Preserving Our Neighborhood’s History
In three years, the Queens Road pillar will be 100 years old. This icon of Los Angeles’ architecture and history is one of two columns erected in 1924 to create a grand entrance to a new development, “Hacienda Park.”
A “high class residence tract” in the hills (Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1907) was news: “Hacienda Park in new hands.” Soon after, in a letter October 26, 1910, Edward Cummings of E.A. Cummings & Co, Chicago, asks Thomas Phillips, Pasadena, to inspect a parcel of land for his company. “The property comprises 100 acres north of Sunset Boulevard and . . . can probably be bought for $50,000 or less. The location in the foothills is . . . ideal . . . for suburban homes or would make an unusually attractive place for one or two country estates of people of wealth.”
By 1924, development was well underway. Hacienda Park had been acquired by John A. Evans Corporation which announced, “Work on an ornamental entrance for Queen’s Road at Sunset Boulevard in Hacienda Park has just been started” (Los Angeles Times, February 24, 1924). “The entrance, which will have massive pillars flanking the drive, represents a large outlay…It is planned to extend Hollywood Boulevard through the tract to intersect with Mulholland Skyline Drive. Streets in Hacienda Park are nearing completion.” In a rare aerial photograph, a “Hacienda Park” billboard graces the hillside and two blurry but discernible pillars flank the bottom of Queens Road.
The iconic pillars predate the adjacent Hacienda Park Apartments, erected in 1927 - now Piazza del Sol. The east pillar was probably demolished to accommodate this new building, a luxury full-service apartment house whose occupants included Loretta Young, Jeanette MacDonald, and Marie Dressler. The name “Hacienda Park Apartments” linked it to the surrounding neighborhood. Sadly, it was incorrectly listed as “Hacienda Arms” in the National Register of Historic Places. Like the misnamed Hacienda Arms Apartments, Chateau Marmont and Sunset Tower are also listed in the National Register.
For many decades, this four-sided, ten-foot obelisk was the only street sign identifying Queens Road. Its design complimented the Spanish-Mediterranean houses dotting the hillside. Its roof is Spanish tile, the stucco was terracotta pink. “Queens Road,” in an elegant cursive script, appeared on the sides for about 70 years. But now the pillar urgently needs repair and protection. Here’s why:
One day about eight years ago, we were shocked to see the distinctive terracotta-pink pillar painted beige. Even worse: “Queens Road” had been painted over. A mystery: who was the culprit?
Within weeks, the pillar was defaced with graffiti and posters. The cycle continues to this day: layers of graffiti, posters, paint, graffiti, posters, paint . . . . The pillar’s trashy condition is embarrassing. Motorists and busloads of westbound tourists, stopped at the La Cienega light, have time to register this eyesore.
Jason Turner, born, raised and living here now, laments, “I’ve seen that pillar for many decades every time I go up the hill. I’ve seen it with ‘Queens Road’ painted on. I’ve seen it decay and used for tacky posters. I would like to be part of its resurrection.”
Although its name has been mostly forgotten, Hacienda Park -- with its spectacular city views and a neighborhood the Los Angeles Times once described as “Hollywood’s most exclusive residential section” – is one of Los Angeles’ most popular neighborhoods. To restore and protect the pillar into the future, I am trying to legalize it as a Historical Monument with the City of West Hollywood.
Help Restore the Pillar
To help us restore the Queens Road pillar, contact Hollace Brown at [email protected]
Written by Hollace Brown, a contributing member of DSPNA’s Engagement Committee. Hollace and her family have lived on Queens Road since 1978.
