NRHP Reference # 82002191 Designated LAHCM March 17, 1982 Opened 1930 | LAHCM # 121 Height 57 m Area 809.4 m² Added to NRHP 25 June 1982 | |
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Similar Roosevelt Building, Commercial Exchange Building, Superior Oil Company, Title Guarantee and Trust, James Oviatt Building | ||
The Garfield Building is a thirteen story Art Deco style historic structure in Los Angeles, California. Designed by American architect Claud Beelman, construction lasted from 1928-30. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Architecture and history
In addition to the detailed ornamentation around the street-level entry way, the Garfield Building has an art deco lobby. It was a working office building for many years, but it's empty now. The building has 99,970 square feet (9,288 m2) of rentable space for filming or other events. Located just off of South Hill Street at 403 West 8th Street, it is in the downtown Jewelry District, which in recent years, has had a revival, with lofts, artist's work spaces, and new shops, restaurants, and businesses around the Garfield.
The main entrance is marked by an elaborate wrought iron entrance canopy above and a terrazzo sidewalk below. Floral and grapevine patterns decorate the open grillwork above the entrance. The lobby is graced with polished nickel fittings, elegant display cases, and Gothic-style chandeliers in tones of gold and silver. The walls and floors of the lobby are clad in alternating bands of black and purple marble, and the twenty-foot lobby ceiling has a low bas relief pattern in plaster.
The building was sold in 1991 and since then has been vacant. The Los Angeles Downtown News named the building one of the "Ten Worst Eyesores" of downtown Los Angeles.
It has been declared as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 121.
