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F. and W. Grand Silver Store Building

Architect
Walker & Eisen
Year
1931
Style
Art Deco
City
Los Angeles, CA
Collection
l.a. deco
F. and W. Grand Silver Store Building
Photo: Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0
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The F. and W. Grand Silver Store Building is a six-story Art Deco structure at 537 South Broadway, built in 1931 on the former site of the Milton Hotel and designed by Walker & Eisen, the firm behind many of Broadway's commercial landmarks, including the Silverwood's, Apparel Center, and Platt buildings. It housed the F. & W. Grand-Silver Stores chain from 1931 to 1934, then a series of department stores, most notably Hartfield's, for much of the mid-20th century. Also known as Hartfields, it sits within the Jewelry District and Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles.

the building

A much-altered ground floor. The building's first floor was altered, demolished, and rebuilt five times over the decades, and the interior was remodeled repeatedly between 1934 and 2009 to suit its changing retail tenants, from the original Grand-Silver stores through Hartfield's department store.

the style

Its Art Deco design places the Grand Silver Store Building among Walker & Eisen's numerous Broadway commercial commissions from the same era, part of the concentration of Deco storefronts that still defines the historic core's Broadway Theater District.

More on Art Deco

the architect

Walker & Eisen was a prolific Los Angeles architecture firm responsible for numerous buildings along Broadway, including the Silverwood's, Apparel Center, and Platt buildings, alongside this 1931 store.

significance

The building was named a contributing property when the Broadway Theater and Commercial District joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, and it received individual designation as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1155 in 2018. It is also listed in the California Register of Historical Resources.

nearby

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