Petersen Building

The Petersen Building, in Los Angeles

The Petersen Building is an elegant Art Deco building of 1929 on Hollywood Boulevard, a former automobile showroom. The Los Angeles audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this building witness of the golden age of Hollywood, when the automobile was a symbol of prestige.

The former Cadillac showroom

This two-storey Art Deco building dates from 1929, a time when Hollywood is exploding and when the automobile is a symbol of prestige as much as an accessory of a star. Originally, it was a Cadillac showroom: thanks to its large arched windows on two levels, the passers-by could admire the latest luxury cars exhibited as in a shop window. At this time of the Hollywood golden age, owning a fine automobile was part of the lifestyle of the cinema stars, and the prestige dealers settled in the heart of the boulevard to seduce this wealthy clientele. The building thus illustrates the spirit of a flamboyant decade, where cinema, glamour and modernity mingled. Its Art Deco architecture, elegant and refined, is characteristic of this period, and it is one of the old buildings that still testify to the prestigious past of Hollywood Boulevard, behind the tourist signs of today. A witness of the golden age and a fine example of Art Deco, the Petersen Building is an interesting stop of the discovery of Los Angeles.

What to see

You admire the two-storey Art Deco building of 1929, former Cadillac showroom whose large arched windows let the passers-by admire the luxury cars at the golden age of Hollywood, when the automobile was a symbol of prestige of the stars, with an elegant architecture characteristic of this flamboyant period. The Petersen Building is a witness of the golden age of Los Angeles. It is a stop to be discovered, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Petersen Building lies on Hollywood Boulevard, in Los Angeles, reachable on foot. You admire its Art Deco façade from the street; the shops that it shelters have their own hours. You discover it during a walk on the boulevard.

What was the Petersen Building in Los Angeles?

A two-storey Art Deco building of 1929, originally a Cadillac showroom whose large arched windows let the passers-by admire the luxury cars; it testifies to the golden age of Hollywood, when the automobile was a symbol of prestige of the cinema stars.

Where is the Petersen Building in Los Angeles?

On Hollywood Boulevard, in Los Angeles, in the United States.