PBA Galleries

Includes:

• Six photographs of drawings and designs for houses, three credited to architect John L. DeLario, one to the “owner and builder” of the house (a “Moorish castle”); three with pencil sketches on the versos.
• Thirty-three original photographs of the grading, roadbuilding, construction and houses of the Hollywoodland development, most from 1923, a few from 1925.
• Five photographs relating to the ceremonial demise and reconstruction of the famed Hollywood sign in 1978, attended and overseen by Hugh Hefner and a bevy of Playboy bunnies, with J. D. Roche, an invited guest to the ceremonies, present as well, all smiles as he is surrounded by the bunnies, with a pencil note to him – two of the photos are small color polaroid snapshots.
• Ink manuscript map of Hollywoodland and the Hollywood Riding Stables and Riding Ring, showing the position of the famous sign, tracing the numerous bridle paths, the site of the proposed (but never built) Ritz-Carleton Hotel on Vine Street, etc.
• Illustrated promotional book, “Hollywoodland: Five Minutes from Hollywood’s Great White Way. A Pictorial Record of Actual Photographs Taken in This Distinctive Homeplace.”  35.5x26 cm. (14x10¼”), wrappers.

Photographs and map approx. 20x25 cm. (8x10”). 16 of the photographs with the label of John D. Roche, Inc., on verso, two with the rubberstamp of photographer Leland J. Burrud. Set in archival sleeves in a three-ring binder, accompanied by explanatory text and a modern book on Hollywoodland by Mary Mallory.

Important photographic archive documenting the construction and early years of Hollywoodland, the exclusive real estate development geared towards the stars and starlets of the burgeoning film industry of the roaring twenties. Nestled in the Hollywood Hills, the development gave birth to what is arguably the most famous sign in the world, the “HOLLYWOOD” sign constructed of 45-foot high letters near the summit of Mt. Lee. The sign began as the brainchild of John D. Roche, a young Los Angeles advertising executive, who was designing a brochure for the real estate development and penciled in the sign on the hill above the construction site. The project’s developers were captivated by the prospect of actually building the giant sign, reading “HOLLYWOODLAND,” and it began as a temporary promotional gimmick, later shortened to Hollywood, vandalized over the years, altered to occasional variant readings, finally reconstructed in 1978 and preserved to this day. But beyond the sign, the project created a marvelous living space and playground for the show business elite and their wealth managers, with lazy winding roads leading to fairlyland manors overlooking the hoi polloi in the flatlands below. The earlier photographs show the grading and construction of the roads, then the houses themselves, ranging in theme from Spanish-style adobes to Norman castles. Captured are construction and houses along Mullohlland Highway (now Drive); Rockcliff Place; Beachwood Drive; the Kernst Art Gallery; and more. Several of the photographs show the Hollywood Riding Club and its equestrian members on horseback. A complete descriptive listing of the photographs available on request. Provenance: The personal archive of John D. Roche.