Wikimapia is a multilingual open-content collaborative map, where anyone can create place tags and share their knowledge.

Culver Hotel (Culver City, California)

USA / California / Culver City / Culver City, California / Culver Boulevard, 9400
 hotel, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, 1924_construction, historic landmark, 1920s construction

9400 Culver Boulevard
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 558-9400
www.culverhotel.com/

Culver Hotel is a historical landmark situated in downtown Culver City, California. It was built on the site of Culver City's first movie theater on September 4, 1924, with local headlines announcing: "City packed with visitors for opening of Culver skyscraper." Originally named Hotel Hunt, and later known as Culver City Hotel, the six-story building contained the offices of Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City. It was designed by Los Angeles architect Claud Beelman.

The hotel was originally jointly built by Charles Chaplin and Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City. Harry Culver's office was on the second floor in a room that, now, looks out to the Sony Plaza building.

Legend has it that Charlie Chaplin sold the hotel to John Wayne for a dollar during a poker game.

The Culver Hotel was owned by John Wayne for several years before he donated it to the YMCA. He did so after having been approached by the Black Panthers who wanted to purchase the hotel. They decided to move to San Francisco. There is a "John Wayne" presidential suite in the hotel.

Much of the cast of The Wizard of Oz stayed here during filming of the movie in 1939. The hijinks of that period, including the hotel's being taken over by the "Munchkins", were featured in the 1981 movie Under the Rainbow.

The pie-slice-shaped hotel has housed many stars as part-time residents, including Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, Greta Garbo, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Red Skelton, Buster Keaton, Dorothy Dandridge, Douglas Fairbanks, Frank Sinatra, and Ronald Reagan.

The Culver Hotel has appeared in countless films and television programs throughout its history, including Little Rascals, the Laurel and Hardy series, The Wonder Years, Party of Five, 7th Heaven, Last Action Hero, and Stuart Little 2.
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   34°1'25"N   118°23'39"W

Comments

  • Judy Garland (guest)
    where the Munchkins stayed when they shot the Wizard of Oz
This article was last modified 8 years ago