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Overview

Born in England, Arthur W. Letts, Sr., (1862-1923) came to the city in 1896 with a background in dry goods retailing. He arrived in Los Angeles from Seattle in 1896, just as the Depression of 1893 was beginning to taper off. In Downtown Los Angeles, Letts purchased and expanded two large department stores, the Broadway and Bullock's Department Stores, that made him one of the city's most wealthy businessmen.

Following his spectacular financial success in retailing, he got into land development. In 1919, he purchased 400 acres of the Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres in West Los Angeles, and set about developing two sections of it, Westwood and Holmby Hills.

This was Letts's Hollywood residence c. 1910. The landscaping surrounding his house was famous, and like the Hollywood estate of banker Gurdon Wallace Wattles (1855-1932), was opened to the public one day a week. In Letts's case, his gardens were open on Thursdays until 4:00 p.m.

PCAD id: 20197