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Overview

This 14-floor apartment building was a cooperative, one of the few on Wilshire Boulevard. The building's exterior was notable for its staggered arrangement of long balconies on its long north and south facades. Edgardo Contini served as Victor Gruen's partner-in-charge of the Wilshire Terrace Apartments.

Building History

The Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen (1903-1980) moved to Los Angeles after World War II, and practiced here until 1968, when he returned to live in Vienna. He designed this large apartment co-op in the mid-1950s, which was completed in 1958. Gruen designed the building for the Tishman Realty and Construction Company, Incorporated, of New York, NY. A Tishman subsidiary, the Tishman Construction Corporation, erected it.

The Wilshire Terrace won an award citation for residential design in Progressive Architecture's 1958 competition. It said of Victor Gruen's design: "To be built in a choice residential area, this fully air-conditioned apartment house, which combines the privacy and livability of a private home with the services and conveniences of a first-class hotel, fascinated the Jury particularly by its ingenious, staggered plan system. Overlapping apartments by half an apartment length on every other floor, the Architects managed to provide a two-story-high, 17' x 18' outisde patio for each unit, though all apartments are on a single level. All main living rooms of the apartments, which range in size from four to eight rooms, open to the patios, which have barbecue fireplaces. The typical apartment plan includes, besides the patio, a large living room; master bedroom; two baths; a kitchen and service area; and a library (adjoining one of the bathrooms) that doubles as an extra bedroom." (See P/A Fifth Annual Design Awards Program Residential: Award Citations," Progressive Architecture, vol. 39, no. 1, 01/1958, p. 88.)

From its beginning, the building attracted a well-heeled group of inhabitants. Architectural Digest featured individual apartments within Wilshire Terrace repeatedly in 1959 and 1960.

In 2021, the building contained 84 units ranging in size from 1,000 to 4,200 square feet and containing between one and three bedrooms.

Admission to unit ownership in the building was more stringent than many other co-operatives. Those wishing to buy apartments had to have all-cash offers, and be subject to general background checks, personal reference reviews and financial statement examination. (See Wilshire Terrace.com, "Amenities," accessed 12/15/2021.)

Building Notes

Wilshire Terrace offered many amenities including valet parking, a doorman, concierge, switchboard, hair salon, storage, exercise room, pool and spa and two private parks. Some units had maid's quarters and ten offices were available in the building.

The Wilshire Terrace Apartments won an award citation in Progressive Architecture magazine's Fifth Annual Awards Program in 1958. (See "P/A Fifth Annual Design Awards Program: Wilshire Terrace Luxury Apartments for Tishman Realty & Construction Co.," Progressive Architecture, vol. 39, no. 1, 01/1958, pp. 88-89.)

PCAD id: 24283