Lasky-DeMille Barn

The Lasky-DeMille Barn is one of Hollywood's first film studios. It is a designated California State Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[2] It is now the site of the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

Lasky-DeMille Barn
Lasky-DeMille Barn, now the Hollywood Heritage Museum (2007)
Coordinates34.108507°N 118.336100°W / 34.108507; -118.336100
Official nameCecil B. DeMille Studio Barn[1]
Reference no.554
Reference no.14000034
Location of Lasky-DeMille Barn in the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Lasky-DeMille Barn at original Hollywood location in 1913.

History

The barn was built in about 1895 on the Hollywood, California citrus ranch of Robert Northam. Located at the southeast corner of Selma and Vine Streets, it housed horses, carriages, hay, and other farm supplies. It was sold in 1904 to Jacob Stern.

In March 1913, it was purchased by L. L. Burns (founder of Western Costume Company) and Harry Revier. The pair rented the barn, renamed the Burns and Revier Studio and Laboratory, as a film location.[3] In December of that year, Cecil B. DeMille, in association with Jesse Lasky, leased the barn and studio facilities for $250.00 a month [4] establishing the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company and began production of The Squaw Man (1914), the first feature film to be produced in the Hollywood area.

In 1926, the barn was moved to the back lot of United Studios, where present day Paramount was later built. It went through several uses as a film set, research library, conference area and later the Paramount gymnasium.

In a ceremony attended by its founders, the Lasky-DeMille Barn was dedicated on December 27, 1956, as "Hollywood's First Major Film Company Studio" and designated California State Historic Landmark No. 554, representing the birth of the Hollywood motion picture industry and becoming the first landmark associated with it.

In October 1979, the barn was moved off the Paramount lot to a vacant lot in Hollywood. It was then moved by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to the parking lot of The Hollywood Palace theater,[4] where it was boarded up and fenced in until a permanent site could be found.

Hollywood Heritage Museum

The Lasky-DeMille Barn was acquired by Hollywood Heritage, Inc., in February 1983. It was then moved to its present site at the southern end of the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl, where it was restored and made into the Hollywood Heritage Museum.

California Historical Landmark Marker

California Historical Landmark Marker NO. 554 the site reads:[5]

  • NO. 554 CECIL B. DeMILLE STUDIO BARN - Cecil B. DeMille rented half of this structure, then used as a barn, as the studio in which was made the first feature-length motion picture in Hollywood-The Squaw Man-in 1913. Associated with Mr. DeMille in making The Squaw Man were Samuel Goldwyn and Jesse Lasky, Sr. Originally located at the corner of Selma and Vine Streets, in 1927 the barn was transferred to Paramount Studios.


References
  1. "DeMille Studio Barn". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved 2012-10-07.
  2. "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 3/03/14 Through 3/07/14". National Park Service. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
  3. "Hollywood Heritage Museum," Hollywood Heritage, Hollywood California History & Architecture Preservation Organization, http://www.hollywoodheritage.org/#!museum/c1bhu (accessed July 29, 2015).
  4. "Hollywood Heritage Museum (Lasky-DeMille Barn) Time Line". Hollywood Heritage Museum website.
  5. californiahistoricallandmarks.com 554, Lasky-DeMille Barn
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