The Ojai Apartments is an historic
Mediterranean Revival
Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references from Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonia ...
apartment building at 1929 N. Whitley Ave., at the intersection of Whitley with Padre Terrace, in
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
.
History
The Ojai Apartments were designed by Frank H. Webster, architect of the historic landmark
Villa Bonita, and built by the Cooper Construction Company in 1928.
It features five stories facing Padre Terrace and four stories facing its northern end at Emmet Terrace.
[https://planning.lacity.org/StaffRpt/InitialRpts/DIR-2017-1073.pdf ] It has terracotta roof tiles and a rooftop neon sign.
The complex was designated a
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 ...
in May 2006.
In 2017, the Ojai was used as the residence of the fictional
Tommy Wiseau
Thomas P. Wiseau ( or ) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film ''The Room'', which has been described by many critics as one of the List of films considered the worst, w ...
in
James Franco
James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor and filmmaker. For his role in '' 127 Hours'' (2010), he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. Franco is known for his roles in films, such as Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Ma ...
's ''
The Disaster Artist
''The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made'' is a 2013 non-fiction book written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Sestero details the troubled development and production of the 2003 cult film ''The Room,'' hi ...
''.
The use of the building is thought to be a
double entendre
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...
on Tommy Wiseau's infamous ''
The Room
''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amiable ...
'' character's habit of greeting other characters with a perfunctory "Oh, hi."
References
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
Buildings and structures in Los Angeles
Culture of Hollywood, Los Angeles
1928 establishments in California
Architecture in California
{{LosAngeles-struct-stub