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Clinton Manor Courtyard Apartments
This 1940 courtyard apartment has been a site of community and connection for over 80 years.
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Support the Clinton Manor tenants in designating their home as an L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM).
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Clinton Manor exterior | Clinton Manor Coalition
Overview
The Clinton Manor Apartments are an excellent, rare, and intact example of an American Colonial Revival courtyard apartment in the Greater Wilshire area. Located directly south of two major film studios, it exemplifies the unique relationship between the pre-World War II motion picture industry and the multi-family courtyard typology, which offered studio and service workers, along with other working professionals, access to picturesque living within a developing urban environment.
Some of Clinton Manor’s earliest tenants were Ruth and Elliot Handler who used their apartment and on-site garage as a working laboratory for their plastics company. The couple would go on to found Mattel, Inc. in 1945 and create the iconic Barbie doll in 1959.
In 2022, the longtime owner sold the property to a large holding company. Concerned about potential development and loss of historic significance, residents organized to form the Clinton Manor Coalition. Over a series of months, tenants old and new worked together to nominate their home as a L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM).
About This Place
About This Place
Clinton Manor is significant for its associations with late-Great Depression multi-family housing development in the neighborhoods of Hollywood and Greater Wilshire. The property translated Garden City principles and ideals of Southern California indoor/outdoor living, providing everyday people with a place of idyllic peace during a time of national economic hardship.
Clinton Manor’s developer, Aetna Construction Company, was a pioneer of mass housing before and after World War II. The company would go on to build large-scale developments at Rancho San Pedro and the City of Lakewood (among other major subdivisions), positioning Clinton Manor at a crucial juncture in the developer’s evolution from apartment to single-family dwellings.
The property embodies the courtyard apartment typology and the American Colonial Revival architectural style. Clinton Manor’s high-density (54 units), economical building materials, and simplified revival design elements underscore builders’ priorities during the 1930s: density, economy, and fantasy. From an architectural and site planning perspective, Clinton Manor is an exceptionally large example of the courtyard apartment typology set in the American Colonial Revival style.
Our Position
The Conservancy is proud to support and collaborate with the Clinton Manor Coalition.
Clinton Manor Courtyard Apartments embodies the kind of housing Angelenos want today – access to city amenities but removed from the bustle of the street; open space that brings neighbors together; density balanced with privacy; lush greenery; a sense of history and place. Clinton Manor is the largest and one of the most impressive courtyard apartment complex in the Greater Wilshire Area.
Development pressures throughout L.A. threaten many historic multi-family residences. It’s crucial that we protect older, rent stabilized buildings that make up a majority of L.A.’s remaining affordable housing.
Ultimately, historic housing is about the people who call it home. The most powerful testament to Clinton Manor’s significance are its residents, who came together to nominate their home to ensure it can continue to be a community to themselves and those who come after.
How You Can Help
On October 17th the Cultural Heritage Commission took the Clinton Manor Apartments under consideration as a L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument. Stay tune for future hearing dates.