Victor Clothing Company | |
_-_262.jpg/1280px-Los_Angeles,_California_(September_8,_2022)_-_262.jpg) The building in 2022 | |
Location of building in Los Angeles County | |
| Location | 242 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 34°03′06″N 118°14′51″W / 34.0516°N 118.2474°W / 34.0516; -118.2474 |
| Built | 1914 |
| Architect | Train & Williams |
| Architectural style | Vernacular with Beaux Arts elements |
| Part of | Broadway Theater and Commercial District (ID02000330) |
| Designated CP | April 12, 2002[1] |
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Victor Clothing Company, formerly City Hall North,[2] also known as Hosfield Building[3] and Victor Clothing Lofts,[4] is a historic five-story building located at 242 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles.
History
The Victory Clothing Company building was designed by Robert Farquhar Train and Robert Edmund Williams for Mr. & Mrs. J.F. Hosfield and built in 1914.[1] The building was originally built as a City Hall annex,[2] but by 2002 it contained ground-floor retail, second-story mezzanines for storage, and lofts on the third through fifth stories.[1]
In 1964, Victor Clothing moved into the building and made it their headquarters.[5]
The Victor Clothing Company building was not listed in the National Register of Historic Places's Broadway Theater and Commercial District when it was first created in 1979,[6] but it was included when the district was expanded in 2002.[1]
The building was put up for sale in 1995 and sold to Nathan Korman in 2001. All tenants, including Victor Clothing, were evicted following the sale, after which the building's upper floors were converted to live/work lofts. Korman said that he bought the building in part because of its murals, which he wanted to preserve.[5]
In 2009, the building was rehabilitated at a cost of $8 million ($11.7 million in 2024).[3] In 2014, the building was awarded $20,788 ($27,611 in 2024) through the Bringing Back Broadway initiative to accent its decorative roof eaves.[4]
Murals
From the mid-1970s to 1984, three large murals were added to the building's exterior.[1][7][8] They are:
- The Bride and Groom by Kent Twitchell (1973-1976), 70-by-70-foot (21 by 21 m), northern wall, commissioned by second-floor tenant Carlos Ortiz for $5000 ($31,879 in 2024)[7]
- Anthony Quinn in The Pope of Broadway by Eloy Torrez (1984), 70-by-60-foot (21 by 18 m), eastern half of southern wall[8]
- Nino y Caballo (A vision expressing freedom and joy) by Frank Romero (1984), 40-by-70-foot (12 by 21 m), western half of southern wall[8]
A fourth mural was added sometime between 1985 and 2001.[5]
In 2014, The Pope of Broadway was restored at a cost of $150,000 ($199,234 in 2024), spearheaded by the Los Angeles Mural Conservancy and paid for by Greenland USA.[9]
Architecture and design
Victor Clothing Company is made of reinforced concrete with a brick facade, and was designed in the vernacular style with Beaux Arts elements in its massing and detailing. Specific designs in the building include:[1]
- a flat roof surrounded by a parapet
- a base-anchored facade
- non-original large, plate glass windows inside thin metal frames
- a continuous white brick stringcourse that separates the base and the remaining facade
- a brown brick body that includes three bays of paired wood-framed windows with white brick windowsills
- an ornamental ironwork fire escape affixed to the central bay
- an overhanging cornice punctuated by four corbels that correspond to the divisions of the three bays.
The building faces west, and its north and south exterior walls are covered with large murals, while the west and east exteriors are not.[1] The building's original sign and clock remain in place.[2]
The condition and integrity of the building is considered good.[1]
In popular culture
This building is featured in the Enlightened episode 'All I Ever Wanted.'[10]
See also
External links
Murals:
- Bride and Groom
- Nino and Caballo
- Pope on Broadway
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Broadway Theater & Commercial District (Boundary Increase)". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. April 12, 2002.
- ^ a b c "Victor Clothing/Live Work Loft". City of Los Angeles. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Projects in Los Angeles (.docx file)". City of Los Angeles. 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b "Facade Lighting Grants Awarded on Broadway". historiccore.com. March 31, 2014.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Maese, Kathryn (April 9, 2001). "The Victor No Longer". Los Angeles Downtown News.
- ^ "California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. May 9, 1979.
- ^ a b "Image / "Bride and Groom" mural, Victor Clothing Co". University of California - Calisphere. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Image / Victor Clothing Co. art murals, Downtown L.A". University of California - Calisphere. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
- ^ Barragan, Bianca (October 29, 2014). "DTLA's Highest-Profile Mural Getting Much-Needed Restoration". Curbed Los Angeles.
- ^ Schroeder, Audra (December 3, 2020). "Streaming TV Party: The ghosts and geography of 'Enlightened'". Daily Dot.
