Lee Drug
- Year
- 1935
- Style
- Streamline Moderne
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
Built in 1935 by B. D. Bixby at Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, Lee Drug blends Art Deco and Streamline Moderne detailing behind a pronounced vertical sign that still projects above the roofline. Its drugstore, steps from the major studios, became known for selling screen and TV makeup to working actors.
the building
Streamline storefront. Horizontal banding and deco detailing wrap the corner building beneath its landmark vertical sign, a fixture of the Hollywood Boulevard streetscape since 1935.
Threatened by Metro expansion. A mural was added to the building's rear in 2021, but in 2024 Lee Drug was one of four Hollywood and Highland buildings proposed for demolition to make way for a station entrance on the Metro K Line's Northern Extension.
the style
Lee Drug mixes Art Deco and Streamline Moderne, pairing deco ornament with the smooth horizontal lines the Streamline style borrowed from industrial design — a combination typical of 1930s Hollywood commercial buildings competing for attention along the boulevard.
More on Streamline Modernesignificance
Listed as a contributing property when the Hollywood Boulevard Commercial and Entertainment District joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, Lee Drug faced a 2024 demolition proposal tied to a new Metro K Line station entrance.
nearby
- Bank of America Building
- Max Factor Make-Up Salon
- El Capitan Theatre
- Hollywood Masonic Temple
- Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel