Chateau Colline

The castle-like building in Westwood on Willshire Boulevard near Devon Avenue is Chateau Colline, a 1935 apartment building. Dwarfed by the neighboring highrise condominiums, the two-story building peeks out from behind trees that hide its turrets and leaded-glass windows from the street. In need of upgrades, the owner requested permission in 2001 to tear down the apartment building and rebuild multi-story condominiums on the property. Within months, local government and concerned citizens helped to have the building declared a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument. In 2003, Chateau Colline became a National Register of Historic Places listing. The building contains eight one- and two-bedroom condominium residences.

Architect Percy Parke Lewis (1885-1962) designed the two-story Chateau Colline apartment building on the southern edge of the Westwood Hills development. The 375-acre campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) had been established nearby in the late 1920s, and Westwood Village became a shopping destination. Multiple apartment buildings were constructed in the newly popular part of town. Some of Lewis' previous local projects include these Westwood structures: St. Alban's Episcopal Church, Fox Theatre, and Desmond's department store. Chateau Colline was constructed in 1935 by A.A. Zimmerla for a Mrs. L.A. Pfeiffer. Hollywood stars Clark Gable and Betty Davis are rumored to have lived in Chateau Colline.

The design of Chateau Colline was based loosely on sixteenth-century French chateaus, with elements drawn from Gothic and Renaissance eras. This style was uncommon in Los Angeles and became especially popular for homes of the wealthy after the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago promoted accurate interpretations of European architecture.The original wooden shingles remained on the steeply-pitched roof when Chateau Colline was documented in 2002 for listing in the National Register. Over the main part of the building, the roof is made up of multiple hipped roofs; roof edges are trimmed with red, barrel-shaped tiles. The corner turrets are topped with cone-shaped roofs with metal finials; stucco or decorative brick cover the turrets. Gabled dormers were surrounded by cast concrete trim. Four stuccoed chimneys each reached a vertical pair of apartments. Diamond-shaped leaded glass casement windows are found on the front and rear of the building.

A flight of concrete steps led from Wilshire up to the front courtyard, bordered by two sides of the multi-winged building. The courtyard was heavily shaded by pine trees when studied in 2002. A detached concrete garage was near the southeast corner of the property, by a driveway. Another free-standing garage is accessed via Birchwood Drive.

The property was owned by Wilshire Chateau, LLC in 2002. The luxury apartment building with its two detached concrete garages were listed in 2003 for their significance as an example of late nineteenth and twentieth century Chateauesque revival architecture. Chateau Colline now contains eight condominium units; each has one or two bedrooms with about 1,000 square feet of living space. Dark hardwood flooring, wood-burning fireplaces, sunken living rooms, upgraded kitchens with wine refrigerators, and a private garage are some of the perks of calling Chateau Coline your home.

Michaelson, Alan. Welcome to the Pacific Coast Architecture Database, PCAD. January 1st, 2023. Accessed April 23rd, 2023. https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/.

TopLACondos. Chateau Colline, TopLACondos. January 1st, 2023. Accessed April 23rd, 2023. https://www.toplacondos.com/Chateau-Colline.

Grimes, Teresa. NRHP nomination of Chateau Colline, 10355 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2002.