Guaranty Building

About this property

Guaranty Building, also known as Guaranty Building and Loan Association, Hollywood Guaranty Building, Allstate Title Building, and L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition Building, is a historic high-rise Beaux Arts office building located at 6331 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It is currently owned by the Church of Scientology. Hollywood's Guaranty Building was built in 1923 by the Guaranty Building and Loan Association of Los Angeles by direction of its secretary and general manager Gilbert Beesemyer, with Charlie Chaplin and Cecil B. DeMille included as investors. The building features Beaux-Arts architecture and was designed by John C. Austin and Frederic M. Ashley, the duo also responsible for Griffith Observatory and Memorial Branch Library. Upon completion, the building was appraised for $1,325,000 ($25 million in 2025) and over the years, its tenants have included Charlie Chaplin, Cecil B. Demille, Hedda Hopper, Al Jolson, Rudolph Valentino, and others. The building was hit hard by the Great Depression, with its owner Guaranty Building and Loan Association of Los Angeles declaring bankruptcy in 1930, an event that had ripple effects throughout Hollywood. Allstate Title Company moved into the location the following year and aided in the area's recovery. In 1979, the building was included in the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1985, the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District was added to the register, with the Guaranty Building listed as a contributing property in the district. In 1988, the Church of Scientology purchased the building for $5.1 million ($13.9 million in 2025), to be used as management organizations for the Scientology network of corporations. It is the official corporate office for Church of Scientology International and Religious Technology Center. On the ground floor is the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition. The building includes offices for David Miscavige, the President of the Church of Scientology (when Heber Jentzsch held that post), and the Office of Special Affairs among other departments. It houses most of the organization's upper and middle management offices. Within Scientology, the building is called the Hollywood Guaranty Building or the HGB for short. In 2026, the Guaranty Building and several nearby Scientology properties were the location of Scientology speedrunning pranks. The Guaranty Building is 170 feet tall and contains twelve floors above ground and one floor below. The building is rectangular in plan and made of reinforced concrete, and features a Beaux Arts design that includes Neo-Renaissance and Classical Revival characteristics, with the design divided into three horizontal sections, the top and bottom sections mirroring each other. These sections are sheathed in terra cotta and grey granite, while the middle section is faced with light colored brick. Brass and bronze

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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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