L.A.'s City Council officially named Santa Fe Art Colony as a Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) on February 4, 2020. The Conservancy nominated the site for HCM designation in June 2019. Thank you to everyone who attended meetings and wrote letters to voice support for this designation!

Initially constructed in 1916 by the C.B. Van Vorst Company for the manufacturing of furniture and mattresses, the complex underwent additions in 1924 and 1953. The site continued to be used as an industrial facility for seventy years. 

The City of Los Angeles’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) entered into an agreement with a for‐profit development group led by Marvin Zeidler, proprietor of the Zeidler & Zeidler retail chain, and sculptor Leonard Skuro. The result of the partnership was the Santa Fe Art Colony, which acquired the former industrial building in 1986 and converted the space into artist housing. The adaptively reused building became a rent-restricted live-work complex for 80 artists. For thirty-four years, the property has offered affordable housing and studio space to working artists. In June 2018, the Miami based Fifteen Group purchased the complex, and in November 2019, implemented rent increases. 

Since 1916, the Santa Fe Art Colony has gained layers of history. The industrial complex meets Los Angeles's Historic-Cultural Monument Criteria 1 and 3 for its connection with the C.B. Van Vorst Furniture Manufacturing Company, artist housing, and for architecture.