Across the street from my beloved Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard once stood the Garden of Allah Hotel. Consisting of a main house and villas, this lovely complex was torn down to make way for a strip mall. Here in this vintage photo from September 10, 1940 we can see the hotel behind its namesake (whose name had no "h"). From the accompanying publicity blurb:
Conferring on the radio script for "This Lonely Heart" beside the pool at The Garden of Allah in Hollywood, are Arch Oboler, writer-director-producer of Everyman's Theatre and Alla Nazimova, internationally famous star. Oboler's forthcoming dramatic series for Proctor and Gamble will make its debut on the NBC-Red Netowkr October 4 with Nazimova as the first guest star. Gordon Jenkins, whom Oboler has chosen as musical director of the series, will lead a symphony orchestra composed of members of the Los Angeles Symphony in the Tschaikowsky music, which serves as the musical background for "The Lonely Heart."
If you want to see the proposed Frank Gehry ginormous structure that might replace the strip mall, check out Curbed LA. There goes the view, Sunset Boulevard neighbors!
Visit my main website and see more Garden of Allah photos.
