Hollywood in Los Angeles in Los Angeles County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Afton Arms Apartments

Photographed By Craig Baker, August 27, 2023

1. Afton Arms Apartments Marker

Inscription. Built 1924, Mediterranean style, Leland Bryant - architect. Historic-Cultural Monument No. 463, declared November 3, 1989, City of Los Angeles, Cultural Heritage Commission, Cultural Affairs Department.

Erected 1989 by City of Los Angeles. (Marker Number 463.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Industry & Commerce • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1924.

Location. 34° 5.726′ N, 118° 19.416′ W. Marker is in Los Angeles, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in Hollywood. Marker is at the intersection of Afton Place and El Centro Avenue, on the left when traveling east on Afton Place. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 6141 Afton Pl, Los Angeles CA 90028, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. YWCA Hollywood Studio Club (approx. 0.2 miles away); Hollywood Palladium (approx. 0.2 miles away); Earl Carroll Theatre (approx. 0.2 miles away); CBS Columbia Square Studios (approx. 0.2 miles away); Morgan Camera Shop (approx. 0.2 miles away); Villa Elaine (approx.

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¼ mile away); Entertainment Industry’s Time Capsule (approx. ¼ mile away); Wallichs Music City (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Los Angeles.

Regarding Afton Arms Apartments. Built in 1925 and advertised as modern and up-to-date, filled with every convenience, the Afton Arms offered stylish living for aspiring entertainers and striving businessmen, located a few blocks away from motion picture studios.
In 1924, shirt manufacturer Eli van Ronkel realized that constructing an apartment building in booming Hollywood offered a quick way to grow his wealth. Buying a large parcel of land at Afton Place and El Centro Avenue near Sunset Boulevard and Gower Street — the location of several motion picture studios — van Ronkel hired rising young architect Leland Bryant from San Francisco to design his Afton Arms investment. Bryant would go on to design such stunning Los Angeles apartment buildings as the Fontenoy, Sunset Towers, and the Trianon.
Van Ronkel’s Afton Arms Realty Corporation built a three-story, reinforced concrete apartment building at 6141 Afton Place, with 41 single and double apartments. Each unit featured Batchelder tiled bathrooms, radio

Photographed By Craig Baker, August 27, 2023

2. Afton Arms Apartments Marker

connections, refrigeration, and full-length cedar wardrobes and mirrors. The complex included a banquet room and ballroom, electric washing machines with with clothes drying patio, veranda and Moorish Court with fountain and shrubbery leading to individual entrances.
Actress Dolores Del Rio and her husband moved into the building just a few months after it opened when she immigrated from Mexico.
In 1972, Hollywood character Gen. Hershey Bar took over management, changing the stately old complex’s name to the groovy Happy Malaga Castle. New management in the late 1980s restored the structure. Los Angeles named the Afton Arms Historic Cultural Monument No. 463 in November 1989.

Afton Arms Courtyard image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Baker, August 27, 2023

3. Afton Arms Courtyard

Afton Arms Apartments image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Craig Baker, August 27, 2023

4. Afton Arms Apartments

Credits. This page was last revised on April 27, 2024. It was originally submitted on August 30, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 259 times since then and 163 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 30, 2023, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.