National Register of Historic Places

Garfield Building

Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
Listed
June 24, 1982
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
82002191

About this property

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 to 1930. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 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 has been empty since its sale in 1991. 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. In March 2023, the building was sold for $19 million to a Bay Area firm that plans to turn the Garfield into a boutique hotel.

Location

403 W. 8th St.
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California
34.04491, -118.25600

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Commercial Exchange Building
Industrial
0 mi
Bank of Italy Building
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0.1 mi
Brockman Building and New York Cloak and Suit House (annex)
Industrial
0.1 mi
Oviatt, James, Building
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0.2 mi
Broadway Theatre and Commercial District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Los Angeles
1846Mexican-American War
0.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Garfield Building listed on the National Register?

Garfield Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 24, 1982.

What type of historic resource is Garfield Building?

Garfield Building is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Garfield Building?

The period of significance for Garfield Building is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Garfield Building?

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