1720 Whitley Avenue
Los Angeles, CA, USA

Whitley Court

Whitley Court is a cluster of Spanish Colonial bungalows built from 1903 to 1919 just north of Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.

The first structure, built in 1903, was a two-story Colonial Revival house with a round bay turret designed by Dennis & Farwell for the Whitley family. The original house was moved to the back of the property to make room for four additional two-story residential buildings. The buildings provided housing for those employed in the booming film industry, and its residents are rumored to have included Theda Bara in the 1920s and Sylvia Sidney in the 1930s.

In 1974, the buildings were converted to a mix of residential and office space. During the 1992 Los Angeles riots, fires burned just 150 feet from Whitley Court, but residents protected the structures with hoses. At the time, one of the owners said, "These buildings are important. You can't replace a historic building. When it burns, you lose it forever."

Whitley Court was designated a Historic Cultural Monument (HCM #448) by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1988, and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

National Register of Historic Places - Whitley Court

Statement of Significance:

Whitley Court is a "bungalow court" built in the Dutch Colonial Revival style. The site is composed of a 1905 Queen Anne style single-family residence that sits at the back of the property, and four two-story duplex bungalows located at the front of the property. Whitley Court is a historically significant property due to its relationship to the development and architecture of Hollywood. The site is eligible for the National Register under Criterion A and Criterion C at the local level of significance. The period of significance begins in 1905, when the first residence on the site is believed to have been built, and ends in 1919, when the moving and addition of buildings created a bungalow court on the property. The site is eligible under Criterion A because of its association with the development of Hollywood. The bungalows, constructed in 1919, are evidence of Hollywood's transition from a farming suburb to an urban center due to the success of the film industry. The site is also eligible under Criterion C because it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a bungalow court, a building type characteristic of this particular period of rapid urbanization in Hollywood.