The Hollywood Center Motel
- Feb 17
- 8 min read
2026 began with the loss of a true Hollywood legend, the Hollywood Center Motel. Built as a stately private home in 1905, by the early 1920s it had been converted into a public motel, and several small bungalows were added to the property. The 1950s additions included a kidney shaped swimming pool tucked away in the back, and a bright neon sign out front.
When I first noticed the motel, back in the mid 1990s, my mind went straight to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The ominous three story wooden main house had crooked rooflines that winged out like mischievous grins, and the disheveled curtains in mismatched windows looked like they were pleading to tell their stories. Old parked cars that hadn’t moved in years let you know… you could stay there, but you would never leave. I’m tellin’ you, the place looked spooky even on the brightest of California days.
For obvious reasons, when I started photographing for The Los Angeles Series, in 2015, this location was at the top of my must do list. One day I worked up the nerve to ask if I could photograph the property. I remember getting goosebumps as I crossed the motel's parking lot and walked up to the main office door. Was I really doing this? I took a deep breath and stepped inside. The first thing I noticed was how empty the smoke stained walls were. There was zero decor. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that. Before I could look around any more, a very quiet Asian man stood up from behind the front desk. I quickly introduced myself and awkwardly started rambling and asking about taking some photos. Almost immediately, he shook his head in disapproval and waved for me to go away. So across the street I went. LOL. A few days later, and very early in the morning so that guy wouldn’t see me, I came back with my large view camera and I set up on the sidewalk directly across from the motel. The sun was slowly rising and I was kind of nervous, so I got right to work. After about 20 minutes, I was done. Wow. I had thought about photographing this place for years, and I just did it. I stood there for a few more minutes, taking in the moment and marveling at the images I had finally captured of this slightly out of place and very eccentric looking motel, and I knew...this was the thrill I would be chasing with all my future work. I was still finding my style with photographing the city back then, so those early images have a lot of tilts and shifts, but those exaggerations kind of worked with the vibes the motel gave off.
As the years passed, I would stop by every now and then to take new photographs. Each time the structures were just slightly more rundown and withdrawn than before. At one point, the main gates closed and they never opened again, but that silver Mercedes moved around a lot, so you knew there was some sort of activity there. After photographing and daydreaming about the motel for a bit, I would always leave that sidewalk with an ache in my belly. I worried about this place. I worried about it being lost to the plague that had already ravaged so much of the history that once lined the streets of Hollywood and greater Los Angeles. I worried, but I also hoped those locked gates and classic breezeway walls would keep it safe.
For over a century, the Hollywood Center Motel survived all the social and economic changes that flowed back and forth in front of its 6720 Sunset Blvd location. Until October of 2025. That's when things got real. Signs were posted behind the still locked gates - NOTICE OF DEMOLITION. The end was near. Social media helped spread the word fast. We were about to lose another one and people wanted answers. Different preservation groups and organizations stepped up with urgent statements to save the historic location, while squatters and graffiti artists moved in.
Then - it happened. In the early morning hours of January 4, 2026, almost a year to the day devastating fires swept through Los Angeles, one of the small bungalows caught fire and a portion of the main building began to burn. Firefighters cut the lock and the main gates were finally open again. Hoses rolled out and ladders extended over the motel. Smoke billowed into the sky, as cars slowly drove by trying to catch a glimpse of the final act for a Tinseltown legend.
By morning, the ground was soaked and the smell of charred wood lingered in the air. The bungalow where the fire started was completely gone, but the main structure was still standing. Sort of. There was significant damage from the fire and all the water, but it was still there, so maybe there was a chance to save it? In what some might call suspicious timing, the prestigious Hollywood Heritage organization was scheduled to vote on declaring the motel a historical site just 3 days later. Instead of voting, bulldozers were crushing the main building to the ground. It was over.
As soon as I learned what had happened, I raced over to see it for myself. I remember my jaw clenching as I walked up to the gates. I gasped out loud and my eyes raced to take it all in. The scene was hard to believe. The only thing left was an enormous pile of debris. The empty space was haunting. When I saw the 7up machine, torn open and gutted, it felt like I lost a friend. Silly, I know, but I had watched that green machine for soooo long. It was sad to see it in that state. How? How could this happen? I was there...but the motel was gone. It was difficult to process. I squinted my eyes towards the sky. It was grey with clouds that were symbolically sprinkling tears all over everything. Even the air felt depressed. It was really a sad moment for me. I looked down and kicked at the ground a little, that's when I noticed something. It was a lock, and it looked like it had been cut. I reached through the gates and almost couldn't believe it. I found the lock that had been on those gates. The lock the firefighters must have cut off the night of the fire. It was like the motel gave me something to remember it by. I smiled and put it in my pocket.
In the days and weeks that followed, interest in the motel increased 10 fold. People from all over were showing up to take photos of its rubble, and post tik tok stories about the creepy place that burned down. That’s when I started to learn more about the motel's sketchy past, its many roles in hit TV shows and films, and those real-life murder mysteries.
Early in the motel's history it was considered a nice place to stay. It had clean rooms and a great location. But by the 1960s, a lot had changed. The Hollywood Center Motel had become one of the few places where rock stars, like The Doors and Janis Joplin, could easily rent rooms and live out their rock‘n roll lifestyles - No questions asked. Major Hollywood productions, like Perry Mason, The Rockford Files and L.A. Confidential, tapped the motel with supporting roles, and Quentin even gives the location a little cameo in Pulp Fiction's “Royale with Cheese” scene.
The two murder mysteries happened a decade apart. In 1976, a young mother left her infant daughter in a dresser drawer to walk the Sunset Strip for money. She was later considered one of the first victims of the Hillside Stranglers. In 1986, in bungalow 304, a body was found in a steamer trunk that was linked to the Billionaire Boys Club. A get rich ponzi scheme that had fatal consequences.
As interesting and dramatic as all that history was, what fascinated me the most was the unapologetic audacity of the motel's existence at all. In a town known for its glitz and glamour, the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel is just down the street, the Hollywood Center Motel kept all of its worn down character and grit, and still managed to turn heads. I think there's something about the underdogs. The lone wolves. The originals. Once upon a time, Los Angeles was a place filled with locations that had real stories and varied reputations, and people from all over the world would come here just to see and be near them. Those unique places made people feel a connection to the celebrities, movies and TV shows they grew up with and loved. That unwavering attraction millions have to the city is proof enough, Los Angeles herself is a star. We should be preserving and building her up, but that's not what's happening. Los Angeles has become a place where outside money can buy a landmark location and tear it down without breaking a sweat. The phrase, Mixed use with underground parking, is code for, We've come for the soul of your city. Don't fall for its pop of color persuasion.
This sterilization is happening in slow motion, and it seems all anyone could do is watch, but some of us started taking photographs and filming places before it was too late. Personally, I’ve spent years waking up before dawn and being out there, on the streets of Los Angeles, for hours and hours capturing as much as I could, because I felt a real desperation to beat those dreadful construction fences. I would literally feel sick every time I'd find a new one. The buildings surrounded and trapped behind those fences always looked like they were crying out for help. The next day... they're completely gone. Just like that. And this loss is happening all over the city. All over the country really.
I think my emotional connection to these older, outsider type locations, like the Hollywood Center Motel, is very similar to how lots of other people feel, we love our... Comfort Places. Every small town and big city has them. Places where time seems to slow down somehow, and as soon as you get there, you can feel yourself relax. You know what to expect, and the same old same old is exactly what you want. What you neeeeed in this constantly changing world. These special places are generally a little run down and quiet, but perfect just as they are. They make you feel better simply by being there. Cracks, creaks and all.
The Hollywood Center Motel was a comfort place that many of us hoped would survive. Its mere presence gave us not only a super cool way to look back at our history, but also the chance to move forward with a prime example of a location being rich in Hollywood character, and effortless in creating global curiosity. Places like this are exactly what people come here to see. There’s serious value in that. Now, it's gone… and all we can do is ask those repetitive and exhausting questions: Why? Why do we continue to sell off, teardown and destroy the structures and physical legacy of our great city? When will enough be enough? The answers are obvious, greed and no accountability, but those truths will only be believed after it's too late to do anything about it. That's why lots of us are out there taking photographs, sharing, and doing all we can to save the city we love, and the history we value so much. And it's because of those efforts that many places, like the Hollywood Center Motel, will live on. If only in photographs and rebellious infamy.
For more visuals and to get your own little piece of the motel, please visit...
Beautiful. It's so sad that it's gone. I heard they were going to tear down Musso & Frank's? Because it's not up to the new fire codes. It's horrible! 😭 Miss you Ashley. Xoxoxo