California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Arthur Letts residence, also called Holmby House, Hollywood, ca.1905

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Arthur Letts residence, also called Holmby House, Hollywood, ca.1905

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Photograph of Arthur Letts residence, also called Holmby House, Hollywood, ca.1905. The three-story house situated on a hill features dormer windows, cant windows, stone masonry walls, a covered porch, several chimneys and window awnings. An immaculate courtyard adorned with well-manicured lawns and gardens precedes the house. Walkways navigate around the courtyard.; "Six years later, wealthy retailer Arthur Letts bought the entire property for $100 an acre ($2,000,000). Letts, an Englishman, was the founder of the Broadway Department Store and was an initial investor in a similar enterprise founded by his former employee, John G. Bullock. Letts' interest and involvement in Los Angeles retailing made him very comfortable financially. He owned a large estate in Hollywood, a Tudor mansion surrounded by formal gardens filled with statuary. Always interested in downtown real estate development, he also invested in ranch land and subdivisions in Hollywood as well. He was particularly attracted to the Wolfskill ranch because its diversity made it suitable for a variety of uses. Unlike Wolfskill and the Santa Monica Land and Water Company, whose activities had been based around the Beverly Glen/Santa Monica Boulevard area, Letts was primarily interested in developing estate parcels which he called 'Holmby Hills' after his birthplace on the northwestern edge of the rancho near Beverly Hills." -- unknown author.

Asset Metadata

Title Arthur Letts residence, also called Holmby House, Hollywood, ca.1905

Subject Architecture, Domestic (lcsh), Dwellings (lcsh), Letts, Arthur (subject), Los Angeles -- Hollywood -- Architecture -- Domestic (identified) (file heading), residential sites (adlf)

Tags OAI-PMH Harvest

Place California (states), Franklin Avenue (roadway), Hollywood (city or populated place), Los Angeles (city or populated place), Los Angeles (counties), USA (countries)

Temporal Subject 1905

Type images

Format 2 photographs : glass photonegative, photoprint, b&w ; 26 x 21 cm., 20 x 25 cm. (aacr2), glass plate negatives (format), photographic prints (aat), photographs (aat)

Source California Historical Society (contributing entity), California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 (collection), Title Insurance and Trust, and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960 (subcollection)

Date Created 1905

Creator Pierce, C.C. (Charles C.), 1861-1946 (photographer)

Publisher University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Repository Email specol@lib.usc.edu

Repository Name USC Libraries Special Collections

Repository Location Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189

Rights Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Copyright Public Domain. Please credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library.

Access Conditions Send requests to address or e-mail given

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/chs-m3281

Identifier 5523 (accession number), CHS-5523 (call number), CHS-5523 (filename), chs-m265 (legacy collection record id), chs-c65-4238 (legacy record id), chs-m3281 (legacy record id), USC-1-1-1-3353 (legacy record id), 1-31-46 (microfiche number), USC (project)

IIIF ID [Document.IIIFV3ID]

DM Record ID 4238

Unique identifier UC118620

Legacy Identifier CHS-5523.tiff

Type Image

Internet Media Type image/tiff

Resolution 13.5 in × 16.7 in at 300dpi
34.2 cm × 42.6 cm at 300dpi

Inherited Values

Title Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

Description The nearly 15,000 unique photographs of this collection contain the work of C.C. Pierce which cover the Los Angeles region city, street and architectural views, California Missions, Southwestern Native Americans, and turn-of-century Nevada, Arizona, and California. Pierce, active from 1886 to 1940, was one of the leading photographers of his day and amassed a collection of 15,000 images, including his own and those bought and copied from his contemporaries, George Wharton James and Charles Puck. The James collection contains over 2,000 images of portraits, customs, ceremonies, arts, and games of various groups of Southwestern Native Americans.

Date Created 1860/1960

Linked assets

Title Insurance and Trust and C.C. Pierce Photography Collection 1860-1960

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