A vision Realized
Westwood Village was started in 1919 by Arthur Letts, founder of the Broadway and Bullock’s department stores on a subdivision of the Wolfskill Ranch. Upon Letts’ death, the property passed to his son-in-law, Harold Janss, vice president of the Janss Investment Company, which continued to develop the area for shopping, dining and entertainment. From the 1930s to the 1980s, the village was the most popular district of its kind on the Westside of Los Angeles.
Janss hired major architects and instructed them to build in the Mediterranean style, with tile roofs, decorative Spanish tile, paseos, patios and courtyards.
Like the UCLA campus, the village first rose in the midst of open fields.
The architectural style began to vary in the ’70s with the addition of high-rise office buildings. In time, Wilshire Boulevard became a major corridor of office and condominium towers, shadowing the original village, which retains its character.
ICONIC Landmarks
Several striking structures, particularly towers and domes, serve as touch points that tie together the collection of buildings within the village.
The building above and below, which many consider the heart of the village — where Westwood Boulevard and Broxton and Kinross avenues meet — was the first one built. Designed by the architects who created UCLA’s Royce Hall, it housed the Janss Investment Company’s administrative offices on the first floor and a men’s dormitory on the second. Bank of America was a later tenant, followed by several restaurants, including Mr. Chow, Yamato and (now) Broxton Brewery.
One of the six original buildings in the village (below), erected in 1929, first housed a Ralphs supermarket, whose debut coincided with the opening of the UCLA campus. Ralphs left in the mid-’60s and was succeeded by the Bratskellar German restaurant; in the mid-’80s, the Bratskellar gave way to La Salsa and Peet’s Coffee and Tea, and the building is now home to Alfred Coffee. In 1970, a large portion of the space facing Lindbrook Drive was converted into a movie theater, known variously over the years as the United Artists (UA) Theater — where The Rocky Horror Picture Show made its U.S. debut in 1975 — the UA Egyptian, the Odeon Cinema, and finally, the Mann Festival, which closed in 2009. In the late ’90s, the prime corner space at the base of the tower was split between Daphne’s Greek Cafe and Togo’s Sandwich Restaurant and later 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria. The building was declared a historic-cultural monument in 1988 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Holmby Hall (below) was constructed in 1929 as the first shop building in Westwood Village. Designed by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, it is distinctive for its six Spanish Colonial Revival storefronts and white clock tower. The hall was also used as a UCLA women’s dormitory.
A shopper’s paradise
Westwood was a one-stop shopping destination, with department stores, supermarkets, jewelry stores, furniture and fashion boutiques, record stores, and numerous bookstores. Pre-Amazon, a shop called Needham Book Finders would search for a particular title for you.
Below: Sears store at the corner of Westwood and Kinross, 1936.
Westwood Drug occupied the ground floor of Holmby Hall in the 1940s and ’50s.
Westwood Boulevard, 1930s and 2021. Times change, businesses change, tastes change, but the village’s classic architecture remains, giving Westwood its iconic character.
Myer Siegel Department Store building, 1937 and 2021. The large glass brick panel above the marquee allowed light to enter the mezzanine; marble wainscoting flanked the entrance, which was paved in travertine. The company closed in the late 1950s, but the building is still standing today. This block was also home at different times to Ann Taylor, World Cafe and, most recently, Paper Source.
Broxton Avenue (1930s and 2020) has always been a popular location for small shops and restaurants, including Stratton’s and Barney’s Beanery.
Foster’s sold fine china, crystal and silver and was a prime source for wedding gifts.
Bullock’s Westwood was one of the company’s most popular locations. Designed by architect Welton Becket, who designed several UCLA buildings in the ’60s, the department store occupied the space that’s now home to both Target and Ralphs.
No Shortage of Good Food
Westwood Village has long overflowed with dining choices, from basics to fancier fare. Mainstays have included the Stew Kettle, the Chatam, the Village Deli, Mario’s, the Good Earth, Stratton’s (two locations), Hamlet Gardens, Monty’s Steakhouse, Stan’s Donuts, Falafel King, the Moustache Café, Le Foyer, Ships, Sepi’s, the Gypsy Cafe, Truman’s, B.J.’s, Native Foods, D.B. Levy’s, Palomino, Napa Valley Grille and the Hungry Tiger. Clubby Hamburger Hamlet served burgers named for movie stars such as Rex Harrison. Popular side dishes there included the “Zucchini Zircles” fried zucchini plate. The Hamlet was eventually replaced by Jerry’s Deli.
Alice’s Restaurant, whose name came from Arlo Guthrie’s 1967 Vietnam War protest song, was a popular “hippie hangout’’ in the ’70s. Restaurateur Herb Evans knew Alice Brock, whose Stockbridge, Massachusetts, restaurant (called The Back Room) had inspired Guthrie’s song. The painting on the restaurant’s side wall is a funky cartoon-style mural painted by Roberto Chavez. The imagery is based on “hip culture” mythology — love-ins, communes, etc.
No corner of the village was more beloved than Stan’s Donuts, owned and operated by Stan Berman himself. A favorite among UCLA students, faculty, staff, locals and tourists, Stan’s opened in 1965.
Stan’s Donuts exterior courtesy of Josh McNair, CaliforniaThroughMyLens.com.
Smokers found practical use for giveaway matchbooks; others held onto them as souvenirs.
D.B. Levy’s was a popular restaurant, with a menu offering more than 150 different sandwiches with wonderfully punny names, including some served between slices of cheese instead of bread (“The Breadless Horseman”). Pre- and post-movie diners were especially drawn to this restaurant and bar, which operated in a second-floor location on Lindbrook Drive.
Truman’s coffee shop, restaurant and drive-in on the corner of Wilshire and Westwood boulevards was a well-liked hangout until its closure in 1969. Truman Fairless was the manager and owner.
Jurgensen’s was a high-end, specialty grocery store. Its building was later occupied by the Moustache Café and now houses the restaurant Fellow. This sign is still visible today.
Westwood Happenings
The village has always brought people together for activities such as movies, arcade games, performing arts, street fairs and — long ago — ice-skating.
Movie premieres loom large in Westwood’s history. By 1975, the village had 10 theaters, showcasing premieres that attracted crowds and attention. Single-screen theaters would show one major new movie for months at a time; The Exorcist ran for a year at the National Theatre (on the corner now partially occupied by Tocaya Modern Mexican restaurant) starting on Dec. 26, 1973.
Westwood was a prime spot for the opening of first-run films. Streets were closed and barricades erected. Crowds gathered, hoping for a glimpse of the glitterati.
A semiannual Westwood art show that ran for 20 years attracted as many as 40,000 shoppers to the village. Vendors sold not only paintings and photographs, but also crafts such as macramé and planters made from gourds.
Bruin school spirit roared loud and long in village pep rallies.
The current home of the Geffen Playhouse was built in 1929, one of the first 12 buildings constructed in the village. For nearly four decades, it was a Masonic clubhouse.
In the early ’70s, the Masons sold it to Donald and Kirsten Combs, who restored many of the original design elements. They opened an Italian restaurant, a furniture store named Contempo that sold mostly Scandinavian products, and the Westwood Playhouse.
A Change of Hobbit, below, first opened above a coin laundry in the village in 1972 before moving to the site on Westwood Boulevard pictured here. One of the first and largest science fiction bookstores, the Hobbit hosted events at which authors and fans mingled. The store is credited with having played a major role in the rise of sci-fi, fantasy and horror fandom.
Music collectors, literature enthusiasts, gamers and science fiction fans all found outlets to feed their obsessions in Westwood.
Record stores made their mark on Westwood; Rhino Records opened in 1973, and Tower Records in 1975. Los Angeles’ oldest indie record store chain, Penny Lane, arrived in 1987.
UCLA and Westwood Village literally grew up together. The history of the village tells the story of a changing Los Angeles throughout the 20th century and the first part of the 21st. The university and its college town need each other in order for both to be their best. Perhaps this partnership has been undervalued in recent decades. If so, it’s time for it to thrive again.