s too late to save the 1905 home featured in “LA Confidential” and the “Rockford Files.”
“What’s really sad is that this building was left vacant and no longer had any kind of purpose, so it’s become a commonplace,” said Curran, who serves as co-chair of Hollywood Heritage’s Preservation Committee. “If you’re going to look at it now, it’s actually a bunch of shredded wood that’s been sprayed with fire retardant.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of a trash fire at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. There, they found the artisan-designed house in flames and heard voices screaming for help.
Crews used a ladder to rescue a 42-year-old man who had broken through windows on the second floor trying to escape the fire. He was taken to hospital in stable condition and 70 firefighters are working to extinguish the stubborn fire.
A crew of firefighters is targeting the hydrants of a historic motel on Sunset Boulevard.
(Los Angeles Fire Department)
People living in shelters in the house have been an ongoing problem since the property was overrun and will be moving out by the end of 2024, said Athena Novak, representative of the owner, Andranik Sogoyan. The owner of the building tried several times to close the building, but metal cutters were used to cut through the fence several times, he said.
“Yes, the owner was tightening it as much as he could,” he said. “He had a maintenance man going all the time. The maintenance man was attacked several times with weapons.”
Two small fires had already occurred recently in the area, on September 15 and October 19, which made the memorial effort more urgent, Curran said.
Hollywood Heritage, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the area’s history, mourned the loss of the motel in a statement Sunday.
“This building could easily be painted and saved for reuse as a community gem,” said the organization. “By allowing it to decay and neglect we are also seeing rare historic buildings lost that could have been restored.”
The organization was scheduled to host a webinar Wednesday evening highlighting the motel’s history. Now the event will continue as a tribute to the motel and a discussion on strategies to prevent the loss of historic buildings to neglect.
“We’re saddened and sickened that this could happen,” Curran said, “and we fear that this will become a pattern.”
Almost exactly a year ago, another institution of the rock era – the 111-year-old Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the Doors’ fifth studio album – went up in flames after a series of small fires. Local vendors reported that homeless people often slept inside the building.
The 1905 home was destroyed by fire on Sunday, the same week that city officials were scheduled to visit the site as they assessed the state of the monument.
(Hollywood Heritage)
The 1905 home that serves as the main site of the Hollywood Center Motel was originally the home of William and Sarah Avery, who they affectionately called “El Nido,” meaning the nest. In 2019, it was identified in a citywide survey of historic resources as a rare example of Shingle buildings that predate the merger of Hollywood and the city of Los Angeles.
“The house exemplifies many characteristics of the Shingle Style including: asymmetrical façade, graceful massing, front facing gable, multiple gables and dormers, overhanging eaves, covered porch, second floor balcony, distinctive wall structure, oriel windows,” the application states.
Six smaller buildings were later built on the property, and these buildings have since merged into the Hollywood Center Motel, which opened in 1956, according to the memorial application.
The motel was a magnet for rock-and-rollers and folk musicians looking for affordable housing near the hustle and bustle of Hollywood. The band Buffalo Springfield first settled in the 1960s, and Neil Young returned to the area in the 1970s with his band Crazy Horse, according to a report from SF Gate.
File photo of the Hollywood Motel located in the 6700 block of Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.
(Hollywood Heritage)
The neon signs and classic sleazy-motel look also made it a popular filming site for TV crime dramas like “Perry Mason” and “TJ Hooker.” Then in 1986 it became the scene of a true crime – the investigation into the murder of Richard Mayer, whose body was found stuffed in a motel suitcase.
The aging motel closed its doors in 2018, at which time the previous owner and a handful of long-term tenants continued to live on the property, Curran said. It was shut down and released in late 2024.
In early 2025, the new owner submitted demolition permits. This spurred Hollywood Heritage’s effort to protect monument status and preserve the 1905 home.
Sogoyan said the owner fully supports the monument effort and is ready to go along with steps to redevelop the area around the historic home, if the name is approved.
The loss of the motel is felt not only by history buffs but also by local residents who walk the historic site every day, Curran said.
“An old friend is gone,” he said.
