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Overview

A recent transplant to Los Angeles, CA, from New York State, Rufus H. Dorn, designed this large building as his own residence in 1887. The building was converted into an apartment house by subsequent owners and underwent a large number of alterations as a rooming house. It became the subject of a preservation controversy in the 1960s, but, due to governmental inaction, the building sat empty for years unoccupied and deteriorated until it became a public hazard by 1979.

Building Notes

An photo quiz in the Los Angeles Times in 1956 selected The Rochester as its topic. It read: "KNOW YOUR CITY, NO. 54 -- This ornate old house (now painted light green) is seen by tens of thousands every day. Unfortunately, its origin and history are obscured by many owners and alterations. Just a landmark. Answer, Page 21, Part 1. ANSWER: Anyone who has ever traveled the freeways surely has noticed the old mansion, now converted into a rooming house. Its address is 1012 W Temple St., but it can be readily seen from the four-level structure of the freeways. If is just off southernbound lanes of the Harbor Freeway and it curves off the Hollywood Freeway. Recognize it now, don't' you?" (See "Know Your City," Los Angeles Times, 01/10/1956, section I, p. 21.)

Demolition

Due to its deterioration and lack of money to rehabilitate The Rochester, Los Angeles razed the Rochester in 1979.