Garden of Allah Hotel

The Garden of Allah was a famous hotel in West Hollywood, California, United States (then an unincorporated area of Los Angeles which was usually considered a part of Hollywood), at 8152 Sunset Boulevard between Crescent Heights and Havenhurst, at the east end of the Sunset Strip.

Originally a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) estate called Hayvenhurst, it was built in 1913 as the private residence of real estate developer William H. Hay. Actress Alla Nazimova acquired the property in 1919. She converted it into a residential hotel in 1926 by adding 25 villas around the residence, which opened as the "Garden of Alla Hotel" in January 1927.

In 1930, new owners renamed it the "Garden of Allah Hotel" (adding an 'h'). The property operated under a succession of owners for three decades until the last, Bart Lytton, owner of Lytton Savings & Loan, demolished the hotel in 1959 and replaced it with his bank's main branch. The Lytton Savings main branch was later demolished, along with a strip mall next to it, to make way for a mixed-use development designed by Frank Gehry.





== History ==





=== Hayvenhurst ===

The estate that later became the Garden of Allah Hotel was built in 1913 by real estate developer William H. Hay in the northwest corner of the Crescent Heights neighborhood, a 160-acre (65 ha) tract bounded by Sunset Boulevard on the north, Santa Monica Boulevard on the south, Crescent Avenue (later renamed Fairfax Avenue) on the east and Sweetzer Avenue on the west, which Hay had subdivided and developed starting in 1905.

The estate's original address was 8080 Sunset Boulevard but was later changed to 8152. It occupied a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) lot that fronted Sunset Boulevard and was bounded by Crescent Heights Boulevard on the east and Hayvenhurst (now spelled Havenhurst) Drive on the west.