8980 Santa Monica Blvd West Hollywood, CA USA

Howard Preston Co.

Construction date: 1931*

Current name:

Heritage Classics

Architect:

Unknown

Builder:

Unknown

Style:

Spanish Colonial Revival

 

Status of Historic Designation:

Not currently designated at national, state, or local level

Status Code:

5S3

Theme:

West Hollywood 1926 - World War II

Period of Significance:

1926 - 1945

Significance:

During the 1910s, the land that would make up West Hollywood was mostly rural in nature, but by the early 1920s its position between the motion picture studios in Hollywood and the preferred residential area for film stars in Beverly Hills led to its urbanization, with sewer and gas lines being installed and residential streets graded. This also led to the opening of a number of car dealerships featuring showrooms and service garages. Howard Preston Co. Ford Dealership closed shortly after it opened, an apparent victim of the Great Depression. The building spent 1933 to 1966 housing a variety of non-automotive businesses, including Hamel Radiator Corporation (1933), Ashburn Brothers Heating (1950), Airomatic Heating (1954), and the Herman Schlorrman Furniture Warehouse (1965). In 1966, it was returned to its original purpose with the opening of Auto Europa, and it remains a car dealership today, doing business as the Heritage Classics Motorcar Company. Though two other West Hollywood dealerships survive from this era, both have been extensively remodeled, leaving this as the most intact example.

Evaluation of Potential Eligibility:

Individually eligible

Architectural Description:

This is a 1.5-story automobile sales showroom in the Spanish Colonial Revival style built in 1931. The building is irregular in plan. Exterior walls are original stucco. The building has a multi-plane/complex roof clad in terra-cotta tiles. Roof is surrounded by a parapet. Much of it is flat, with a front gable over the double-height main entryway and low side gabled and low barrel vaulted portions to each side. Windows are steel fixed. Most are large display windows with and without bulkheads. The main entryway is comprised of a set of glazed doors and a transom. Directly above it appears that there was once a doorway that has been infilled. The entry feature is surrounded by red brick.

* Date source: Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor

Description generated by RuskinARC™.

For questions about the historic resources, contact West Hollywood Commercial

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