Max Factor Make-Up Salon
- Architect
- S. Charles Lee
- Year
- 1916
- City
- Los Angeles, CA
Built in 1916 as the Hollywood Fire Safe Building for developer C.E. Toberman, this four-story block at 1666 North Highland Avenue became something else entirely when cosmetics manufacturer Max Factor bought it in 1928. Theater architect S. Charles Lee remodeled it for a 1935 reopening as the Max Factor Make-Up Salon, pairing a ground-floor salon with make-up manufacturing on the three floors above and a purpose-built studio wing. More than 8,000 people showed up to a reopening meant for 3,000 invited guests, and the building quickly earned the nickname the 'Jewel Box of the Cosmetic World.'
the building
The 1935 remodel. Lee's renovation turned the building into a working cosmetics empire: a public salon at street level, manufacturing floors above, and a one-story addition built specifically to house the Max Factor Make Up Studio, nicknamed 'The Pink Powder Puff.'
Named for the stars. Virtually every leading actress of classic Hollywood passed through, including Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, and Bette Davis. Jean Harlow personally dedicated the salon's Blonde Room, one of several rooms built around different star 'types.'
the architect
S. Charles Lee was a renowned theater architect brought in to remodel the building for Max Factor in 1935, adapting the former Hollywood Fire Safe Building into a working salon and cosmetics factory.
significance
The building was individually designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #593 in 1994 and is a National Register of Historic Places contributing property. It now houses the Hollywood Museum and a Mel's Drive-In location.
nearby
- Bank of America Building
- Lee Drug
- El Capitan Theatre
- Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
- Hollywood Masonic Temple
- Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel