> At a Glance
> – A Jan. 4 fire destroyed the 1905 Craftsman house at Hollywood Center Motel
> – The building appeared in L.A. Confidential and hosted Neil Young & Crazy Horse
> – L.A. Cultural Heritage Commission had just voted to consider it for landmark status
> – Why it matters: Another piece of Hollywood history is lost to neglect and flames
A 120-year-old Craftsman house-once a filming location for L.A. Confidential and a haunt of rock legend Neil Young-was reduced to rubble after a dawn blaze on Jan. 4, dashing last-minute preservation hopes.
Fire Strikes Before Landmark Vote
The Los Angeles Fire Department reached the boarded-up, two-story structure on Sunset Boulevard at 4:30 a.m. and found it swallowed by heavy flames. 70 firefighters needed 1 hour 12 minutes to knock the fire down.
- One 42-year-old man escaped from the second floor with a minor injury; no firefighters were hurt
- The city immediately ordered an emergency demolition citing public-safety hazards
Brian Curran, historian and co-chair of Hollywood Heritage’s Preservation Committee, called the loss “a gut punch for Hollywood preservation.”
> “The real tragedy is that this building had been left vacant and it no longer had any kind of purpose, so it became a magnet for transients.”
Decades of Hollywood History Erased
Built before Hollywood was annexed to L.A., the house became the centerpiece of the Hollywood Center Motel in the 1950s. It operated until 2018, then sat empty after a late-2024 foreclosure.
- Previously used as a film set for The Rockford Files as well as L.A. Confidential
- Suffered two smaller fires on Sept. 15 and Oct. 19, 2024
| Event | Date | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Foreclosure | late 2024 | Property vacated |
| Minor fires | Sept. 15 & Oct. 19 2024 | Structure weakened |
| Major fire | Jan. 4 2025 | Total loss |
Athena Novak, representing owner Andranik Sogoyan, said the site had been plagued by transients since 2024 and that a maintenance worker had been attacked with weapons while trying to secure it.
Key Takeaways
- A 1905 Craftsman house tied to Hollywood’s golden era is gone after a Jan. 4 fire
- The Cultural Heritage Commission had planned a site visit this week to evaluate landmark status
- Advocates argue the restorable building could have been an adaptive-re-use “community gem”
- Neglect, repeated fires, and transient break-ins sealed its fate
With the structure now a pile of fire-retardant-soaked wood, preservationists say the incident underscores how quickly vulnerable landmarks vanish when left unprotected.
