Halifax Apartments, Los Angeles: architect, style and history

The Halifax Apartments on Yucca Street in Hollywood were designed by Walker & Eisen and completed in 1923 for owner Leach Cross, who originally named the building the Cross Arms Apartments after himself. Considered one of the largest and most beautiful apartment houses in Hollywood at its opening, the property sold for $750,000 in October 1924, and the new owner renamed it Halifax.

the building

A guest list of entertainers. Early tenants included silent film star Ned Sparks and opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink, and in 1937 Joseph Laemmle hosted a reception here for Mayor Shaw attended by the city's police chief and district attorney.

From luxury flats to senior housing. In 1981 the Halifax was converted to Section 8 housing for senior citizens. A 1997 rehabilitation led by ONE Company's Ena Dubnoff and the Thai Community Development Center converted its 72 single units into 46 units of affordable multi-family housing.

the style

Renaissance Revival (c. 1840–1915): The Italian palazzo reborn as banks, clubs, and brownstones: rough stone bases, orderly window rows, and a heavy top cornice.

the architect

Walker & Eisen was an established Los Angeles architecture firm responsible for the Halifax, completed in 1923.

significance

The Halifax Apartments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

nearby

Regal Shoes Building 520 ft · Streamline Moderne · 1939
Avalon Hollywood 520 ft · Spanish Colonial Revival · 1927
Capitol Records Building 0.1 mi · Googie · 1956
Hallmark Building 0.2 mi · Chateauesque · 1922
Julian Medical Building 0.2 mi · Streamline Moderne · 1934
El Cabrillo 0.2 mi · Spanish Colonial Revival · 1928

All 315 buildings in Los Angeles