The Hollywood, redux

No one builds apartment buildings anymore, do they?

I spent an hour or so revamping unit A6 at The Hollywood, a recently completed apartment (read: loft) building in Hollywood.

Original floor plan.

In spite of architect Stephen Kanner's boast about the "big open windows" in his spiel on the building's official website, according to his floor plan this "unit" seems to derive almost all of its light from the sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony. But really, you don't care whether your bedrooms have windows, do you?

My revamp leaves all of this apartment's infrastructure—including plumbing, HVAC, and miserly fenestration—in place. But it does complexify and attempt to remedy (insofar as possible) Kanner's reductive grovel to the "contemporary lifestyle, " i.e., no storage space, kitchen as foyer, dining room as afterthought.

The revamp.


The Hollywood, Hollywood.

Elegance in Mid-Wilshire

The way it's supposed to be.

Someone just plunked down $645,000 (at least that was the asking price) for this rather nice 1800-sq.ft. 2-bedroom, 2-bath, 3-car-garage condo in the Chateau Chaumont on Serrano at James M. Wood Boulevard (fka 9th Street) in Mid-Wilshire.

I've admired this building for several years, not only for its build quality and Italianate poise but also for its impeccable upkeep.

The once-genteel neighborhood is a bit rough around the edges, but just kitty-corner is Leland Bryant's delightful St. Germaine, and there are many other fine examples of L.A. traditional multi-family architecture in the immediate area, some with chickens running around in the front courtyard.

A proper foyer.

The apartment (if anyone refers to this as a "unit" I will personally slap him or her silly) has a semi-oval foyer that welcomes you gently instead of opening onto a makeshift dining area, as in many a contemporary condo. And check the sheen on those hardwood floors.

There's actually a real, honest-to-Zeus dining room, in addition to a working fireplace in the living room.

Real living, real dining.

Architects in past decades managed to put the kitchen—a service area, after all—toward the rear of the apartment, instead of making it the first thing you see when you enter. A lost art. Perhaps in the near future the laundry room will serve as the showpiece of one's dwelling?

My congratulations to the buyer of this piece of Los Angeles heritage. Here's the listing, which may or may not still be available.