Parkhurst Building

The building on the southwest side of the Main St./ Pier Ave. intersection in Santa Monica is the Parkhurst Building. The two-story structure with a two-and-a-half-story tower was built in 1927 for Clinton Gordon Parkhurst, a realtor and former Mayor of neighboring Venice. The design of the quirky-looking structure with an octagonal corner tower topped by finials and a cupola blends Mission and Spanish Revival styles. The first floor was meant for commercial shops and the second floor was built to hold offices for doctors and dentists. The Parkhurst Building became a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1978 for its architectural style. The ground-floor commercial space is now a fitness and workout studio named Aviator Nation RIDE; the upper floor contains professional office spaces.

The town of Santa Monica was established in the 1870s and once held a number of movie studios. One of the abandoned studio buildings became the location of Douglas Aircraft in the 1920s, and the local population surged.

The Parkhurst Building is a two-story, commercial structure with a two-and-a-half-story tower that was built in 1927 for Clinton Gordon Parkhurst. Parkhurst (1892-1931) was a prominent local realtor and Los Angeles native; his parents were New England natives. Parkhurst served as mayor of neighboring Venice Beach until it became part of Los Angeles in 1925; he was a Venice resident when he registered for the World War I draft in 1917 or 1918. He and his second wife, Ethel M. (both age 37), lived in a house they owned worth $12,000 on Breeze Ave. in Los Angeles in 1930; they shared the home with their young son, Clinton W. (7) and widowed father/father-in-law Clinton E. (68).

The architectural firm of Marsh, Smith & Powell came up with the design of the quirky-looking structure that blends Mission and Spanish Revival styles. The corner octagonal tower was heavily decorated with raised brickwork, an ornate frieze, wrought iron grill work, and finials surrounding a cupola. Tiny gargoyles peeked out from the pediments above the second-story windows of the tower. Embellished panels above the corner entrance feature scallop shells, fish, and urns. A tile mosaic on the Pier Avenue side featured horses. A secondary entrance was placed at the southeast corner of the building (181-185 Pier Ave.), topped by an inscribed name plate; the parapet above was scalloped and topped by a finial. The roof was covered in red tiles. Six skylights lit the second-floor office spaces/ hallways.

A streetcar of the Pacific Electric Railway once ran in the narrow space between the Parkhurst Building and its Pier Avenue neighboring building. By 1950, the interior ground floor was divided into four commercial spaces, with three along Pier Avenue and the Main Street corner; the remaining two-thirds of the first floor, fronting Main St., was one large store. The corner commercial space (2940 Main St.) once held a bakery, Van & Kamps; a windmill statue was added above the main entrance. Legal offices of Tim McFlynn, Esquire, occupied the second-floor tower suite by the 1960s. The commercial space recently held a clothing boutique, Planet Blue, but has become a fitness and workout studio named Aviator Nation RIDE.

The Parkhurst Building became a Santa Monica Historic Place in 1977 and a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1978. The Parkhurst Building was restored by the 2000s.

California Superior Court for Los Angeles County. Transcript of testimony in case of A. Thomas Hunt, etc., vs. County of Los Angeles on May 1, 1986. Volume No. C 547 483. Los Angeles, CA. State of California, 1986.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Family tree of Clinton Gordon Parkhurst (1897-1931) LDBR-G7D, FamilySearch. April 25th, 2023. Accessed July 7th, 2023. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/sources/LDBR-G7D.

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Hurtado, Albert. NRHP nomination of Parkhurst Building, Santa Monica, California. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1978.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Map of Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California. New York, NY. Sanborn Map Company, 1950.

Santa Monica Conservancy. Parkhurst Building, Explore Santa Monica. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 7th, 2023. https://smconservancy.org/property/parkhurst-building/.

Santa Monica Conservancy. History of Santa Monica, Explore Santa Monica. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 7th, 2023. https://smconservancy.org/explore-santa-monica/historic-places/history-of-santa-monica/.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of Gordon C. Parkhurst at 49 Breeze Ave., Enumeration District 37 Los Angeles, California, dwelling 37, family 81. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1930.

U.S. Government. World War I Draft Registration of Clinton Gordon Parkhurst, Precinct 3, Venice, California. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1917 circa.