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Zobel Building
The building in 2014
Location of building in Los Angeles County
General information
Location	351-353 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, California
Coordinates	34°03′00″N 118°14′58″W / 34.0500°N 118.2494°W / 34.0500; -118.2494
Completed	c. 1912

Zobel Building is a historic six-story building located at 351-353 S. Broadway in the Broadway Theater District in the historic core of downtown Los Angeles. It is most notable for the Calle de la Eternidad mural that was formerly on its northern exterior.

History

Zobel Building was built c. 1912. In 1921, The Wonder, formerly the largest retail silk store in the United States, moved into the building, and Graysons department store occupied the building in the 1950s.

In 1979, the Broadway Theater and Commercial District was added to the National Register of Historic Places, with the Zobel Building listed as a non-contributing property in the district. In 1992–1993, Johanna Poethig painted a large mural titled Calle de la Eternidad on the building's northern wall. The mural has since become a "landmark."

In 2013, Zobel Building was converted to offices. During the conversion, architects removed a 12-foot ficus tree that was growing out of the building's fifth-floor southern wall and rising above the roofline. The 1950s facade was also removed and the Calle de la Eternidad mural was digitized with plans to move it from the building's northern to southern exterior. In 2014, the building was awarded $20,788 ($26,755 in 2023) through the Bringing Back Broadway initiative to accent its facade columns.

Architecture and design

Zobel Building is made of brick. A flat stucco facade was added to the building in the 1950s and was removed when the building was converted to offices in 2013. The original facade features windows that overlook Broadway.

References

1. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form - California SP Broadway Theater and Commercial District". United States Department of the Interior - National Park Service. May 9, 1979.
2. Lasley, Lewis H. (March 7, 1921). "The Wonder advertisement". Los Angeles Herald. No. XLVI #108. p. B7 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
3. ^ Broverman, Neal (June 18, 2012). "Mural Saved as Century-Old Broadway Building Gets a Rehab". Curbed Los Angeles.
4. ^ Fuentes, Ed (June 15, 2012). "'Eternal' Mural on Broadway Meets Its Makers". PBS.
5. Kudler, Adrian Glick (January 24, 2013). "A Ficus Grows Out of the Fifth Story of a Broadway Building". Curbed Los Angeles.
6. "Facade Lighting Grants Awarded on Broadway". historiccore.com. March 31, 2014.

• Commercial buildings completed in 1912
• Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
• 1910s architecture in the United States
• Broadway (Los Angeles)