Prior to construction, the land was the site of a vineyard owned by Judge Wilson Hugh Gray.

[4] Lankershim lived and worked in the building during its early years,[3][5] and the hotel also ran a shuttle to and from nearby train stations during this time.

[6] Circa 1915, the hotel marketed itself as within a "stone's throw" of Bullock's and Hamburger's Department Store, as well as the Orpheum, Morosco, and Majestic theaters.

[7] In 1919, Lankershim sold the lease to Wallace W. Whitecotton, operator of Berkeley's Shattuck Hotel.

[1] Despite this, the building was largely demolished in the early 1980s following structural damage caused by the 1971 Sylmar earthquake.