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

Monastery of the Angels

Photographed by Craig Baker, August 14, 2024

1. Monastery of the Angels Marker

Inscription.
Monastery of the Angels
100th Anniversary
1924 - 2024
Monumental Angelenos
City of Los Angeles

Erected 2024 by City of Los Angeles.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1924.

Location. 34° 6.445′ N, 118° 19.346′ W. Marker is in Los Angeles, California, in Los Angeles County. It is in Hollywood Hills. It is at the intersection of North Gower Street and Carmen Place, on the left when traveling north on North Gower Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1977 Carmen Ave, Los Angeles CA 90068, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in California’s Transverse Ranges.

It is also on the American Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Hollywood Tower (approx. 0.2 miles away); Villa Carlotta (approx. 0.2 miles away); Vedanta Square (approx. 0.3 miles away); Capitol Records Tower (approx. 0.4 miles away); Hollywood Playhouse (approx. 0.4 miles away); Pantages Theatre (approx. 0.4 miles away); Bank of Hollywood (approx. 0.4 miles away); Hollywood & Vine (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Los Angeles.

Regarding Monastery of the Angels. The first four Dominican sisters came to America from

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Oullins, France, in 1880 and took up residence in a new cloister in Newark, NJ. On St. Patrick’s Day 1924, in response to Sister Mary of the Eucharist’s request, Archbishop John J. Cantwell invited her and four other nuns from the Newark monastery to live in Los Angeles as the city’s first community of cloistered Catholic women. In 1934, the sisters obtained a suitable home when their order, with the aid of wealthy friends, purchased the former mansion of Nevada copper king Joseph Louis Giroux, on Carmen Avenue in Hollywood. The house had been designed by master architect Frederick Roehrig in 1912, with landscaped gardens by Arthur E. Simpson. The grounds included vast lawns, terraces, fountains, rare specimen plants and long driveways lined with palms.

In Spring 1948, the Catholic women of Los Angeles came together in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel to fundraise for the sisters' new purpose-built cloister, chapel, and office complex. Maureen O’Sullivan was the chairwoman, and sponsors included Edith Head, Louella Parsons, and Irene Dunne. Designed by Wallace Neff in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, the new complex enclosed the old mansion monastery and its 4 acres of grounds with 18' tall walls. By 1950, there was a community of 30 cloistered nuns living, working and practicing Perpetual Adoration in their simple chapel, with at least four nuns praying

Monastery of the Angels and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, August 14, 2024

2. Monastery of the Angels and Marker

at all times.

The nuns were able to remain in their cloister in constant prayer thanks to the support of the Los Angeles Catholic community, which organized star-studded fundraising teas and fashion shows, with Bing Crosby and Don Ameche as regular performers.

In 1959, prioress Mother Mary Gabriel, after thirty years of service in Hollywood, moved to Karachi, Pakistan to establish a cloistered monastery, also called Monastery of the Angels, to minister to the largely Muslim community. While today the Hollywood monastery is a shadow of itself, its Pakistani sister is thriving.

Although it is a cloistered community, Wallace Neff designed the Hollywood Monastery of the Angels campus with a public face. The chapel where the nuns and their lay visitors engage in Perpetual Adoration is just a few steps up from the public parking lot. And opposite the chapel door is the gift shop, where visitors can purchase spiritual books, medallions, prayer cards, and the famous pumpkin bread and hand-dipped chocolate candies that help support the monastery. By 1986, an assembly line of 26 nuns was producing 12,000 loaves of pumpkin bread a year and bakery sales made up 25% of the monastery’s income. In 1973 the mansion was demolished for construction of a modern retreat house.

In recent years, the Monastery has suffered from financial problems and a declining

Monastery of the Angels image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Craig Baker, August 14, 2024

3. Monastery of the Angels

membership. In 2009 there were 20 women living in the cloister. After several nuns died or moved into assisted living facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were just 4 women remaining.
-from friendsoftheangels.org

The Monastery closed in 2022 and the gift shop closed in 2024.

Also see . . . Save The Monastery Of The Angels. Plans are underway for adaptive reuse of the Monastery of the Angels. Some of the leaders of this effort are also trying to get the new historical sign removed. They say it is not the 100th anniversary of the move to Los Angeles since they did not stay in the original location, and they were closed before making it to 100 years. (Submitted on August 16, 2024.)

Photographed by Craig Baker, August 14, 2024

4. Monastery of the Angels

J.L. Giroux residence image. Click for full size.

5. J.L. Giroux residence

Built in 1912. Demolished in 1973.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 22, 2026. It was originally submitted on August 16, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. This page has been viewed 448 times since then and 48 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on August 16, 2024, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California.