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<\/p>\nThe 120-year-old Craftsman home in the middle of the Hollywood Center Motel had survived earthquakes, flooding, riots, a murder investigation and the raucous force of the rock-n-roll era. <\/p>\n
But in the early hours of Sunday, the historic motel once frequented by Neil Young and Crazy Horse turned to ashes as people illegally sheltering in the home rushed to flee the burning building on Sunset Boulevard. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a gut punch for Hollywood preservation,\u201d said local historian Brian Curran, who recently submitted an application for the house to be designated a historic-cultural monument. <\/p>\n
Last month, the city of L.A.\u2019s Cultural Heritage Commission voted to move forward with consideration of such a designation. This week, commissioners were scheduled to visit the site. <\/p>\n
But now it\u2019s too late to save the 1905 home featured in \u201cL.A. Confidential\u201d and \u201cThe Rockford Files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real tragedy is that this building had been left vacant and it no longer had any kind of purpose, so it became a magnet for transients,\u201d said Curran, who serves as co-chair of Hollywood Heritage\u2019s Preservation Committee. \u201cIf you go look at it now, it is essentially a pile of crushed wood that has been sprayed with fire retardant.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of a trash fire at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. There, they discovered the boarded-up Craftsman-style house engulfed in flames and heard voices yelling for help. <\/p>\n
Crews used a ladder to rescue a 42-year-old man who had broken through the windows on the second floor in an effort to flee the blaze. He was transported to the hospital in stable condition while 70 firefighters worked to extinguish the stubborn fire.<\/p>\n
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A fire crew aims hoses at the fully engulfed historic motel on Sunset Boulevard.<\/p>\n
(Los Angeles Fire Department)<\/p>\n
Transients taking shelter inside the home had been a persistent problem since the property was foreclosed on and vacated in late 2024, said Athena Novak, a representative for the owner, Andranik Sogoyan. The owner repeatedly tried to seal off the building, but steel wire cutters were used to cut through the fences on multiple occasions, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe owner, of course, was reinforcing it the best he could,\u201d she said. \u201cHe had a maintenance man going there all the time. The maintenance man was attacked a few times with weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two smaller fires had already occurred recently at the property, on Sept. 15 and Oct. 19, which made the monument effort even more urgent, Curran said.<\/p>\n
Hollywood Heritage, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving neighborhood history, mourned the loss of the motel in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe building could readily have been painted and preserved to serve in an adaptive re-use capacity as a gem in the community,\u201d said the organization. \u201cBy allowing its decay and neglect we again see rare historic buildings lost which were eminently restorable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization was scheduled to host a webinar Wednesday evening highlighting the history of the motel. Now the event will continue as a tribute to the motel and a discussion of strategies to stop the loss of historic properties to neglect.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are absolutely crushed and sick that this could happen,\u201d Curran said, \u201cand afraid that this is going to be a pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n
Almost exactly a year ago, another rock-era institution \u2014 the 111-year-old Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the Doors\u2019 fifth studio album \u2014 was engulfed in flames<\/a> after a series of smaller fires. Local merchants reported that unhoused individuals would often sleep inside the building. <\/p>\n The 1905 home was completely destroyed in the blaze Sunday, the same week that city officials were set to the visit the site as they considered monument status.<\/p>\n (Hollywood Heritage)<\/p>\n The 1905 home that formerly served as the centerpiece of the Hollywood Center Motel was originally the home of William and Sarah Avery, who affectionately referred to it as \u201cEl Nido,\u201d meaning the nest. In 2019, it was identified in the citywide survey of historic resources as a rare example of Shingle architecture that predates Hollywood\u2019s consolidation with the city of Los Angeles. <\/p>\n \u201cThe house exemplifies many of the characteristics of the Shingle Style including: asymmetrical fa\u00e7ade, picturesque massing, dominant front facing gable, multiple gables and dormers, overhanging eaves, covered porch, second story balcony, differing wall textures, oriel windows,\u201d the application states.<\/p>\n Six smaller buildings were later constructed on the property, and the structures collectively became the Hollywood Center Motel, which opened in 1956, according to the monument application.<\/p>\n The motel was a magnet for rock-and-rollers and folk artists seeking affordable housing close to the bustling Hollywood music scene. The band Buffalo Springfield took up residence in the 1960s, and Neil Young returned to the site in the 1970s with his band Crazy Horse, according to reporting from SF Gate<\/a>.<\/p>\n File photograph of the Hollywood Motel located on the 6700 block of Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. <\/p>\n (Hollywood Heritage)<\/p>\n![\"Los](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767681972_324_.jpeg\")
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