Gaylord sign on top of the white building

Place

The Gaylord and HMS Bounty

One of the most prominent historic buildings on Wilshire.

Place Details

Address

3355-57 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010
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Architect

Year

1924

Community

The thirteen-story Gaylord apartment building opened in 1924 directly across Wilshire from the Ambassador Hotel. Some claim it was named for Henry Gaylord Wilshire, the founder of Wilshire Boulevard.

Units in the Gaylord were marketed as "own-your-own" apartments, with large kitchens and a central refrigeration system that allowed tenants to freeze their own ice cubes.

The Los Angeles Times called the Gaylord one of the largest and most pretentious apartment houses in the country. Since then, the building has been thoroughly renovated inside.

The nautical-themed HMS Bounty restaurant on the ground floor opened in 1962 in a space formerly occupied by The Gay Room and later The Secret Harbor.

The Secret Harbor opened in 1951 as an outpost of Wilshire's leading restaurant family of the 1940s and '50s, brothers Seymour and Harold Dimsdale.

After The Secret Harbor, the space served a brief stint as the Golden Anchor before becoming the HMS Bounty.

Security Pacific Collection/Los Angeles Public Library | Gaylord Apartments
Security Pacific Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
Tom Zimmerman Collection
Anne Laskey | c. 1950.
Flickr/Hercwad | Sign at entrance to Gaylord Apartments