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Opened c. 1914 by George A. and Dwight H. Hart, the Hotel Rosslyn had 800 rooms and was one of the largest hotels in downtown Los Angeles at the time; with its annex, the hotel had over 1100 rooms. The Hart Brothers were very successful hoteliers, owning a number of large inns on the West Coast. Its owners emphasized the building's fire resistance, calling it the "Rosslyn Million Dollar Fireproof Hotel." Los Angeles architect John Parkinson (1861-1935) of the firm Parkinson and Bergstrom designed the Rosslyn. The English-born Parkinson produced designs for some of the most prominent buildings in Downtown Los Angeles, including the Braly Block (1902), Security Trust and Saving Bank (1907) and the Wholesale Terminal Buildings #1-3 (1915-1919). In July 2009, the building became rental apartments known as the "Rosslyn Lofts."

Danish-born artist Einar Petersen (1885-1986) painted a five-panel mural illustrating Los Angeles history from the Spanish era to 1915, the date of the commission. Each of these panels was large, 19 by 9 feet. In 2013, one panel of this set, depicting a stage coach, was offered on eBay for $5,000. The Rosslyn also had a notable rooftop sign depicting a large hart within which was the caption, "Rosslyn Hotel."

An identical 13-story annex was added in 1923; the two hotel buildings occupy opposite corners of the same block and were connected by way of a 145-foot, reinforced concrete tunnel, sheathed in grey, Tennessee marble.

PCAD id: 4412