The assembled village gave Angelinos a highly glamorized taste of the world at the height of the Great Depression, one that might otherwise be inaccessible, and its Streamline Moderne centerpiece embodied the optimism of the era’s technological growth. Its boosters envisioned it as a permanent World’s Fair facility, transporting shoppers to exotic settings while offering them a variety of wares and services.

When Crossroads officially debuted in 1936, the press covered the event as it would a movie premiere. The complex was hailed as “an outstanding landmark and civic attraction” and featured in numerous architectural journals. The combination of high end retail, coffee shops, and professional offices made it a gathering place for international celebrities and Hollywood movers and shakers, and its subsequent life cycles mirrored Hollywood’s evolution throughout the twentieth century.

In addition to Crossroads, Derrah was responsible for a number of significant commissions in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Many of his buildings were designed in the Streamline Moderne style, including the Coca-Cola Building (1939). He also designed an addition to John and Donald Parkinson’s Southern California Gas Company Complex (1942) and contributed to the Fairfax Farmers Market (1934).

In the 1940s and ’50s, Crossroads began its transition from shopping center to office complex, housing such tenants as the Screen Actors Guild, Standard Oil, and American Airlines. It was threatened with demolition in the 1970s, but was rescued and revitalized when an investor stepped forward. It subsequently attracted a new wave of creative tenants, including music producers, record companies, screenwriters, costume designers, and casting agencies.