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S.H. Woodruff, community developer : Hollywoodland, Dana Point, California photograph album, 1923-1929
94/8
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Title: S.H. Woodruff, community developer : Hollywoodland, Dana Point, California photograph album
Date (inclusive): 1923-1929
Note
Range of dates from known dates of Hollywoodland and Dana Point developments.
Collection number: 94/8
Creator:
Woodruff, S.H. (Sidney H.), photographer.
Physical Description:
1 album (62 photographic prints) : gelatin silver, 22 x 29 cm (album)
Photographs are mounted on rectos of canvas leaves, one to a page; a few have numbers in negative in the lower right corners, possibly stock numbers.
Bound in black pebble-grain leather covers, with three-hole binding; gold-stamped cover title.
Spec. Coll. copy: Album has been disbound; photographs, which have been numbered, are housed individually in mylar sleeves; album covers and photographs, in original order, are laid in modern beige cloth clamshell box.
Photographs are mounted on rectos of canvas leaves, one to a page; a few have numbers in negative in the lower right corners, possibly stock numbers.
Bound in black pebble-grain leather covers, with three-hole binding; gold-stamped cover title.
Spec. Coll. copy: Album has been disbound; photographs, which have been numbered, are housed individually in mylar sleeves; album covers and photographs, in original order, are laid in modern beige cloth clamshell box.
Abstract: Album of photographs (20 x 25 cm) from the 1920s, documenting the development of Hollywoodland, a 500-acre subdivision at
the top of Beachwood Canyon in Los Angeles, California, and the seaside town of Dana Point, California.
Language: Finding aid is written in
English.
Language of the Material:
Materials are in English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections
for paging information.
Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library
Special Collections for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the
creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright
owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Formerly part of
Collection of Material Related to Hollywood, California, and Dana Point, California, 1929 (Collection 1527).
[Identification of item], S.H. Woodruff, community developer : Hollywoodland, Dana Point, California photograph album (Collection
94/8). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
4233582
Real estate developer and builder. S.H. Woodruff came from a wealthy Michigan family, and worked as an architect in the East
before coming to California. He was involved in the reconstruction of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. He is best
known for his development of Hollywoodland, and Dana Point in the 1920s. The Dana Point project was halted by the 1929 stock
market crash--only 13 homes were actually built--and by 1930, Woodruff was forced to sell off syndicate assets.
The subdivision, known as the Sherman and Clark Ranch, was developed in 1923 by a real estate syndicate which included Sidney
H. Woodruff, Eli P. Clark, the original landowner, Harry Chandler, Gen. M.H. Sherman, and Tracy E. Shoultz. The 19 photographs
of Hollywoodland depict the gated entrance, the original Hollywoodland Tract Office at 2690 Beachwood Drive, and the new streets,
stairs, and retaining walls winding through the hills. Many of the homes were designed by architect John DeLario, in the French
Normandy, English Tudor, and Mediterranean and Spanish revival styles. Several of the photos also reveal the original Hollywoodland
sign mounted against the hills, which eventually became the iconic Hollywood sign still visible today. Other photos highlight
architectural details of the stucco and stone houses, such as archways, wooden balconies, courtyards, and tiled fountains.
There is one interior shot of a living room, with wooden ceiling beams, majestic fireplace with tall painted chimney, and
elaborately carved wooden chairs. Automobiles of the period sit prominently in front of many of the houses. Lake Hollywood
is visible in the distance. Six photographs depict commercial buildings in Santa Barbara, featuring real estate offices of
James R.H. Wagner at 6 E. Carillo St., A.B. Watkins Real Estate, Clarence C. Knight Realtor, Johnston Cafeteria, Brown Du
Mars Confectionery, and Lamb Auto Electric Company. Five photos depict the Palos Verdes Golf Club, designed by George C. Thomas
Jr. and built by William Bell in 1924, two of which feature the bridge to the number two green. Seven photos of Monaco are
included in the album, as Woodruff tried to model Dana Point after buildings along the French and Italian Riviera. The remaining
25 photographs document the development of Dana Point, in Orange County, California. The Dana Point Syndicate, with S.H. Woodruff
as head, purchased 1400 acres of coastal property in 1926, and began selling tracts in 1927. By 1928, houses had started to
appear. Although the Dana Point Inn was projected to be the cornerstone of the development, it was never built, due to the
1929 stock market crash. Photographs highlight the beautiful Dana Point harbor in a secluded cove, the majestic bluffs rising
along the Pacific coast, and homes on the rocky cliffs. There are two photos of the Blue Lantern Fountain Cafe at 34091 Pacific
Coast Highway, a service station and lunchroom (nos. 42 and 56); a photo of the Blue Lantern Gazebo (no. 57) (probably built
around 1926, about the same time as the Blue Lantern Fountain Lunch building), surrounded by striped bathing tents [?], and
offering visitors spectacular views of the coastline and ocean; a view of the Dana Point Tract Office with sign bearing Woodruff's
name; and a photo of the Scenic Inn (no. 46), on the beach at the foot of the Dana Point bluffs, where prospective buyers
would enjoy lunch and a sales pitch to purchase property. In some photos, swimmers and sunbathers sit on the beach under umbrellas,
or stroll the 304-foot wooden "pleasure pier" constructed in 1926, sail, or fish. Shots of a yacht racing in the bay, and
a group of yachtsmen, in nautical dress, gathered above on the bluff to receive their trophies, point to the opportunities
for boating and yachting available to residents of Dana Point. Also included is a rendering by Los Angeles architect, Gordon
B. Kaufmann, of the proposed hotel and villas at Dana Point which were never built. The album concludes with two views of
an avocado orchard.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Woodruff, S.H. (Sidney H.)
Scenic Inn (Dana Point, Calif.) --Photographs.
Blue Lantern Fountain Café. (Dana Point, Calif.) --Photographs.
Palos Verdes Golf Club (Palos Verdes Peninsula, Calif.) --Photographers.
Hollywood Sign (Los Angeles, Calif.) --Photographs.
Harbors --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Inlets --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Piers --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Yachts --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Beaches --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Street lighting --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Seaside resorts --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Real estate development --California --Los Angeles --Photographs.
Architecture, Domestic --California --Los Angeles --Photographs.
Architecture, Domestic --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
House furnishings --California --Dana Point --Photographs.
Golf courses --California --Palos Verdes Peninsula --Photographs.
Golfers --California --Palos Verdes Peninsula --Photographs.
Women golfers --California --Palos Verdes Peninsula --Photographs.
Avocado industry --California --Photographs.
Avocado --California --Photographs.
Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) --Photographs.
Dana Point (Calif.) --Photographs.
Dana Point (Calif.) --Buildings, structures, etc. --Photographs.
Dana Point Harbor (Calif.) --Photographs.
Santa Barbara (Calif.) --Buildings, structures, etc. --Photographs.
Monaco --Photographs.
Photographic prints.
Photograph albums.
Gelatin silver prints.
Other Index Terms Related to this Collection
Hollywoodland, Dana Point, California
Kaufman, Gordon.
Part of the
Photograph Album Collection (Collection 94)
in UCLA Library Special Collections.
For additional information, consult
"Collection of Material Related to Hollywood, California, and Dana Point, California, 1929" (Collection 1527)
in UCLA Library Special Collections. See also the
"Dana Point Syndicate records of S.H. Woodruff, 1911-1930 (bulk 1920-1930)" (Collection MS-R060)
in Special Collections and Archives at the University of California, Irvine; and the "Woodruff Collection," with over 300
documents and photographs, at the
Dana Point Historical Society.