Villa Carlotta is the name of two landmark buildings in greater

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Altadena

''Villa Carlotta'' is a 7,000-square-foot Mission Revival-style house at 234 East Mendocino Street in

Altadena, California Altadena () ("Alta", Spanish for "Upper", and "dena" from Pasadena) is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in the Verdugo Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, approximately 14 miles (23 km) from the downtown ...

.O'Neill, Judie. (2014, May). Altadena Heritage Newsletter, pp 8-10. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. Completed in 1917, it was one of the first houses in Altadena in which electrical wiring was incorporated into the original architectural plans. The house was built by Francis Raymond Welles, who hired architect

Myron Hunt Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Archi ...

. Hunt incorporated features of the Welles' family estate in France in the plans for Villa Carlotta, as evidenced by the house's high ceilings and tall windows. It remains a private house.

Franklin Village

Villa Carlotta Hollywood view from southeast 2015-11-15

''Villa Carlotta'' is a 50-unit Spanish Colonial-style apartment house at 5959 Franklin Avenue in the Franklin Village neighborhood of

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, ...

. It was built in 1926 for the widow of

Thomas H. Ince Thomas Harper Ince (November 16, 1880 – November 19, 1924) was an American silent film - era filmmaker and media proprietor. Ince was known as the "Father of the Western" and was responsible for making over 800 films. He revolutionized the mot ...

and designated a Los Angeles historical cultural monument in 1986.Vincent, Roger. (2014, August 14)
''Old Hollywood landmark Villa Carlotta apartments sold''
The Los Angeles Times The four-story building was designed by Arthur E. Harvey, who also designed the nearby

Château Élysée Château Élysée is a 1920's replica of a 17th-century French-Normandy chateau in Hollywood, California. Owned by the Church of Scientology, it is the home of Celebrity Centre International and the Manor Hotel. It is located at 5930 Franklin Av ...

. The building's notable tenants include actor

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

, actress

Marion Davies Marion Davies (born Marion Cecilia Douras; January 3, 1897 – September 22, 1961) was an American actress, producer, screenwriter, and philanthropist. Educated in a religious convent, Davies fled the school to pursue a career as a chorus girl ...

, writer

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

, film producer David O. Selznick, and architect

Wallace Neff Edwin Wallace Neff (January 28, 1895 – June 8, 1982) was an architect based in Southern California and was largely responsible for developing the region's distinct architectural style referred to as "California" style. Neff was a student of ...

Louella Parsons Louella Parsons (born Louella Rose Oettinger; August 6, 1881 – December 9, 1972) was an American movie columnist and a screenwriter. She was retained by William Randolph Hearst because she had championed Hearst's mistress Marion Davies and su ...

wrote her gossip column from her two-story apartment in the building. The Lesser family trust owned the building from the 1950s to 2014, when it was bought by investment firm CGI Strategies. Gidi Cohen and Adrian Goldstein of CGI Strategies are committed to restoring and renovating the historic building with a focus on preserving its architectural heritage, including keeping and refreshing the features and fixtures that made it a special place for residents and visitors. The renovation work allow for the building to be shared by the entire community. In 2018, Villa Carlotta and CGI Strategies received the California Preservation Design Award. It took CGI Strategies two years to restore Villa Carlotta. They carefully painted stenciled wood beams and coffered ceilings by hand and preserved much of the original wood, stone, and marble. CGI Strategies' restoration retained Villa Carlotta's original 1926 contractor to fabricate and install new exterior awnings.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses in Altadena, California History of Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California Myron Hunt buildings