The Hotel Normandie is a historic boutique hotel within what is now

Koreatown, Los Angeles Koreatown ( ko, 코리아타운) is a neighborhood in central Los Angeles, California, centered near Eighth Street and Irolo Street. Koreans began immigrating in larger numbers in the 1960s and found housing in the Mid-Wilshire area. Many open ...

. It is located at 605 S. Normandie Ave. It has 92 guest rooms and suites. It was built in 1926 in the Wilshire district in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style and was designed by

Walker & Eisen Walker & Eisen (1919−1941) was an Architectural firm, architectural partnership of architects Albert R. Walker and Percy A. Eisen in Los Angeles, California. Partners in addition to Walker and Eisen included: Clifford A. Balch, William Glenn ...

, the firm of Los Angeles architects Percy A. Eisen and Albert R. Walker. Author

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

wrote a significant portion of the novel ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the Mexican city of Quauhnahuac, on the Day of the Dead in November ...

'' while residing at the hotel. ''Under the Volcano'' is now listed at #11 on Modern Library's list of 100 Best Novels. The hotel was listed as

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

#1013 in 2012 by the Cultural Heritage Commission City of Los Angeles. Normandie-Historic-Photo

History

In March 1925, plans for the four-story store and hotel building were prepared for Karl Elliot by Architects Walker & Eisen. It was projected to cost $200,000 and would have stores on the first floor, with a hundred rooms on the upper floors. In 1931, it was selected as the official hotel for Stanford University alumni, as well as the University of Southern California and the University of California Los Angeles. In 1964, a $250,000 modernization took place, scheduled by Paul and Adelaide Stockhammer. They purchased the building from the Hotel Normandie Ltd for more than $750,000. The Stockhammers had operated hotels and motels in New York, Massachusetts, and Florida, according to John Barbary, a real estate broker who represented the purchasers. In the late 1970s, the hotel became the Normandie Wilshire Retirement Hotel.

References

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