Anderton Court Shops

The Anderton Court Shops building at 332 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is the last building in the L.A. area designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The building dates to 1952 and is Usonian style. The three-story-plus-penthouse building is one of only three retail buildings designed by Wright. A concrete mixture (gunite) was sprayed over a steel frame to create the structure's walls, which were then covered in plaster. Floors were conventional poured concrete. The building has some unusual features, including a lighted spire, a curving ramp surrounding an octagonal light well, and a V-shaped plan. In 2006, the Anderton Court Shops became a National Register of Historic Places listing for its architectural significance. It continues to hold six retail shops in the exclusive shopping district, including Beladora, a jewelry store.

The famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright moved from the Midwest to Los Angeles in 1922 and rented a studio space in West Hollywood in early 1923. Wright went on to design four private homes in concrete textile-blocks in Los Angeles. In 1924, Wright moved back to the Midwest but often visited Los Angeles, where his son, Lloyd (also a respected architect) was based. The elder Wright completed two more domestic buildings in Los Angeles in the late 1930s.

In 1952, Wright designed his last building in greater Los Angeles, the Anderton Court Shops in Beverly Hills. Wright wrote to the client, Nina G. Anderton, that the building was "a little gem of an unusual sort." Anderton, a local philanthropist, hired Wright in 1951. The three-story building was shaped like an inverted V to give more front window space to each shop The exterior walls were constructed of a concrete mixture (gunite) sprayed over a metal form, and then covered in plaster; floors were conventional poured concrete. It featured a spire with internal lighting that looked like a space-age antenna; a spiral ramp surrounded a three-story octagonal light well, allowing access to multiple shops in this quirky building. The tower was meant to draw the eye of shoppers to the building, with its large front windows, some of which were cantilevered. The chevron pattern seen in the tower was echoed in the downward tapering seen in the building's soffits, fascia, and piers.

The building is 50 feet wide and 150 feet front to back. The exterior was originally light buff-colored with trim of oxidized copper; budget cuts changed the trim from copper to plastic reinforced with fiberglass. To increase the building's resistance to fire, the roof was created by pouring concrete over wood beams, four feet apart and covered by mesh. Wright's designs called for the interior beams in the ceiling to be kept a natural wood color, painted Cherokee red, or covered with a thin layer of plaster. Interior walls were covered in plaster. Several small shops were located within the North Rodeo Drive building; Wright's design included a fireplace within each shop.

The Anderton Court Shops building was one of the few retail structures ever designed by Wright. Others include the V.C. Morris Gift Shop (San Francisco, 1948) and the Hoffman Auto Showroom (Manhattan, 1954); both were pre-existing buildings modified by Wright. Later changes were made to the Anderton Court Shops. A mast that topped the spire was removed. The building was painted white with black trim. A store space that once occupied two levels was divided into two shops; what originally held three shops and a penthouse apartment/studio became six shops. When the building was documented in the early 2000s for listing on the National Register, there were three shops on each of the two sides of the building. Each shop was staggered a half-floor from its neighbors along the ramp that surrounded the hexagonal light well. The building continues to contain retail businesses in the exclusive Rodeo Drive shopping district.

California Historic Route 66 Association. Anderton Court Shops: A Frank Lloyd Wright Building, California Historic Route 66 Association. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 12th, 2023. https://www.route66ca.org/anderton-court-shops/.

California Office of Historic Preservation. Anderton Court Shops, Listed Resources. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 12th, 2023. https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/N2239.

Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Anderton Court Shops, Beverly Hills, 1952, SaveWright. January 1st, 2023. Accessed July 12th, 2023. https://savewright.org/building/anderton-court-shops/.

Ladewig, Melissa. Janssen, Laura. Barrier, Catherine. NRHP nomination of Anderton Court Shops, Beverly Hills, California. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2003.

Lockwood, Charles. "Searching Out Wright's Imprint in Los Angeles." New York Times (New York City) December 2nd, 1984. 10 sec, 9-9.

Malloy, Betsy. Anderton Court Shops by Frank Lloyd Wright, TripSavvy. June 26th, 2019. Accessed July 12th, 2023. https://www.tripsavvy.com/anderton-court-shops-frank-lloyd-wright-4123888.