How Charlie Chaplin Kicked Off a Tudor Trend on the Strip

Asking the tough questions, today Wehoville wonders why there are so many Tudor-inspired buildings on and around the Sunset Strip. They don't quite answer the question, but they do share a fun bit of LA history, always appreciated: The catalyst, they say, was Charlie Chaplin's studio on La Brea. Built in 1917, the Tudor-revival exteriors "were arranged to give the effect of a picturesque English village street." The complex got a lot of publicity and may have started the trend--or at least given it a shot in the arm. Tudor-revival was already a popular style for single family houses, but spread to multi-family and commercial buildings, including West Hollywood's Hansel and Gretel Cottages and Normandie Towers, built in 1923 and 1924 respectively. Also in 1924, an early West Hollywood developer named Elmer R. Mauzy decided to build the English Village Shops--a collection of stores near a group of cottages he'd already built. The development was not a success, but was notable for being one of the first shopping centers to provide off-street parking in its U-shaped courtyard. The shops were torn down, but some of the cottages remain, on Harratt Street south of Sunset.
· Ever Wonder Why So Many English Tudor Buildings Line the Sunset Strip? [Wehoville]