Though only two stories high, the Washington Building holds prominence as one of two Beaux Arts-style flatiron-shaped buildings at the intersection of Washington and Culver Boulevards in downtown Culver City. The other flatiron building is the Culver Hotel. The two buildings face one another across the intersection, and together they mark the center of the city. Accordingly, it’s no surprise that Starbucks is the building’s main tenant!

Through the years, the irregularly-shaped building (152’x135’x68’x12’) has housed a multitude of enterprises. Until 1940, the City’s Post Office was located here, before moving to its new Art Deco-style home a block to the west. In addition to servicing as offices for a dentist, an attorney, a real estate office, an insurance company, and – during World War II – a draft office, the building was also once the address of the MGM Fan Club.

The Washington Building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It is one of just four Culver City structures listed in the National Register, along with the Culver Hotel, the Citizen Publishing Company Building, and the Ivy Substation.