The 120-year-old Craftsman in the middle of the Hollywood Center Motel had survived earthquakes, flooding, riots, a murder investigation and the raucous force of the rock-n-roll era.
But in the early hours of Sunday, the historic motel once frequented by Neil Young and Crazy Horse turned to ashes as people sheltering in the home illegally rushed to flee the burning building on Sunset Boulevard.
“It’s a gut punch for Hollywood preservation,” said local historian Brian Curran, who recently submitted an application for the house to be designated a historic-cultural monument.
Last month, the city of L.A.’s Cultural Heritage Commission voted to move forward with consideration of such a designation. This week, commissioners were scheduled to visit the site.
But now it’s too late to save the 1905 home featured in “L.A. Confidential” and “The Rockford Files.”
“The real tragedy is that this building had been left vacant and it no longer had any kind of purpose, so it became a magnet for transients,” said Curran, who serves as co-chair of Hollywood Heritage’s Preservation Committee. “If you go look at it now, it is essentially a pile of crushed wood that has been sprayed with fire retardant.”
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to reports of a trash fire at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. There, they discovered the boarded-up Craftsman-style house engulfed in flames and heard voices yelling for help.
Crews used a ladder to rescue a 42-year-old man who had broken through the windows on the second floor in an effort to flee the blaze. He was transported to the hospital in stable condition while 70 firefighters worked to extinguish the stubborn fire.
Transients taking shelter inside the home had been a persistent problem since the property was foreclosed on and vacated in late 2024, said Athena Novak, a representative for the owner, Andranik Sogoyan. The owner repeatedly tried to seal off the building, but steel wire cutters were used to cut through the fences on multiple occasions, she said.
“The owner, of course, was reinforcing it the best he could,” she said. “He had a maintenance man going there all the time. The maintenance man was attacked a few times with weapons.”
Two smaller fires had already occurred recently at the property, on Sept. 15 and Oct. 19, which made the monument effort even more urgent, said Curran.
Hollywood Heritage, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving neighborhood history, mourned the loss of the motel in a statement Sunday.
“The building could readily have been painted and preserved to serve in an adaptive re-use capacity as a gem in the community,” said the organization. “By allowing its decay and neglect we again see rare historic buildings lost which were eminently restorable.”
The organization was scheduled to host a webinar Wednesday evening highlighting the history of the motel. Now the event will continue as a tribute to the motel and a discussion of strategies to stop the loss of historic properties to neglect.
“We are absolutely crushed and sick that this could happen,” said Curran, “and afraid that this is going to be a pattern.”
Almost exactly a year ago, another rock-era institution — the 111-year-old Morrison Hotel, featured on the cover of the Doors’ fifth studio album — was engulfed in flames after a series of smaller fires. Local merchants reported that unhoused individuals would often sleep inside the building.
The 1905 home that formerly served as the centerpiece of the Hollywood Center Motel was originally the home of William and Sarah Avery, who affectionately referred to it as “El Nido,” meaning the nest. In 2019, it was identified in the citywide survey of historic resources as a rare example of Shingle architecture that pre-dates Hollywood’s consolidation with the city of Los Angeles.
“The house exemplifies many of the characteristics of the Shingle Style including: asymmetrical façade, picturesque massing, dominant front facing gable, multiple gables and dormers, overhanging eaves, covered porch, second story balcony, differing wall textures, oriel windows,” the application states.
Six smaller buildings were later constructed on the property, and the structures collectively became the Hollywood Center Motel, which opened in 1956, according to the monument application.
The motel was a magnet for rock-and-rollers and folk artists seeking affordable housing close to the bustling Hollywood music scene. The band Buffalo Springfield took up residence in the 1960s, and Neil Young returned to the site in the 1970s with his band Crazy Horse, according to reporting from SF Gate.
The neon signs and classic sleazy-motel look also made it a popular filming site for TV crime shows such as “Perry Mason” and “T.J. Hooker.” Then in 1986 it became the scene of a real crime — the murder investigation of Richard Mayer, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase at the hotel.
The worn-down motel closed its doors in 2018, at which point the former owner and a handful of long-term tenants continued to occupy the property, said Curran. It was foreclosed on and vacated in late 2024.
In early 2025, the new owner submitted demolition permits to destroy the structures. This hastened Hollywood Heritage’s effort to secure monument status and preserve the 1905 home.
Sogoyan said the owner was fully supportive of the monument effort and ready to comply with measures to redevelop the property around the historic home, should the designation have been granted.
The motel’s loss is felt not only by history buffs but also local residents accustomed to walking by the iconic site on a daily basis, said Curran.
“An old friend is gone,” he said.
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