Wholesale Jewelry Mart

completed

This eight-story structure combines Art Deco massing and setbacks with Gothic details. It was built as the fifth location of the Harris & Frank clothing company, founded in Los Angeles in 1855. Although the street of the 1925 structure has been altered, the upper stories retain their original design of recessed window bays separated by metal spandrels between stories. The vertical thrust, setbacks, and recessed windows are all hallmarks of the Art Deco style. Some of the Gothic elements of the building are the “arrow loops” (archery windows) that top the piers at the first setback, the gargoyle-like heads that cap the spandrels, the faces clad in armor which cap the vertical piers at the fifth story, and the pointed arches at the eighth story.