Walter P. Story Building
Walter P. Story Building | |
 The building in 2014 | |
  Location of building in Los Angeles County | |
| Location | 610 S. Broadway and 236 W. 6th Street, Los Angeles, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°02′46″N 118°15′07″W / 34.046°N 118.252°W |
| Built | 1909 |
| Architect | Morgan & Walls |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| Part of | Broadway Theater and Commercial District (ID79000484) |
| Designated CP | May 9, 1979[1] |
Walter P. Story Building, also known as the New Story Building, is a historic eleven story high-rise located at 610 S. Broadway and 236 W. 6th Street in the Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles.
History
[edit]Walter P. Story Building was designed by Morgan & Walls[1] for Walter Perry Story, on land bought from James Boon Lankershim by Story's father for $48,000 in 1894 ($1.69 million in 2023). Built in 1909, the building was one of Los Angeles's first skyscrapers and upon completion was home to a 28,000 square feet (2,600 m2) Mullen and Bluett department store in its basement and bottom three stories.[2][3] A pied-à-terre for Story and his wife was included on the top story, complete with gardens and servants’ quarters.[4]
Walter P. Story Building opened in February 1910 and was entirely occupied within two months, making it "one of the most successful buildings in the city" at the time.[5]
Upon Story's death in 1957,[4] the building was sold at auction. It was purchased by Fisher-Cooper Realty for $1.5 million ($16.3 million in 2023), after which they renovated and renamed it New Story Building. Mullen and Bluett moved out in the 1960s.[2]
In 1979, the Broadway Theater and Commercial District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with Walter P. Story Building listed as a contributing property in the district.[1]
Architecture and design
[edit]Walter P. Story Building is 150 feet tall[5] and rectangular in plan, with a 120-foot frontage on Broadway and 160 feet on 6th Street.[6] It was built using reinforced concrete with a terra cotta facade, and features Beaux Arts architecture with heavy cornice, decorative bands, and arched windows, while the parking garage features Zigzag Moderne gates.[1][2]
All interior corridors feature marble floors and wainscoting to the height of the doors.[5] The lobby also features a compact marble staircase, wide banisters, two-story newel posts, and a Tiffany-style stained glass skylight.[3] Upon opening, the building's ground floor contained the largest plate glass windows west of Chicago. The building contained twelve of these windows in total, at a total cost of $12,000 ($406,933 in 2023).
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form - California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. May 9, 1979.
- ^ a b c "Early Los Angeles Historical Buildings (1900 - 1925)". Water and Power Associates. p. 2. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ a b "Walter P. Story Building". Los Angeles Conservancy. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
- ^ a b Nichols, Chris (November 4, 2013). "Ask Chris: The New Story Building". Los Angeles.
- ^ a b c "The Walter P. Story Building". The Western Architect. Western Architect Publishing Company. 1910. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
- ^ Denger, Mark J. "Californians and the Military - Major General Walter Perry Story". California Center for Military History. Retrieved November 4, 2013.