Take a leisurely walk through the heart of West Hollywood and immerse yourself in the glamorous architectural legacy of the 1920s. On this curated tour from the West Hollywood Preservation Alliance, you’ll follow a compact route largely contained within a four-block radius that passes by striking apartment buildings that once housed Hollywood stars, celebrated writers and high-society socialites. These residences were designed during a period of dramatic growth and bold style in West Hollywood, when architects embraced Spanish Colonial Revival, French Colonial Revival and other ornate design motifs to cater to an elite clientele.
In the 1920s, West Hollywood wasn’t just a suburb—it was a destination for luxury apartment living, popular with writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and actors like Bette Davis and Marilyn Monroe, whose residences still stand as architectural treasures today. As you stroll, observe the stylised façades including red-clay tile roofs, arched loggias, wrought-iron balconies, geometric pediments that are all testaments to a bold era of design. Thanks to the city’s dedication to preservation, over eighty historic cultural resources have been designated, so what you see now is largely what you would have seen a century ago.