The Villa Carlotta: A Vintage Hollywood Treasure

Image courtesy Marc Wanamaker

I love Hollywood’s surviving vintage apartment buildings associated with the golden age of movies, and a few days ago I walked by the fascinating Villa Carlotta and thought I’d share with you a bit about it.

Located at 5959 Franklin Avenue, the Villa Carlotta, and Italian Palazzo style building, is in the heart of the Franklin Village neighborhood.  It is designated as a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.

Image courtesy California Preservation Foundation

The Villa Carlotta was built in 1926.  A 1926 building permit indicates it was built as a 4 story apartment house with 47 total apartments.  A 1994 document shows 49 apartments and one penthouse so it was possibly renovated or the original plan adjusted before it was built.  It is associated with many Hollywood celebrities.  Those associations are always difficult to prove, but here are a few from the Movieland Directory:

• George Cukor

• Marion Davies

• Marjorie Daw

• Adolphe Menjou

• Ona Muson

• Louella Parsons (rumored to have been married in the lobby)

• Edward G. Robinson

• Myron Selznick

• David O. Selznick

  ***This is one of the properties that is rumored to have been hush money for Thomas Ince’s widow after his death following Thanksgiving weekend spent on William Randolph Hearst’s yacht in 1924.  The owner listed on the building permits is the Ince Corporation.

During the 2017 restoration of the building, I had the chance to purchase an original window that still hangs in my home - so I never got to live there but I have a little piece of it!

My first and only time as a covergirl (for Discover Hollywood magazine), I also got to pose in the lobby of the newly restored Villa Carlotta, and it’s stunning.  

Photo by Anthony Nelson

The Villa Carlotta currently functions as an extended stay hotel, and spending a month or two there is definitely on my bucket list!